Just like the menÂ’s NCAA sprint game, the womenÂ’s collegiate scene has a fresh new look with several of 2015Â’s biggest stars now getting paid to run. The losses of bronze medalists Trayvon Bromell and Andre De Grasse to the almighty dollar were the most notable this offseason, but the most impactful decision in regards to a 2016 NCAA Indoor title was undoubtably point machine Jenna PrandiniÂ’s signing with Puma ahead of her senior year. Runner-up in Fayetteville last March, Oregon now has to fill the void of an athlete that scored nearly half their points, not exactly a New YearÂ’s Resolution that coach Robert Johnson is prepared to fulfill. Losing a Bowerman winner, particularly one of PrandiniÂ’s value, hurts real bad.  

Additionally, the best 60m runner in NCAA history—Alabama’s Remona Burchell— graduated, taking with her the last two crowns over the distance. No one was close to the collegiate record holder in 2015, so while we the fans will miss her explosive speed, those who were on the receiving end of Burchell’s dominance aren’t exactly sad to see her go.

And of course, KentuckyÂ’s hurdle aficionado Keni Harrison has graduated as well, leaving behind her two crowns in the 60 and 100m hurdles. Like Burchell, sheÂ’ll be missed, but only by those of us in the stands.  

While three of last yearÂ’s most important sprinters arenÂ’t here anymore, that doesnÂ’t mean that the entire discipline is wide open. Returning are both the 200m and 400m champions, FloridaÂ’s Kyra Jefferson and TexasÂ’ Courtney Okolo, who will be favored to win titles again in 2016. Jefferson no longer has Prandini or outdoor 200m champion Dezerea Bryant to contend with, elevating her stock even more, while Okolo has proven that sheÂ’s the best quarter-miler in the NCAA when healthy. Of course, every year has its surprises, so who really knows. 

But with still two and a half months until the championships in Birmingham, these two ladies should bring some sense of familiarity back in 2016 to counterbalance the departures of Prandini, Burchell, and Harrison. Plus, as is always the case, when one superstar exits that opens a door for a star-in-waiting to take their place. No one is likely to replicate the massive production of 2015 Prandini, run 7.08 like Burchell, or set top-five marks in all three hurdle races like Harrison, but with a trio of the most talented athletes in the sportÂ’s history gone, the very fastest events are at least a little more accessible.

Now that you have some background, letÂ’s go ahead and break down the womenÂ’s sprints for the looming NCAA indoor season.

60m

After laying a large duck-sized egg by not even reaching the NCAA Outdoor 100m final in June, at her home Hayward Field no less, Oregon All-American Jasmine Todd did something two weeks later that most people didnÂ’t think she would do. She finished third at USAs, also at Hayward Field, qualifying for the World Championships by running 10.92, her first ever wind-legal sub-11. Three places ahead of NCAA 100m champ Prandini. She entered with just the 12th fastest qualifying mark, but off she went to Beijing. ThereÂ’s sports for ya!

The biggest plus for Todd pulling that remarkable turnaround was the invaluable sprint experience  she gained by competing at Worlds (BTW, she also qualified in the long jump), and not just competing, but medaling— she anchored the Team USA 4x1 to silver. Not bad for someone who was fifth in the NCAA semis and considers herself more of a jumper. 

With all that in the rearview mirror, itÂ’s time to build on her big summer by winning NCAA titles, something Todd has yet to do. 

After two straight years of finishing third in the NCAA 60, Todd, with that international experience in tow, is my pick to reign supreme in the event this March. As a sophomore in 2015, she ran the second-fastest time in the country, 7.15, and given her improvement in the 100, sheÂ’s primed to go much quicker in 2016. That should be daunting for someone like 2015 runner-up Ky Westbrook of USC, who represents ToddÂ’s toughest out in her path to NCAA glory this winter.

Once teammates in high school, Todd and Westbrook are the now the two favorites to claim the title as the NCAAÂ’s fastest woman. IÂ’m giving the edge to Todd because of that Beijing-induced swagger discussed above, but either way, the 60m champion seems certain to come from Chandler, Arizona.

