The indoor track and field season about to get in full swing, and you likely won’t hear much about it, unless somebody breaks a collegiate record, with a name that happens to be trending. There are a whole bunch of talented athletes out there, competing in a sport that ESPN and all their friends in the media can’t be bothered to cover. NCAA track and field gets so little attention that they ESPN won’t even provide access to results on their own app, when they are televising the event themselves.

College track and field recruiting also goes under the radar. But if if you really want to know who has the talent to dominate the NCAA, you can figure it out before the gun goes off. Anyone who is going to win anything of note has already been doing it prior to getting to college. They just have to do what they are capable of wearing a new uniform. So here is a breakdown of the top 5 freshmen, on the ladies side who have the potential to dominate the NCAA this season.

5) Lauren Lewis – Texas (400 meter dash)

Lauren Lewis will be competing for the Texas Longhorns this season. She was the fastest girl in the nation in the 400 meter dash running 51.45. But that is not the only reason she is on this list. She later ran at the USATF Under 20 championships and finished second overall behind only Christine Mallard of USC. She improved a lot throughout her high school career already. So there is no reason to believe that she can’t make the NCAA finals in her signature event with a new PR.

4) Sophia Gorriaran (800 meter) 

Sophia Gorriaran could easily be ranked a little higher. She will be competing for Harvard in the Ivy League, which is proof that their team is just about as good anyone else in the country at this point. She is primarily an 800 meter runner who won the New Balance National meet in that event, and beat the Gatorade athlete of the year Angelina Napoleon to do it. She then won the USATF Under 20 championship as well. She has honestly been really fast since her sophomore year of high school, so she is a legitimate threat to make a final in the NCAA 800 right now.

3) Amanda Moll – Washington (PV)

Amanda Moll is a pole vaulter who will be competing for the Washington Huskies. But she is so good that her seasons best as both a high school junior, and senior would have been able to win the NCAA championships in 2023 outdoors. She literally just has to go out and be herself this year, and that is good enough to get her on the podium. The vault doesn’t get a lot of attention, but she is giving fans a reason to change that.

2) Shawnti Jackson – Arkansas (Sprints)

Shawnti Jackson is perhaps the most recognizable girl from the high school track scene. She is now competing for the Arkansas Razorbacks and is the daughter of Bershawn “Batman” Jackson, the Olympic 400 meter hurdler. That said she earned this spot by breaking the high school national record in the 100 meter dash, winning the USATF under 20 event in the 200 meter dash, and still ranking inside the top 5 for the 400 meter. The question really isn’t if she can make a final at the NCAA meet. It is what might she do once she is there.

1)    Hana Moll – Washington (PV)

The top name on this list is incredibly familiar because her sister is also on it. Hana Moll is the top girls track and field recruit in the class of 2023 and that is a ranking she earned. Remember Amanda was already good enough to win the NCAA championships out of high school. But Hana has jumped even higher. Between both of them the Huskies have a shot at banking 18 points from the vault alone. However, the fact that she jumped higher than any woman in the NCAA ever did last season, makes it clear that she is the woman to beat. Even as a freshman right now.

The Bottom Line

College track and field is so competitive that it might as well be professional level. Many talented freshmen have come to college and things did not go as planned. However, each of the names on this list have what it takes not just to compete but to win. Some of them might take longer than others to climb to the top of the leaderboards, but winning is the ultimate goal for all of them. If they do win, the only reason that it happened so soon, is because they’ve already done it before. They just weren’t competing in the NCAA at the time.

LOOK GOOD, FEEL GOOD, RUN GOOD.

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