Top women's events and athletes to watch during NCAA Track & Field Championships

Can anyone catch Texas?

That'll be worth watching as the women's portion of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship meet gets underway Thursday and concludes Saturday at Hayward Field.

The Longhorns are loaded.

They should have top-end scorers potential in the 100, 200 and 400 meters, a pair of championship-quality relay teams, and point-potential in all the jumps and the heptathlon.

"I don't think it's any secret why we're here," Texas coach Edrick Floréal said. "We're here for one reason, and that's to try and win a national championship. Those are hard to come by and whenever you're in position you try and do the best you can to attain that."

Live updates:NCAA Track & Field Championships: Decathlon is underway; Ducks' Vollmer in fourth

Florida, however, has Anna Hall, the top heptathlete in the U.S. who is also entered in the 400 hurdles and 4x400. The Gators also have Jasmine Moore, who has legit potential to sweep the long jump and triple jump titles.

But coach Mike Holloway said all events will matter for the Gators as they attempt to mount what could be the most serious threat to the Longhorns' coronation.

"I don't think you can single out one event and say 'We have to do well in this one,'" Florida coach Mike Holloway said. "If there's a uniform on a Gator athlete, that event's important for us."

Men's preview:Top events and athletes to watch during men's NCAA Track & Field Championships

Here's a closer look at some of the top athletes and events in the women's meet.

• 200 — LSU sophomore Favour Ofili set the collegiate record of 21.96 on April 15. Kentucky junior Abby Steiner is No. 4 all-time collegiately at 22.05. Ofili beat Steiner for the SEC title last month, but Steiner topped Ofili in the NCAA East Prelims when she ran a wind-aided 22.01 (+2.1). Both are also entered in the 100.

• 100 hurdles — The competition will include two of fastest collegiate women ever in No. 4 Demisha Roswell of Texas Tech (12.44) and No. 6 Ackera Nugent of Baylor (12.45). Also included are Alia Armstrong of LSU, who has clocked a wind-aided 12.33 (+2.5) this season, and former Duck Kaylah Robinson of Texas A&M, who has run a wind-aided 12.49 (+2.5).

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• 5,000 — Katelyn Tuohy of NC State is the NCAA leader in the 5,000 and 1,500, though she is only running the 5,000 this week. Her PR of 15:14.61 is No. 8 all-time collegiately. Pac-12 champion Abby Nichols of Colorado is No. 9 all-time at 15:15.95 and Alabama’s Mercy Chelangat is 11th at 15:17.28.

• Anna Hall — The Florida sophomore won the USATF Combined Events Championships title in the heptathlon on May 7 with a PR 6,458-point performance to earn her spot in the World Athletics Championships. Now she’s eyeing an NCAA title in the heptathlon and is also entered in the 400 hurdles and the 4x400 relay.

• Jorinde van Klinken — The Arizona State senior and Dutch Olympian has five of the top seven throws by a collegian all time, including her record-setting mark of 230-4 from 2021. She is the returning champion, as well as the 2022 indoor champ in the shot put, though she ranks second outdoors in that event to Ohio State senior Adelaide Aquilla, the returning champion.

• Camryn Rogers — The two-time NCAA hammer champion from California had a memorable 2021 meet when she broke the collegiate record — twice. Her winning throw of 247-9 remains the best all-time and she went on to finish fifth at the Olympics while competing for Team Canada.

• Courtney Wayment — The BYU senior is the NCAA leader in the 3,000 steeplechase and became the No. 3 collegiate performer all-time when she ran 9:26.88 on April 13. The three-time NCAA Indoor champion was fourth in the steeplechase during the NCAA Outdoor meet last season.

• Britton Wilson — The Arkansas sophomore became the first to run under 54 seconds in the 400 hurdles since Sydney McLaughlin at the 2018 NCAA championship meet when Wilson clocked a 53.75 earlier this season to become the No. 6 collegiate performer all-time.

• Charokee Young — The Texas A&M sophomore has emerged from the shadow of former teammate Athing Mu to become the NCAA leader in the 400. Mu set the collegiate record last season in an NCAA final that also included Young, who placed fifth. She’s run 49.87 this season — No. 4 all-time collegiately — just off Mu’s record of 49.57.

Oregon's schedule for Thursday

11:30 a.m. — Max Vollmer, decathlon final

5:32 p.m. — 4x100 relay semifinal

5:46 p.m. — Izzy Thornton-Bott, 1,500 semifinal

6:02 p.m. — Malia Pivec, 3,000 steeplechase semifinal

6:46 p.m. — Jadyn Mays, Jasmine Montgomery, Kemba Nelson, 100 semifinals

7:30 p.m. — Alexandra Webster, 400 hurdles semifinals

7:40 p.m. — Mine De Klerk, Jaida Ross, shot put final

7:44 p.m. — Iman Brown, Jadyn Mays, Jasmine Montgomery, 200 semifinals

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.

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This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: NCAA Track & Field Championships: Top events, women to watch