The very best of the NCAA track and field ranks will descend upon Hayward Field from June 5-8 in Eugene, Oregon. 

The NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships will provide a fitting conclusion to an epic collegiate season, one that has seen national records fall and epic individual performances reign down. 

Turning to the middle- and long-distance side of things, we continue with our in-depth breakdown of the top characters set to compete. 

• NCAA Outdoor Coverage: These Sprint Athletes Should Sign
• The Arrival Of South Florida On The National Stage Has Been A Moonshot
• These Five NCAA Freshmen Will Impact The National Championship Team Race
• Our Final FloTrack/TFRRS Rankings Before NCAAs

Here are three women and three men in the distance events who are likely to make things happen at NCAAs.

Parker Valby, University of Florida

Events: 5,000m, 10,000m

Few collegiate women have ever been as dominant as Valby. 

She's a perfect 4-for-4 across the last three NCAA Championships, collecting an outdoor win in the 5K, a cross country victory over the fall and two more titles in the 3,000m and 5K indoors.

There was the 5K indoor record she set in March (a re-setting of her own record), and then her next in April at 10K as she became the first women in the NCAA under 31 minutes in history.

We're in the midst of Valby-Mania, as the Florida redshirt junior can simply do no wrong. The prelim loss to Alabama's Hilda Olemomoi not withstanding, she had won 12 straight times before the NCAA East Preliminary, dating all the way back to May of 2023.

Valby looks to be the NCAA favorite in both next weekend in Eugene. Certainly, there is unpredictability in national championships, but Valby will just have to fend off what may come her way.

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Nico Young, Northern Arizona University

Events: 5,000m

Like Valby, Young has been an absolute force this year. 

But his route toward an NCAA outdoor title won't be a breeze -- at least not on paper. The reigning NCAA indoor champion at 5,000 meters qualified for NCAAs with a manageable effort during the NCAA West prelim, clocking a time of 13:48.44 to finish fourth in the race. 

But on paper, he'll have to contend with New Mexico's Habtom Samuel (13:13.29), Oklahoma State's Brian Musau (13:13.29), North Carolina's Parker Wolfe (13:19.38) and the wild-card man Graham Blanks of Harvard. 

Blanks, the reigning NCAA cross country champion, ran an NCAA 5K record of 13:03.78 indoors in December -- before it was broken by Young -- though an injured later pushed back his season until April. The Harvard man has raced four times since, including a DNF at the Yale Twilight on May 11. 

It may be a stretch to think he can contend for an NCAA title.

All that being said, maybe those variables could be for naught. This is Young. He was the first collegian in history to break 13, doing so in January at the John Thomas Terrier Classic with a time of 12:57.14, a time that also puts him in the hunt to make a U.S. Olympic team.

The NAU superstar has been gearing up for NCAAs, and so the expectation may be for another incredible race here. 

Liam Murphy, Villanova University

Events: 1,500m

When you feel it, you just feel it, and Murphy right now feels it. 

The Villanova star won his 1,500m NCAA East Prelim in 3:38.30 and seems to be operating in a flow state, clocking additional times of 3:39.00, 3:36.48 and 3:38.33 since February. 

But while he's among the NCAA elites, it might take another prototypical Murphy race -- aka, a strategic moment -- to earn the win here. 

He's ranked No. 6 in the NCAA with that 3:36.48 and will face off against the NCAA's top 1,500m runner, NAU's Colin Sahlman, along with Washington's feared trio of Joe Waskom, Nathan Green and Luke Houser -- Green and Waskom went 1-2 at NCAA outdoors last year in Austin, while Houser won the mile indoors. 

Washington's ability to dictate races with teamwork is scary in an NCAA final, but Murphy has always been the type of athlete to have the last laugh. 

That being said, Sahlman will be tough to beat. He ran 3:33.96 for 1,500m on April 11 at Bryan Clay. 

Juliette Whittaker, Stanford University

Events: 800m, 4x400

The reigning NCAA indoor champion at 800 meters is back, and by now we know how she operates. The Maryland native, who did not race the 800m at NCAA outdoors last year, understands what championship racing is all about. 

Whittaker dials it up when the stakes are the highest. Of her three sub-2 minute performances for the distance, two of them came in championship formats, including NCAA Indoors in March and the other at the U.S. U20 Championships in 2022. She's run 2-flat on five other occasions, including three in championship settings. 

This all matters, because while Whittaker is a title-contender, she is not the favorite. That honor goes to LSU's Michaela Rose, who has run 1:58.37 this season and is the reigning outdoor champion. In fact, Whittaker's top time for 800m over the 2024 outdoor season ranks just 11th in the NCAA. 

But she finished second in the NCAA West Prelim, just behind her teammate Roisin Willis -- herself an indoor champion from 2023 -- and finds herself in good form, having run 2:01.05 to Willis' 2:01.04.

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Maia Ramsden, Harvard University

Events: 1,500m, 5,000m

It was precisely this time last year when Ramsden seized her moment. 

The New Zealander closed on North Carolina State's Katelyn Tuohy down the stretch of the 1,500m NCAA final, passed her on the final straightaway and then zipped to the line in a winning time of 4:08.60, becoming the first Crimson since 1986 to win a 1,500m title.

Maybe her timeline moved up a bit with that win, but she has continued to surge since. The Harvard woman scored a top 10 finish at cross country nationals and then won the mile at NCAA Indoors in March, solidifying her place among college's elite. In April, she also anchored the Crimson to an NCAA record in the DMR.

Now Ramsden is in the driver's seat. She won her NCAA East Prelim in a collegiate-leading 4:05.65, though her primary competition will occupy the same position Ramsden operated in last year. 

Providence's Kimberley May, who was outkicked by Ramsden at the Penn Relays, should factor here (4:07), along with Florida's Flomena Askol (4:07.10), Georgetown's Melissa Riggins (4:07.96) and South Carolina's Judy Kosgei (4:07.65)

Sam Whitmarsh, Texas A&M

Events: 800m

Can the mustachioed man from Aggieland become the first athlete at the program since Donovan Brazier to secure an NCAA title at 800 meters? 

In College Station, that's the hope. 

Whitmarsh ranks No. 1 in the NCAA with a time of 1:44.46 from March 29 at the Battle on the Bayou in LSU. 

While he hasn't quite grabbed another sub-1:45 since, he did win an SEC Outdoor title in May in 1:45.27 and moved swiftly through the NCAA West Prelims, booking his trip to the final dance. 

The 800m is one of those events where literally anything can happen on the day. 

Wake Forest's Rynard Swanepoel, for instance, pulled a little magic out of his hat and won the NCAA East Prelim with a time of 1:45.28 -- a performance that ranks No. 2 in the NCAA behind Whitmarsh. 

There's also Texas' Yusuf Bizimana and Cole Lindhorst, Clemson's Tarees Rhoden, Iowa State's Darius Kipyego and Whitmarsh's own teammate, Kimar Farquharson to deal with. 

Whitmarsh was not a factor last year at the NCAA Championships, so he could be motivated this time around to change that position. 

FloTrack Will Be Live On The Ground In Eugene For NCAAs

Make sure to keep it locked on FloTrack throughout the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, as FloTrack will have in-depth coverage of the meet, including live and social media updates, interviews, commentary and more. 

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