Florida’s Valby lowers December effort at Boston University to 14:52.79 at TRACK at New Balance to win first career indoor championship; Notre Dame’s O'Brien clinches back-to-back pentathlon titles behind strong 800, with Chamberlain rallying BYU to DMR victory, Iowa State’s Willits delivering clutch sixth-round long jump to prevail and Moll capturing first indoor women’s pole vault crown for Washington

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Photos by David Hicks and Kirby Lee/Image of Sport

BOSTON, Mass. – Parker Valby got her second collegiate 5,000-meter record this season, both in the same city.

Brigham Young celebrated its second women’s distance medley relay crown in four years, both capped by an incredible celebration on the track including energetic coach Diljeet Taylor.

And Jadin O’Brien captured her second straight pentathlon title Friday, this victory even more a testament to her mental toughness, courage and determination than even her inspiring performance last season at the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships.

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The TRACK at New Balance also showcased Iowa State junior Sydney Willits achieving three personal-best efforts, including the final one in the sixth round to rally for the long jump crown, in addition to freshman Hana Moll winning the first indoor women’s pole vault title in Washington program history.

And Florida concluded the second women’s session in the three-day schedule as the team leader with 24 points, relying on Valby’s triumph and a runner-up finish by Claire Bryant in the long jump, as well as a third-place performance in the DMR.

After being challenged for the first 17 laps by Oklahoma State’s Taylor Roe – the 2022 Division 1 3,000-meter champion – Valby eventually pulled away to prevail in 14:52.79, lowering her collegiate all-time mark from 14:56.11 achieved Dec. 2 at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener at Boston University.

Valby, who earned her first NCAA indoor championship following cross country and outdoor titles, covered the final 1,600 in 4:37.50, with Roe finishing second in 15:15.01, followed by Alabama teammates and Kenyan athletes Hilda Olemomoi (15:17.27) and Doris Lemngole (15:17.43).

BYU’s Lexy Halladay-Lowry (15:20.73), Oklahoma State’s Molly Born (15:20.89), Georgetown’s Chloe Scrimgeour (15:21.80) and North Carolina State’s Grace Hartman (15:28.57) all produced personal-best efforts to earn All-America first-team honors by securing fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth place.

Inspired by Halladay-Lowry, along with Meghan Hunter qualifying for the 800-meter final, BYU rallied from seventh-place behind Riley Chamberlain’s 4:27.78 anchor leg to capture the DMR crown again in 10:51.42 after winning the 2021 title during the COVID-19 pandemic in front of a limited audience at Randal Tyson Track Center in Arkansas.

Sadie Sargent, Sami Oblad, Carlee Hansen and Chamberlain embraced beyond the finish line with Taylor, who was wearing a custom pair of pants that featured images of her student-athletes screened on the fabric created for her by BYU men’s basketball player Trey Stewart as part of his “Default Happiness” clothing line, in addition to a black top with the message printed on the back, “Watch Women’s Sports.”

Notre Dame was second in 10:53.14, with Olivia Markezich the lone returning member from last year’s third-place lineup in Albuquerque, joining Sophie Novak and true freshmen Jordyn Borsch and Gretchen Farley on the quartet, followed by Florida (10:54.40), Arkansas (10:56.15), Oregon (10:57.24), Providence (10:57.34), Oklahoma State (10:57.54) and Penn State (10:57.65).

Valby watched in the final laps of her 5,000 as Bryant took a temporary lead in the sixth round with a 22-0.25 (6.71m) effort, only to have Willits respond with yet another lifetime-best performance of 22-1.50 (6.74m) on the final attempt of the competition to secure the dramatic victory.

Willits improved by 30 centimeters during the final, producing personal-best marks of 21-6 (6.55m) in the opening round and 21-11 (6.68m) on her fifth attempt, winning the first women’s indoor crown by an Iowa State female athlete since Christina Hillman prevailed in the shot put in 2014.

Moll encountered an unexpected miss early in the women’s pole vault final at 14-5.25 (4.40m), allowing Charlotte senior Riley Felts to grab the advantage all the way through their clearances at 14-9 (4.50m).

But once Felts encountered her first miss at 14-11 (4.55m), Moll capitalized immediately by clearing that bar, followed by 15-1 (4.60m), both on her opening attempts, before challenging herself with three tries at the Olympic standard of 15-6.25 (4.73m).

Although Olivia Gruver boasts the Washington indoor program record and ranks No. 2 all-time in collegiate indoor history at 15-5 (4.70m), Moll captured the first pole vault championship for the Huskies since Kate Soma secured the outdoor crown in 2005.

Rutgers’ Chloe Timberg and High Point’s Sydney Horn both cleared 14-7.25 (4.45m) to tie for third.

O’Brien, who overcame multiple injuries just to qualify for the Division 1 indoor final, rallied again from third place overall by clocking 2:13.30 in the 800 meters to triumph in the pentathlon with 4,497 points.

O’Brien, who joined Arizona State’s Jacquelyn Johnson, Oregon’s Brianne Theisen-Eaton and Georgia’s Kendell Williams as the only female athletes in NCAA Division 1 indoor history to win back-to-back pentathlon crowns.

Ball State’s Jenelle Rogers, the leader entering the 800, placed second with a personal-best 4,430 points and Latvian competitor Kristine Blazevica won the final event in 2:13.19 to take third overall at 4,427 points.

USC’s Allie Jones, the collegiate leader this season at 4,528 points, finished fourth with 4,369, followed by Latvian athlete Eliza Kraule of Rice at 4,353, Wichita State’s Destiny Masters accumulating 4,338, Swedish athlete Angel Richmore of Oklahoma with 4,320 and Colorado’s Avery McMullen earning 4,259.

Kraule, Masters, Richmore and McMullen all achieved personal-best efforts to finish fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth overall, capturing All-America first-team recognition.