Washington’s Gruver reaches rarefied air again to conclude collegiate career with No. 2 all-time indoor clearance

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Editor’s Note: We’ll never know. Over this weekend, where the tracks are empty at The Armory in New York, the Convention Center in Albuquerque, N.M., the CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala., and JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C., athletes were prepared to go off. To see months of work pay off. To peak. Of the many things lost this weekend in the U.S., in the track and field world there were lost opportunities to shine and to make history as a result of the cancellation of several championship events. But we can’t forget the season that abruptly ended Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon.

Here are the 10 best NCAA Division 1 women’s performances, along with the top efforts of the year in Division 2 and Division 3, from the ill-fated 2020 indoor season for college track and field.

1. Olivia Gruver, Washington, pole vault – Toyota USATF Indoor Championships, Feb. 15

When the only two female vaulters in the United States ranked ahead of you are the past two World Indoor Champions in Sandi Morris and Jenn Suhr, you know you’re in good company.

Gruver, a fifth-year senior, had the opportunity to compete against Morris and Suhr at U.S. Indoors at Albuquerque Convention Center and finished third with a 15-5 (4.70m) clearance on her first attempt, equaling the No. 8 mark in the world this year.

Gruver – already the collegiate outdoor record holder at 15-6.25 (4.73m) – elevated to the No. 2 all-time NCAA indoor performer, trailing only the 15-7 (4.75m) achieved by Demi Payne of Stephen F. Austin in Albuquerque in 2015.

Gruver, who took six attempts at matching or surpassing the collegiate indoor record during the season, joined Payne as the only two vaulters in NCAA history to clear at least 15-5 both indoors and outdoors.

Gruver, a two-time NCAA Division 1 champion, equaled the No. 8 all-time indoor clearance in American history and matched the No. 35 all-time mark in the world.

2. Katie Izzo, Arkansas, 5,000 meters – Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, Dec. 7

With Razorbacks’ teammate Taylor Werner competing unattached and one of the deepest collegiate fields in history assembled at Boston University, Izzo’s first indoor track race for Arkansas was a memorable one after contributing to an NCAA Division 1 cross country team title with a third-place individual finish two weeks earlier.

Izzo clocked 15:13.09 to place second behind Werner (15:11.19), but elevated to No. 2 all-time by an NCAA performer, trailing only the collegiate record of 15:12.22 produced by Providence’s Emily Sisson in 2015.

Izzo’s effort ranked No. 11 in the world this year, with the top 35 marks all achieved from one of four 5,000 races held at Boston University.

Izzo also improved to No. 16 in American indoor history and No. 42 all-time in the world.

3. Nia Akins, Penn, 800 meters – David Hemery Valentine Invitational, Feb. 14

Although her effort might have been overshadowed by some of the outstanding professional performances at the meet at Boston University, those in the NCAA ranks were well aware of the significance of Akins’ race.

The senior clocked 2:00.71, just two-hundredths off the collegiate record set in 2017 by former Texas A&M standout and reigning NCAA Division 1 outdoor champion Jazmine Fray.

In addition to Ohio Northern graduate Emily Richards – the NCAA Division 3 record holder – being in the field, Akins also had the benefit of competing against professionals Cynthia Anais from France, Ce’Aira Brown from the U.S., and Maite Bouchard from Canada.

In addition to holding off Anais (2:00.76) for the victory, Akins elevated to the No. 7 indoor performer in the world this year. She also ranked No. 20 in American indoor history.

4. Tonea Marshall, LSU, 60-meter hurdles – Corky Classic, Jan. 18

Having never eclipsed the 8-second barrier entering this year, Marshall established the foundation for one of the strongest and most consistent seasons by any collegiate hurdler in history by running 7.86 seconds at Texas Tech, equal to No. 5 in the world this year.

It was the second-fastest collegiate performance ever produced in January – trailing only the NCAA record 7.78 run in 2013 by Brianna McNeal of Clemson – as Marshall went on to run seven straight races at 8.00 seconds or faster, including three under 7.90.

The latter achievement was only previously accomplished in the same season by McNeal seven years ago.

Marshall concluded the season as the No. 3 all-time collegiate indoor performer and equaled No. 22 in American history.

5. Weini Kelati, New Mexico, 5,000 meters – Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, Dec. 7

The only competition among the top 10 that produced two performances in the same race was the memorable matchup at Boston University involving Kelati, Arkansas’ Katie Izzo and the unattached Razorbacks’ standout Taylor Werner.

Kelati, a junior, had run 15:15.24 the previous year in Boston to place second behind New Mexico teammate Ednah Kurgat (15:14.78). But this time, Kelati was coming off a victory two weeks earlier at the NCAA Division 1 cross country final, prevailing against both Izzo and Werner.

The three runners broke away from the pack early, but Kelati wasn’t able to match the late surge of the Arkansas teammates and placed third in 15:14.71, elevating to No. 12 in the world this year.

Not only did Kelati eclipse Kurgat’s program record, but she elevated to the No. 4 all-time collegiate indoor performer behind former Providence standouts Emily Sisson (15:12.22) and Kim Smith (15:14.09), with Izzo (15:13.09) sandwiched in between.

The race produced five of the top 20 collegiate performances in history.

6. Tamara Clark, Alabama, 300 meters – UAB Blazer Invitational, Jan. 10

Returning to the CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala. – site of her runner-up finish in the 200 meters at last year’s NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships – Clark’s indoor opener was perhaps the most underrated performance of the year by a collegiate female athlete.

The junior ran 36.56 seconds to rank No. 2 in the world this year, trailing only the 36.52 achieved by former Harvard star, collegiate indoor 200-meter record holder and New Balance professional Gabby Thomas.

