Fast Women: Parker Valby continues her reign
Juliette Whittaker, Maia Ramsden earn NCAA titles.
Issue 282
The NCAA Indoor Championships come to Boston
Until this weekend, it had been 19 years since I attended the NCAA DI Indoor Track & Field Championships, which is around the time some of this year’s competitors were born. NCAA Indoors is always one of my favorite meets. It’s exciting to watch the next generation of stars emerge, the action is more concentrated in one spot than it is in cross country or outdoor track, and the team component is always fun. With the meet being held in Boston, this was the first time it took place in a location that was convenient to me.
When I look back at my NCAA indoor photos from 2001–05, it’s fun to see some people who are still competing at a high level, like Sara Hall, Malindi Elmore, Des Linden, and Molly Huddle. And others, like Lauren Fleshman, Amy Begley, Amy Cragg, and Shalane Flanagan are filling other important roles in the sport. And a handful of the athletes from that era now have children who are top high school and, in a couple of cases, college runners.
UMass Lowell and Boston College jointly hosted the meet at the TRACK at New Balance, which is a beautiful facility. The only thing I missed about having the meet on the University of Arkansas campus (where it was from 2000–08, and a few other times since), is that the crowd was less raucous. While the teams competing against Arkansas might appreciate a more neutral site, the enthusiasm was always so fun, whether you were a Razorback fan or not. This year’s meet was sold out and the crowd was good, but not quite Arkansas good.
Parker Valby solos an NCAA 5,000m record
It seemed likely the 5,000m would be the Parker Valby Show, and it was, but kudos to Oklahoma State’s Taylor Roe for not just handing Valby the title. Roe ran to win and was disappointed when she didn’t. She followed Florida’s Valby until about six laps to go, when Valby began to ratchet down the pace. And it was no wonder Roe couldn’t hang. After opening kilometer splits of 2:59.81, 3:02.44, and 3:01.63, Valby ran her last two kilometers in 2:56.98 and 2:51.93. She covered the last 1600m in 4:37.50.
Valby’s winning time of 14:52.79 improved her own collegiate record, which she ran earlier in the season, by 3.32 seconds. When she ran 14:56 in December, she got to follow pro runner Annie Rodenfels for 4K. This time out, she front-ran the entire race and was relaxed enough to give her teammate, Claire Bryant, who had just moved into the lead in the long jump, a thumbs up about a mile in. Afterwards, Valby rated her effort a six or seven on a scale of one to 10. “I wouldn’t say it was easy, like I wasn’t jogging in the park,” she said.
In addition to the collegiate record, Valby fittingly broke Kim Smith’s 20-year-old meet record of 15:14.18. One trackside observer commented that he’d like to see what Smith could have done against Valby, in super shoes. That would have been a good race. Smith, too, led every step of her record-setting run, and she ran her last 400m in 63 seconds. And then she broke the collegiate record in the 3,000m the next day as well. Valby’s performance at this meet was Smith-esque.
When Valby took off in the final 1200m, Roe started to fade. The Alabama duo of Hilda Olemomoi and Doris Lemngole, who worked together throughout, almost caught her by running the final lap nearly seven seconds faster, but Roe held them off, taking second in 15:15.01. Olemomoi was third (15:17.27), and Lemngole took fourth (15:17.43). BYU’s Lexy Halladay-Lowry (fifth, 15:20.75), Oklahoma State’s Molly Born (sixth, 15:20.89), Georgetown’s Chloe Scrimgeour (seventh, 15:21.80), and NC State’s Grace Hartman (eighth, 15:28.57), all of whom PRed, rounded out the All-Americans. (5,000m results)
BYU pulls off an upset in a dramatic DMR
There’s always a lot of heartbreak at high-stakes events, and one of the worst moments of the meet came when there was a small pile-up three laps into the 800m leg of the distance medley relay. (The DMR running order is 1200m, 400m, 800m, 1600m.)
The only teams unaffected by it were Boston College and Florida, who were in front of the fall (and Virginia, who was well behind it). And the teams most affected were Providence College, Washington, and Oregon. Something caused Providence’s Alex O’Neill to go down hard. Washington’s Marlena Preigh hurdled O’Neill but landed awkwardly and fell to the track. Oregon’s Ella Nelson cleared O’Neill’s legs, but then crashed into Preigh. And all three lost their batons. Other teams had to do a little hurdling, but they stayed on their feet.