TexasÂ’ Morolake Akinosun, second in the 100m outdoor, is likely the only person who can prevent that from happening.  

200m

Defending champ Kyra Jefferson of Florida faces a much easier path to the top this indoor season without Prandini (USA champ) and Bryant (NCAA champ), so sheÂ’s the obvious choice to win the 200m in Birmingham. Last year, Jefferson dethroned KentuckyÂ’s Bryant after finishing second to her at NCAAs a year prior, although they each raced in separate sections both years. 

The Gator won SECs indoor and outdoor, beating Bryant both times, the latter of which went on to win in Eugene in a stunning 22.18, second-fastest ever for a collegiate. That shows you the type of athlete Jefferson is, and also how good she can become, with another year of terror left to inflict on the NCAA (and two more outdoor!).

The Florida star was fourth in that wildly fast outdoor final in June, running a 22.24 PR that slotted her at seventh all-time in NCAA history and the fastest ever for a sophomore. After making history as a part of the deepest 200m in college history, Jefferson is ready to make 2016 her year, both indoor and outdoor. 

Without Bryant and Prandini there to stop her, that should be no problem for the champ. The next best returner from last yearÂ’s indoor final was over three-tenths of second behind Jefferson, with a similar margin outdoor, so itÂ’s hard to imagine the 200m crown not returning to Gainesville this season. 

400m

Despite a untimely injury last spring that derailed her 2014 NCAA outdoor 400m title defense, TexasÂ’ Courtney Okolo returns in 2016 as the favorite to take home her second straight indoor victory. The two-time NCAA champ scratched outdoor prelims in May with a minor calf tear, which prevented her from chasing a repeat, and also compromised her buildup to USAs where she failed to make it out of the semi-finals.

But letÂ’s not forget that this is a person who won in Fayetteville in March by four-tenths of a second, and just 10 months before that, set the collegiate record as a sophomore with a 50.03 at Big 12 Outdoor. If not for that calf tear, there would be no debating on the topic of the 2016 NCAA indoor womenÂ’s 400.

But alas, the tear happened, and even with Okolo returning later in the summer to beat outdoor champ Kala Funderburk (who graduated in December) at NACACs, there are names worth mentioning as it relates to potential challengers for the Texas senior.

The two primary threats to Okolo will be Taylor Ellis-Watson of Arkansas and Shamier Little of Texas A&M, second and fourth respectively at the indoor championships in 2015. Ellis-Watson wrapped up her breakout 2015 season with a fourth place finish at NCAA outdoor, while all Little did was nab silver at the World Championships in her speciality,  the 400m hurdles. Little could prove to be particularly dangerous in 2016, as her hurdle strength serves her well in the indoor 400m, which runs much differently than the outdoor event. 

60m Hurdles

Gone is last yearÂ’s queen of the hurdles, KentuckyÂ’s Kendra Harrison, who had crazy range in all three hurdle races. Harrison owns top-five all-time marks in the 60h, 100h, and 400h, the first two of which she won NCAA titles in 2015. SheÂ’s the only person in history to crack all three lists, so her graduation is a pretty big game-changer in the hurdles as you can imagine.

At the top of a now somewhat wide open 60m hurdle race is MichiganÂ’s Cindy Ofili, who made a dent on the record book herself by finishing runner-up to Harrison in JuneÂ’s 100m hurdle final in 12.60, seventh in NCAA history. The Brit went on to compete at the World Championships in the event, good experience for her heading into 2016 despite getting bounced in the semis. 

The senior-to-be DNFÂ’d in the 60 hurdles in 2015 after tumbling over a hurdle, but she was sixth in the event in 2014 so she clearly knows what sheÂ’s doing. Based on that incredible 12.60, expect her to lower that 8.07 PR.

Ofili’s toughest challenge will come from USC’s Dior Hall, who ran a stunning 8.01 in the NCAA prelim that was the third-fastest in all of 2015. She disappointed in the final, as freshmen are prone to do, but with the expected leap in year two, Dior Hall should be incredibly dangerous. She was third— a place behind Ofili— in the NCAA 100m hurdle final in June.