Clark elevated to the No. 3 all-time collegiate indoor performer, trailing only Nebraska’s Merlene Ottey (1981) and Kentucky’s Sydney McLaughlin (2017).

Clark matched the No. 14 indoor performer in American history and equaled No. 24 all-time in the world.

7. Abby Steiner, Kentucky, 200 meters – Southeastern Conference Championships, Feb. 29

One of the most impressive efforts to be achieved at any conference championship meet was by the Kentucky sophomore, who ran a world-leading 22.57 seconds to elevate to the No. 15 all-time collegiate indoor performer at Gilliam Indoor Stadium at Texas A&M.

Running in the same section as 60-meter champion Tamara Clark of Alabama, Steiner not only improved on her previous indoor best of 22.73 from the prelims, but she also ran faster than her outdoor PR of 22.59 from last year’s SEC Championships, where she placed second behind LSU’s Sha’Carri Richardson.

The conference indoor 200 final not only produced three of the four fastest collegiate times of the year, but also in the world, with Clark clocking 22.69 and LSU’s Symone Mason running 22.76.

Steiner matched the No. 16 performer in American indoor history and equaled No. 26 all-time in the world.

8. Grace Stark, Florida, 60-meter hurdles – Southeastern Conference Championships, Feb. 29

It is rare for a collegiate season not to produce at least one World U-20 record, so the talented freshman accomplished the feat not just once, but twice in consecutive days at Gilliam Indoor Stadium at Texas A&M.

Former Georgia standout Tara Davis ran 7.98 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles on the same track at the 2018 NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships to eclipse the 2017 standard of 8.00 achieved by Poland’s Klaudia Siciarz.

Stark clocked 7.93 in the semifinals, followed by 7.91 in the final to elevate to No. 9 in the world this year.

Although Stark finished second in the final behind LSU senior Tonea Marshall (7.89), she improved to the No. 11 all-time collegiate indoor performer and No. 31 all-time in American history.

9. Dani Jones, Colorado, Wanamaker Mile – 113th NYRR Millrose Games, Feb. 8

With national indoor records being achieved by each of the top four professional finishers during a historic race at The Armory in New York City, it would have been easy for Jones’ performance to get lost in the shuffle.

Although she finished seventh in a personal-best 4:27.88, Jones elevated to the No. 6 all-time NCAA indoor performer, just barely missing the collegiate indoor mark for 1,500 meters en route to her final time.

Jones clocked 4:10.11 for her 1,500 split, second only to former Dartmouth star Abbey Cooper, who ran 4:09.77 in 2014 en route to a 4:28.31 mile at Boston University.

The Wanamaker Mile produced the top 11 women’s times in the world this year on a standard 200-meter banked track and seven of the top 10 global performances on any indoor surface, with Jones’ mark ranking ninth overall.

Jones also elevated to the No. 25 indoor mile performer in American history.

10. Brigham Young distance medley relay – Washington Invitational, Feb. 1

The term “run it back” took on new meaning for the Cougars, when they were forced to contest the relay in consecutive days after an error in lap counting during the original race resulted in several teams having the 800-meter leg passing the baton to the anchor 1,600-meter leg one lap too soon.

The second act turned out to be even more impressive for the BYU quartet of Anna Camp-Bennett, Alena Ellsworth, Lauren Ellsworth and Whittni Orton, who ran not only a Dempsey facility record of 10:53.95, but the fastest time on an oversized track in collegiate indoor history.

The Cougars broke their own program record from last season to achieve a mark that would rank as the No. 7 school in NCAA history on any surface and No. 12 all-time globally for any indoor DMR quartet, including the top time regardless of track size in the world this year.

Division 2: Saint Augustine’s 4x400-meter relay – USC Indoor Open, Feb. 22

Lincoln University in Missouri has held the Division 2 indoor 4x400 relay record of 3:39.24 since 1997, but that standard received a major challenge when Jaria Hoyte, Danielle Scantlebury, Davia Smith and Shannon Kalawan put a significant scare into the all-time mark by clocking 3:39.39 in South Carolina.

Although the host Gamecocks, the reigning NCAA Division 1 indoor champions, won the race in 3:34.13, it was only the third time a Division 2 program had ever run under 3:40 indoors.

San Francisco State also made a strong run at the record last year by clocking 3:39.72 in New Mexico, but this was the closest any team came to challenging a Division 2 indoor relay record this season.

Kalawan anchored in 53.66 to help the Falcons elevate to No. 4 all-time among Historically Black Colleges and Universities, trailing only Division 1 programs North Carolina A&T, Howard and Hampton.

Division 3: Parley Hannan, Ithaca, 5,000 meters – David Hemery Valentine Invitational, Feb. 14

With New Balance professional Jenny Simpson chasing the Olympic standard, Colorado All-Americans Dani Jones and Makena Morley seeking NCAA Division 1 qualifying marks and last year’s 5,000 winner Emeline Delanis of Boston College looking to eclipse 16 minutes for the first time, all of the factors played positively in the favor of the sophomore Hannan, who smashed the NCAA Division 3 all-time record.

Hannan finished fifth in 16:05.36, eclipsing the mark of 16:23.12 set last year by Coast Guard’s Kaitlyn Mooney.

Sydney Packard of Worcester Polytechnic Institute set the division record in the 1,000 meters and elevated to No. 3 all-time in the 800, but Hannan’s effort was by far the most dominant by any Division 3 athlete in any event this season.

So much so that Hannan – the reigning NCAA Division 3 cross country champion – ranked No. 23 overall among collegiate indoor performers, regardless of divisions, in the 5,000 this season.