Somehow, all three runners got up and finished their legs. And while it helped the affected teams that the anchor leg started off slowly, which allowed everyone (except Virginia, who had long since dropped back) to get back in it, it’s impossible to say that the pile-up did not affect how the race played out. That’s not to say a different team would have otherwise won, but just that we’ll never know.
With all the anchors together, given the numbers from earlier this season, Notre Dame seemed like the team to beat. With little competition, Olivia Markezich had split 4:22.31 anchoring her team’s DMR two weeks earlier. But the anchor leg became more tactical, and it came down to a kick. And the runner with the best kick was BYU’s Riley Chamberlain. The following day, Markezich admitted she was too comfortable in the middle of the race and she should have pushed the pace more. “I can’t always rely on my kick,” she said.
The results don’t include lap-by-lap splits, but Chamberlain appeared to run the final lap in roughly 30 seconds, which was enough to comfortably win in 10:51.42. Notre Dame took second (10:53.14) and Florida, anchored by Flomena Asekol, took third in 10:54.40.
Sadie Sargent ran the 1200m leg for BYU (3:20.65), Sami Oblad had 400m duties (55.50), she handed off to Carlee Hansen (2:07.50), and Chamberlain ran 4:27.78 for 1600m, the fastest split of the night.
Despite their falls, Oregon (fifth, 10:57.24) and Providence (sixth, 10:57.34) impressively managed to work their way back into All-American positions, with strong anchor legs from Silan Ayyildiz and Kimberley May, respectively. (DMR results)
Maia Ramsden wins at home
Six days after finishing 10th in the 1500m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships, Harvard senior Maia Ramsden cemented her status as the NCAA’s top 1500m/mile runner, winning the NCAA indoor mile in a meet record of 4:25.13. When Ramsden won the NCAA 1500m title outdoors last June, it was a bit of a surprise. This time, no one was surprised.
Championship races can sometimes get tactical and physical, and Providence College’s Kimberley May had no interest in running that kind of race, so she set a solid pace from the gun. May and Ramsden, who are both from New Zealand, have been racing each other since they were 14 years old. May said she has never won, but she’s able to put up a good fight.
This time out, May ended up being the perfect rabbit for Ramsden. With about two laps to go, Ramsden took the lead. She ran her last two laps in 31.66 and 30.39 and won by two seconds. After the race, Ramsden said she and coach Alex Gibby discussed channeling Emily Mackay, who made a decisive move with 400m to go in the World Indoor final.
Oklahoma State’s Billah Jepkirui passed May in the homestretch and took second in 4:27.14, a personal best by more than two seconds. May finished close behind in 4:27.36, a small personal best. Georgetown’s Melissa Riggins took fourth in 4:29.02. Virginia’s Margot Appleton, who is from nearby Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, was fifth in 4:29.07. West Virginia’s Ceili McCabe took sixth in 4:29.26. All three broke 4:30 for the first time. And Oregon’s Klaudia Kazimierska (seventh, 4:30.65) and Florida’s Flomena Asekol (eighth, 4:35.34) rounded out the All-American spots.
After the race, Ramsden talked about how special it was to win with many family members, teammates, and roommates in attendance, and how great it was to be able to sleep in her dorm room while at a championship. She also discussed signing her first-ever autographs after the race and said she’ll take some much-deserved down time now. (Mile results)
Juliette Whittaker wins her first NCAA 800m title
In retrospect, it seems like a stretch to call Stanford sophomore Juliette Whittaker an underdog. She’s a World U20 bronze medalist, and she ran 1:59.04 for 800m when she was in high school. She was the 800m runner-up at last year’s NCAA indoor championships and anchored her team to a distance medley relay win.
Last year, she had a rough outdoor season. She focused on the 1500m and didn’t qualify for NCAAs in an individual event. But this season, she has run well, and two weeks before NCAAs, she ran 2:00.09 on the University of Washington’s oversized flat track and finished second only to Nia Akins.
The only reason Whittaker wasn’t the favorite heading into the race is that LSU’s Michaela Rose has been so tough to beat. She has become a runner who can consistently produce sub-2:00 performances indoors, she’s the second-fastest woman ever in the NCAA behind only Athing Mu, and she’s the reigning NCAA champion outdoors. Rose hadn’t been seriously challenged in the 800m all season.
