How Tough Is It To Make NCAA Indoors? We Compare 2025 Standards To 2015
How Tough Is It To Make NCAA Indoors? We Compare 2025 Standards To 2015
We compared the qualifying cut-off marks for the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships to those from 10 years ago. Here is how much they've progressed.
Just how difficult has it gotten to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships?
Let's just say you have to log some of the top marks in the world to make the 16-athlete championship fields.
We took a look at this year's marks needed to make the 2025 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship heats compared to those required 10 years ago for the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships.
While a handful of cut-off times and measurements were similar -- mainly in some field events -- most qualifying standards where much tougher in 2025. Here's the breakdown:
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Comparing NCAA Indoor Championships Men's Qualifying Cut-Off Marks - 2015 And 2025
Event | 2015 Qualifying Cut-Off | 2025 Qualifying Cut-Off |
60m | 6.63 | 6.57 |
200m | 20.91 | 20.66 |
400m | 46.46 | 45.88 |
800m | 1:48.28 | 1:46.62 |
One Mile | 3:58.54 | 3:54.12 |
3,000m | 7:53.27 | 7:40.38 |
5,000m | 13:48.34 | 13:21.11 |
60m Hurdles | 7.79 | 7.61 |
4x400m | 3:07.44 | 3:05.11 |
Distance Medley Relay | 9:32.61 | 9:21.23 |
High Jump | 2.20m | 2.21m |
Pole Vault | 5.46m | 5.58m |
Long Jump | 7.69m | 7.82m |
Triple Jump | 15.92m | 15.95m |
Shot Put | 19.35m | 19.38m |
Weight Throw | 21.39m | 22.71m |
Heptathlon | 5,546 | 5,772 |
Comparing NCAA Indoor Championships Women's Qualifying Cut-Off Marks - 2015 And 2025
Event | 2015 Qualifying Cut-Off | 2025 Qualifying Cut-Off |
60m | 7.3 | 7.21 |
200m | 23.5 | 22.96 |
400m | 52.82 | 51.86 |
800m | 2:04.87 | 2:01.99 |
One Mile | 4:40.69 | 4:29.49 |
3,000m | 9:08.91 | 8:48.96 |
5,000m | 16:02.54 | 15:28.29 |
60m Hurdles | 8.22 | 8.1 |
4x400m | 3:35.26 | 3:30.80 |
Distance Medley Relay | 11:05.38 | 10:51.88 |
High Jump | 1.83m | 1.85m |
Pole Vault | 4.27m | 4.46m |
Long Jump | 6.30m | 6.49m |
Triple Jump | 12.90m | 13.37m |
Shot Put | 16.71m | 17.63m |
Weight Throw | 20.86m | 21.75m |
Pentathlon | 4,138 | 4,183 |
Which Events Saw The Biggest And Smallest Jumps?
At first glance, one event group shows the most obvious leap in terms of faster qualifying times for the indoor championships -- distance.
The women's mile saw the biggest percent decrease from 2015 to 2025 as the qualifying mark got nearly four percent faster. In fact, every women's distance event saw the time cut-offs drop by over 3.5 percent, from the women's 3k (3.6 percent decrease) to the women's 5k (just over 3.5 percent).
In fact, looking across the entries for the men's and women's distance events in 2015, some of the top seeds wouldn't have even made the field in 2025. 2015 NCAA-leading entrants Cristian Soratos (Men's Mile, 3:55.22), Eric Jenkins (Men's 3k, 7:44.91; Men's 5k, 13:31.76), Colleen Quigley (Women's Mile, 4:29.67) and Dominique Scott (Women's 3k, 8:52.57) all wouldn't have made the cut for the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships.
On the sprints side, many events showed significant improvements, many standards dropping by over two percent.
Which event saw the smallest jump? That would be the men's high jump, as the 2015 cut-off was 2.20m and only jumped up to 2.21m in 2025.
Many of the field event qualifying standards compare similar between the two different championships. The women's high jump only saw the cut-off bar move up by .02m from 1.83m to 1.85m, and both the men's shot put and triple jump saw the standards only increase by .03m.
Granted, this comparison doesn't look each championship that's been held between 2015 and 2025 to see if the increase is proportional year over year. But what we can certainly conclude is that, yes, the NCAA has continued to grow with its elite-level competition at the D1 Indoor Championships.
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