NCAA Indoor National Championships Preview

Today’s the day!
The sun is shining!

And it’s time for Nationals!!

Here is the link to the Early Session: NCAA Men’s & Women’s Indoor Track & Field Championships (Early Session)

Here’s the Early Session’s Scheduled Events:

Oklahoma will have both women qualifiers going today:
Pippi Lotta Enok in the Pentathlon, based on her best performance of 4207… she is slotted as the 8th best Pentathlete in the competition.
Pippi Lotta will have a good shot to break her own school record and her best is only 107 points off from the #1 rated Pentathlete as well. So, she has a chance to make some noise and do something that OU has ever had in Indoor Track and Field… a Pentathlete National Champion.

Olivia Lueking in the Pole Vault, based on her best jump of 4.33m… she is slotted as the 13th best Pole Vaulter in the competition.
Olivia is back in the National Championships for the 2nd straight year in the Pole Vault. She knows the pressure that comes with competing for a National Title. She finished 4th with a 4.41m last year and is looking to match that mark for the first time this season. If she breaks out of this sophomore slump, I think she can get back into the top 5 category. Might be too tall an order for a National Championship.

Day 1 for the men will happen tonight at 7pm on ESPN+ (link)

Here’s the Schedule of Events for the Men:

OU will see Kristo Simulask in the Heptathlon and Nikaoli Williams in the Long Jump.

Kristo being the #9th rated Heptathlete based on his best performance of 5939.
Kristo didn’t qualify for Indoor Nationals last year, so making it is a HUGE accomplishment. Kristo really starting to explode into a great Multi-Event Athlete and I think he’s primed for a huge Friday and Saturday! He’ll be one to watch!
Nikaoli being the #5th rated Long Jumper based on his best performance of 8.06m.
Nikaoli just jumping his best jump without anything else going on has a shot at a Top 5 finish. Considering how good the USA is year in and year out in the Long Jump, this is nothing to scoff at. But I don’t think he’s just been sitting around waiting for Nationals to start. I think he makes some noise as well and get himself a Top 3 finish and breaks his own School Record.

I think OU is primed for a special 2 days.

They have 0 shot to win the women’s title, and if all 3 individuals and the 4x400m relay all win their events… That’s 40 points. Based on last year’s results, that would be good enough for runner up by 7 points. So, the men have plenty to compete for with there only being 40 points available for them to earn.

I will post what I was able to watch, my analysis, and my thoughts on each athlete tomorrow after the competition has been completed!

Picture Credit: Gage Hensey on twitter