Rose is known for her front running and as expected, she immediately jumped out to the lead. But the way Whittaker stuck right on her, it was apparent she was running to win. Whittaker stayed right behind Rose until the final turn, when she moved onto Rose’s shoulder, and then passed her in the home stretch. Whittaker crossed the line in 1:59.53, and Rose was close behind, in 1:59.81. Both ran faster than the 1:59.93 meet record Roisin Willis, Whittaker’s Stanford teammate, set a year ago.
After the race, Whittaker said she felt really fit going in, but she wasn’t sure how the race would go, because she’s been dealing with a lot of knee pain and she strained her hamstring in practice earlier in the week. She also said that it helped that the spotlight was more on Rose this season, and it was easier coming in as an underdog.
Rose was clearly frustrated not to win, but she expressed admiration for Whittaker and said she’s been following her career since she was in high school. “I love Juliette,” she said. “She’s amazing.” And their rivalry is to be continued.
The race for third felt like a completely separate event. BYU’s Meghan Hunter was the best of the rest, taking third in 2:02.15, an indoor PR. Less than five years ago, Hunter broke her neck in a serious car accident, and it wasn’t clear whether she would ever run at a high level again. But on Saturday, she became an All-American for the second time and earned her highest NCAA finish yet.
Penn State’s Hayley Kitching (fourth, 2:02.16), Oklahoma State’s Gabija Galvydyte (fifth, 2:02.31), Washington’s Wilma Nielsen (sixth, 2:02.33), Virginia Tech’s Lindsey Butler (seventh, 2:02.39), and NAU’s Maggi Congdon (eighth, 2:06.41) also earned All-America honors. Despite not running her fastest race, Congdon was impressive. She qualified for the finals in both the mile and 800m and she had less than 30 minutes to recover after finishing ninth in the mile.
It was nice to see Butler, the 2022 NCAA champion in this event, have a strong showing. She barely made it into the meet, coming in seeded 16th out of 16 runners. But she finished second in her prelim in 2:02.51 and then ran a little faster in the final. She had a tough year last year, but she’s been on an upswing recently.
Also notable was who wasn’t in the final. Six of the top 10 seeds did not advance. Willis, the defending champion, finished fourth in a prelim where only three runners advanced. She and the runner ahead of her both ran 2:03.64, but Willis missed out by thousandths of a second. Harvard’s Sophia Gorriaran finished about a second behind Willis and her meet was over. Houston’s Kelly-Ann Beckford, who was seeded third going in, finished well out of contention, taking sixth in the same heat in 2:06.55.
One of the NCAA’s best runners, Washington’s Carley Thomas, was seeded fifth and ran 1:59.95 outdoors last year, but she finished last in her heat in 2:05.34. I would have expected to see Thomas anchoring Washington’s DMR, as she did when they set the collegiate record earlier this season. But the 800m prelim was her only race.
Less than an hour after the 800m, Rose was back at it, running the second leg of the 4x400m relay. She split 52.48 seconds, helped LSU to an eighth-place finish, and earned her second All-America honor of the meet. (800m results)
Parker Valby completes a dominant double
Because it falls at the end of the championship, when most athletes have nothing to lose by giving the event a shot, the 3,000m often ends up feeling like an all-star race. The top five runners from the 5,000m were back, plus Olivia Markezich and some of the milers. Maia Ramsden was entered, and that would have been a fun matchup, but she understandably opted not to start the race.
Florida’s Flomena Asekol, who had also already run the mile, jumped to the lead early but ran only a handful of laps before exiting the track. She appeared to be there in a pacing role, much like at the SEC meet where two of Parker Valby’s teammates set the pace early and made sure she didn’t go out too quickly.
Taylor Roe’s early exit from the race was unplanned. She took a hard fall (which barely made it into the broadcast) on the third lap and her race was over. She seemed to be okay, though, because I saw her cooling down on the streets of Boston later.
Up front, four runners separated themselves early: Markezich, Valby, and Alabama’s Hilda Olemomoi and Doris Lemngole. Not wanting a repeat of the DMR, Markezich set a solid pace. She went through 1K in 2:55.60 and 2K in 5:53.38. With 900m to go, Valby moved to the lead, and only Markezich could stick with her. But one lap later, Markezich began to drop back as well. Valby ran her last kilometer in 2:48.04 and won in 8:41.50, taking 0.53 seconds off the meet record Jenny Simpson set in 2009.
