By Carter Melrose
With two Big Ten champions and many shattered school records, the Iowa indoor track finale is likely to be exciting as well. Starting today and ending Saturday the NCAA Indoor Championships will take place in College Station, Texas.
This year has definitely been a notable one, worthy of being made into a scrapbook. But this is the entire country we are talking about, and Iowa, as of March 6, ranks just 16th on the men’s side and unranked on the women’s side in Division 1. That means there is a lot of talent attending this party.
Iowa athletes participating
 The Iowa men will have four individuals competing at the NCAAs, as well as the 4×400 meter relay team of Emmanuel Ogwo, DeJuan Frye, Collin Hofacker, and Mar’Yea Harris. That relay heads to College Station with the sixth-fastest time in the country this season.
Aaron Mallett will try for a national title in the 60-meter hurdles; he comes in with the third-fastest time. The two-time Big Ten champion is one of the favorites heading into the event.
Harris will compete in the 400 meters in addition to the relay. He also has a shot at earning Iowa quite a few points; he enters the NCAAs with the fourth-fastest time in the country.
O’Shea Wilson will compete in the long jump, where he ranks 10th this season, and Carter Lilly will run the 800 meters, in which he ranks 12th.
The women will send two athletes to College Station, and both are good bets to score points for the Hawkeyes.
Brittany Brown, a Big Ten champion in the 200 meters, will compete in that race at NCAAs. She ranks fourth in the country.
Jahisha Thomas will also make the trip for Iowa, and she ranks 11th in the long jump.
Team to watch: Florida (No. 1 for men, No. 11 for women)
As in most college sports, the teams that thrive the most are the ones with Olympic talent. These are the type of athletes that Florida possesses. One is true freshman Grant Holloway, who ranks first in the 60-meter hurdles and second in the long jump.
Team to watch: Oregon (Ranked No. 3 for men, No. 1 for women)
With all of the glitz and glam that goes along with Oregon athletics, the track team backs it up. Oregon has historically (and that history is on-going) been one of the best teams in the country. That’s no different this season, as both the men and women rank in the top three.
Short and middle distance is the reason Oregon ranks first in the country on the women’s side. Bolstered by Hannah Cunliffe and Deajah Stevens, who are No. 1 and No. 2 in the country in the 200 meters. Then there’s Raevyn Rogers, the crowning jewel of Oregon track over the last three years. Rogers is a three-time 800-meter champion, and she expects to add some more hardware to her collection.