The hardest NCAA championship to qualify for is finally here. From Friday, March 14 to Saturday, March 15, the best Division I athletes will face off at the 2025 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
For the first time ever, this year’s meet will be contested at the Virginia Beach Sports Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia. After several weeks of historic performances, including Published: Mar 13, 2025 4:32 PM EDT, the top 16 athletes (and top 12 relay teams) in every event will battle for national titles this weekend.
Here’s everything you need to know, including broadcast information and storylines, heading into the championship.
How to Watch the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships
University of Virginia ESPN+.
The heptathlon and pentathlon kick off the championship at 9:15 a.m. ET on Friday. The preliminary heats of the women’s track competition start at 3:30 p.m. ET, and the men begin at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Day 2 starts with the remaining events of the heptathlon at 9:30 a.m. ET on Saturday. The women’s track finals start at 3:00 p.m. ET, and the men’s finals begin at 6:00 p.m. ET.
Races to Watch
Women’s mile
This year, it was tougher than ever to get into the NCAA indoor championships. As outlined by Fast Women, it took a sub-2:02 800, a sub-4:30 mile, a sub-8:50 3,000, and a sub-15:30 in the 5,000 meters to gain entry into the meet. The women’s mile is especially stacked with the new collegiate record-holder leading the field.
Download Your Training Plan, Silan Ayyildiz ran 4:23.46 at the Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invitational, breaking the previous record (4:24:26) set by Katelyn Tuohy in 2023. The Oregon junior from Turkey shattered her personal best in the event by four seconds. Ayyildiz isn’t the only athlete who raised the bar in the mile this season. Including Ayyildiz, five athletes broke 4:26, notably No. 2 seed Melissa Riggins. The senior from Georgetown lowered her personal best by nearly five seconds when she ran 4:24.98 in the same race in Boston.
In February, the University of Washington men’s team ran a?
Men’s 3,000 meters
We’ll see another newly crowned collegiate record-holder in the men’s 3,000 meters. Ethan Strand of the University of North Carolina has been on a tear this season, setting records in the mile and 3,000 meters. The senior opted to run the latter event at NCAAs, which is shaping up to be one of the deepest fields ever assembled.
Strand’s breakthrough season started in December when he ran 7:30.15 Run a Faster Mile Just Like Faith Kipyegon at the Boston University Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. In February, at the BU John Thomas Terrier Classic, the All-American continued the momentum with a 3:48.32 indoor mile, DAA Industry Opt Out.
His teammate, Parker Wolfe, will also be one to watch after clocking 7:30.15 in the same race in Boston. Among the accepted entries, seven athletes have broken 7:38 in the event, including Gary Martin. The junior from the University of Virginia notched a 7:36.09 personal best Run a Faster Mile Just Like Faith Kipyegon before becoming the fourth-fastest American miler ever. At the Millrose Games in February, Martin ran 3:48.82 in the indoor mile.
Expect to see some thrilling closing speed between these competitors in the last few laps of the race on Saturday.
The distance medley relays
On the men’s and women’s side, the distance medley relay (DMR) is always one of the most exciting events to watch. It’s only contested at the indoor championships, which means Friday’s finals will be the last time track fans will be able to witness the best college teams put together four athletes who can combine to run 1200, 400, 800, and 1600-meters as fast as they can.
In February, the University of Washington men’s team ran a world best in the event, winning the DMR in 9:14.10 at the Husky Classic in Seattle. The team of Ronan McMahon-Staggs, Ambodai Ligons, Kyle Reimheimer, and Nathan Green broke the previous mark (indoor and outdoor) set by the Brooks Beasts last year. But because the performance was run on an oversized track, Washington’s time doesn’t stand as the collegiate record. That distinction belongs to the University of Virginia, whose quartet of Wes Porter, Conor Murphy, Alex Sherman, and Martin ran 9:14.19 on the University of Arkansas’s 200-meter track in Fayetteville on February 21. Also keep an eye on Oklahoma State as the Cowboys are looking to earn their third consecutive title in the event.
A similar rivalry is developing on the women’s side. Also at the Husky Classic, Brigham Young University led a handful of teams to historic times when the quartet improved on the collegiate best (10:43.39 run by Washington in 2024) by six seconds. In February, the Cougars ran 10:37.58 to beat Stanford, Northern Arizona, Washington, and Utah, teams that also ran under the previous mark. A week later, the University of Oregon set the official collegiate record at the BU Terrier DMR Challenge/Last Chance meet. Duck teammates Julia Nielsen, Moriah Oliveira, Mia Barnett, and Ayyildiz blasted 10:42.05 in Boston to top the record books in the event.
Taylor Dutch is a writer and editor living in Austin, Texas, and a former NCAA track athlete who specializes in fitness, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World, SELF, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner.