Markezich took second in 8:46.71 and was much more pleased with her race this time out. She seems to understand that one can run very well and still finish second to Valby. Lemngole improved one spot from the 5,000m and took third in 8:50.70, a personal best. And Lexy Halladay-Lowry also improved on her 5,000m finish, taking fourth in 8:53.08. Olemomoi (fifth, 8:55.88), Riley Chamberlain (sixth, 8:56.89), Chloe Scrimgeour (seventh, 8:57.28), and Oregon’s Maddy Elmore (eighth, 8:58.52) grabbed the final All-American spots.
With the way she’s running, Valby seems highly unlikely to remain in the NCAA for much longer. She has made several mentions of this being her last NCAA indoor season. Though she has eligibility remaining, she is in her fourth year of college. I expect she will go pro at the end of the outdoor season. She’s already running pro-like times, without truly being pushed.
It’s been fun to watch her grow as a racer. When she began emerging as an NCAA star, her go-to strategy was to go hard from the gun. Just 16 months ago at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, she admitted she didn’t know how to run the tangents on a cross country course. This weekend, she proved to be a skilled racer. Though she says she doesn’t pay much attention to the clock, she knows how to progressively cut down her pace and make her competitors hurt.
I’ve also enjoyed seeing Valby get increasingly comfortable in front of the camera. She and ESPN sideline reporter John Anderson have developed a fun rapport, and she’s a little less filtered than many athletes, which makes for some fun sound bites. During the pre-race press conference, when asked about her training, she joked that she’s now running 90 miles per week. (Valby is known for her low mileage and intense cross training, mainly on the arc trainer.)
And when asked if she had a message for the girls and young women who look up to her, Valby said, “I would say just have fun with it. We’re running in circles; you can’t take it that seriously. At the end of the day, we’re like hamsters.” (3,000m results)
Other NCAA Indoor notes and highlights
Arkansas won the team title with 55 points, finishing five points ahead of Florida. It’s a good thing the meet didn’t come down to the 4x400m relay. Arkansas appeared to earn its third-straight 4x400m win, but they were later DQed for taking more than two steps out of their lane.
South Carolina’s JaMeesia Ford won the 200m in a pending world U20 indoor record of 22.34 seconds.
Arkansas’ Rachel Glenn cleared 2.00 meters to win the high jump, tying the collegiate record.
LSU’s Brianna Lyston won the 60m in 7.03 seconds, which is the fourth-fastest time in the world this year.
BYU coach Diljeet Taylor’s outfit on Friday night, a nod to the fact that it was International Women’s Day, was a head turner. Her pants featured photos of the athletes BYU had competing at the meet, and the back of her jacket said, “Watch Women’s Sports.” BYU had a strong showing at the meet, consistently outperforming their seeds.
Additional Results
Texas sophomore Elizabeth Leachman had quite the weekend. On Friday, she won the two-mile at Nike Indoor Nationals in New York City, running 9:44.16. After watching her go out way too hard in several races, it was nice to see her wait until just before halfway to take the lead and have it pay off. Utah’s Jane Hedengren finished second in an also-impressive 9:49.45. The following day, Leachman dominated the 5,000m, running 15:28.90 and breaking the national high school indoor record previously held by Katelyn Tuohy. (Results)
At New Balance National Indoors, the dueling national high school championship held in Boston, Ali Ince of Illinois broke her own meet record to win the 800m in 2:03.85. California’s Sadie Engelhardt broke Juliette Whittaker’s meet record to win the mile (4:36.36). Virginia’s Allie Zealand won a good battle in the two-mile in 9:47.57. (Speaking of NCAA indoors in the olden days, Zealand’s mother, Heather Sagan Zealand, won the NCAA Indoor mile title 22 years ago.) And North Carolina’s Cuthbertson High School destroyed both the 4 x mile (19:22.70) and DMR (11:17.50) national records. I watch all of the phenomenal high school performances and just hope that all of the athletes are getting good information about training and fueling and that they’re doing it all with the long term in mind. Because no level of success is worth it if you’re not getting there in a healthy manner. That’s true at all levels, but I think there’s sometimes less oversight and knowledge at the high school level. (Results)
Gracie Hyde of Adams State starred at the NCAA DII Indoor T&F Championships, winning the mile (4:38.74) and 3,000m (9:22.44), and anchoring her team’s winning distance medley relay. Florence Uwajeneza of West Texas A&M won a close 5,000m in 16:05.17, and Alaysia Brooks of Ohio’s Ursuline College won the 800m in 2:06.97. (Results)
Emma Kelley of Washington University set a DIII indoor record of 2:04.13 in winning the 800m at the NCAA DIII Indoor T&F Championships. St. Benedict’s Fiona Smith won the 5,000m (16:26.40) and 3,000m (9:25.97). The 5,000m win was dramatic and particularly fun to watch. And WPI’s Grace Hadley won the mile (4:42.36) and anchored her team’s winning distance medley relay. (Results)
Ethiopia’s Degitu Azimeraw won the Barcelona Marathon, her first marathon back after having a baby, in 2:19:52. (Results)
Japan’s Yuko Ando won the Nagoya Women’s Marathon in 2:21:18. Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase was in the race but apparently dropped out around 36K.
