Now that we have a fairly firm fix on what collegiate track rosters will look like for the 2019 season—there will be updates when the next semesters/quarters roll around of course—let’s take a peek at who the NCAA Outdoor Championships might crown as winners in Austin on the second weekend of next June.
ON THE MEN’S SIDE, veteran prognosticator John Auka projects another great down-to-the-wire battle for the team title, with Texas A&M edging Georgia by a single point, with Florida not far behind. The men’s picks:
Men’s Teams
1. Texas A&M 59; 2. Georgia 58; 3. Florida 51; 4. LSU 45; 5. Alabama 38.
Men’s Individuals
(# = defending champ)
100—Andre Ewers (Florida State); 200—#Divine Oduduru (Texas Tech); 400—Kahmari Montgomery (Houston); 800—Marco Arop (Mississippi State); 1500—Oliver Hoare (Wisconsin); Steeple—#Obsa Ali (Minnesota); 5000—Grant Fisher (Stanford); 10,000—Vincent Kiprop (Alabama); 110H—#Grant Holloway (Florida); 400H—Quincy Hall (South Carolina); 4×1—Florida; 4×4—Texas A&M; HJ—#Tejaswin Shankar (Kansas State); PV—Mondo Duplantis (LSU); LJ—Holloway; TJ—#Tahar Triki (Texas A&M); SP—Denzel Comenentia (Georgia); DT—Greg Thompson (Maryland); HT—#Comenentia; JT—#Anderson Peters (Mississippi State); Dec—Harrison Williams (Stanford).
ON THE WOMEN’S SIDE, our crystal-balling was done by longtime predictor Jack Pfeifer, who currently sees USC repeating as No. 1 by 8 points over Oregon. The women’s picks:
Women’s Teams
1. USC 65; 2. Oregon 57; 3. Georgia 50; 4. Arkansas 48; 5. Florida 42
Women’s Individuals
100—Twanisha Terry (USC); 200—Lynna Irby (Georgia); 400—#Irby; 800—#Sammy Watson (Texas A&M); 1500—Katie Rainsberger (Washington); Steeple—#Allie Ostrander (Boise State); 5000—Lilli Burdon (Washington); 10,000—Dorcas Wasike (Louisville); 100H—Payton Chadwick (Arkansas); 400H—Anna Cockrell (USC); 4×1—USC; 4×4—Oregon); HJ—#Alexus Henry (UT Arlington); PV—#Olivia Gruver (Washington); LJ—Tara Davis (Georgia); TJ—Yanis David (Florida); SP—Alyssa Wilson (UCLA); DT—Shadae Lawrence (Colorado State); HT—Veronika Kaňuchová (Florida State); JT—#Mackenzie Little (Stanford); Hept—Louisa Grauvogel (Georgia). □