I’ll have more to say next week, when the event is over, but participants in Lululemon’s Further ultramarathon, a six-day race, started last Wednesday and they’re still going. Camille Herron has already set more records than I can keep track of (thank goodness other people are on top of that) and the event ends on Tuesday. I love how much Lululemon has invested in this event, the research they’re doing in conjunction with it, and the diversity among the participants. I only wish that making the event easy to follow had been a little more of a priority. There’s a leaderboard and there are many influencers providing updates, but some people have taken matters into their own hands.
Podcast Highlights
Nikki Hiltz was great on the Ali on the Run Show and the Citius Mag podcast, talking about their silver medal run at the World Athletics Indoor Championships. The episodes cover a lot of the same topics, but both are worth a listen. For a brief appearance from Hiltz’s mother, listen to AOTR. For the longer story of why Hiltz, Emily Mackay, and coach Mark Coogan might get matching Loch Ness Monster tattoos, listen to Citius.
I appreciated having the chance to hear Betsy Saina talk about her fifth-place finish at the Tokyo Marathon on the Citius Mag podcast. She also discussed how heartbreaking the Olympic Trials were for her, some of the specifics of her training, and said she’s hoping to make next year’s world championship team in the marathon.
If you want someone to convince you to go into coaching, or you could just use a coaching pep talk, BYU coach Diljeet Taylor was great on Case Studies.
On Women’s Running Stories, Rebecca Mehra talked about coming close to walking away from professional running, and why she hasn’t yet. Though I’d seen photos of her working out with the Brooks Beasts, it was interesting to hear her confirm that she is training with the team (while still being sponsored by Oiselle) and that Danny Mackey is her new coach.
Last week, former Nike runner Vanessa Fraser announced that she has signed with Saucony, and she talked about that in more detail on Long Run Lactic. She said she’s focused on finding her groove again this year. And my favorite line, when she was talking about how she got into the sport, was, “That was kind of my original running—pretending to be a horse.” (She was in first grade at the time.)
It was interesting to hear Olympian Shalaya Kipp talk about some of her recent research, including the study about how the underband of a sports bra affects one’s ability to breathe while running, on C Tolle Run.
Additional Episodes: Maia Ramsden on The Running Effect | Jackie Gaughan on the Ali on the Run Show | On Athletics Club assistant coach Kelsey Quinn on I’ll Have Another | Sabrina Little, author of the new book, The Examined Run, was on Rambling Runner and For the Long Run
Once again, I have run out of space and time to say much about what’s happening next weekend. (The TEN! The NYC Half Marathon!) And I didn’t have space to include an “other news” section this week, but I hope you caught the news about former Northeastern track coach Steve Waithe getting a five-year sentence for tricking women into sending him nude photos. (After Northeastern fired him, he got another coaching job, at Concordia University.)
A massive thanks to everyone who helps keep Fast Women going via your support on Patreon and Venmo. This newsletter truly would not be possible without you. I hope you all have a great week!
Alison
I went to both days of the NCAA Championships and it was fantastic. So many incredible stories, so much to see, so much action. Took my 7 yo grandson on Saturday and he had such a great time. Loved the relays, loved the mile and loved seeing the National Champions crowned. btw is there a more exciting 4ish minutes in sport than an indoor mile? Speed, strategy, and chaos is just so fun to watch. Disappointed that the meet did not get any coverage in the Boston Globe. Don't understand; sold out venue, local stories, a national championship, you'd think we would get something. Boston is a running town! Thanks for your coverage, as always, well done. Cheers!