The NCAA Division I Championships begin tomorrow, with the women's weight taking place starting off the action. The men's weight throw will follow on Saturday. Entries can be found here.

Men

With NCAA leader Conor McCullough (Princeton) skipping the NCAA championships to get a head start on the outdoor season and the hammer throw, the field is very open. Teammates Marcel Lomnicky (Virginia Tech) and Alexander Ziegler (Virginia Tech) have both broken 23 meters and are just one centimeter apart on the national rankings. Lomnicky has won both of their matchups this year, but even he has yet to show consistency indoor. While his personal best is 23.05m, his next best mark in his career was his 21.88m throw two weeks ago. Ziegler has been a hit more consistent overh is career with several throws over 22 meters, but neither has shown the dominace to make them a 'lock' to win gold. Third seed JC Lambert (Southern Illinois) has actually been the most consistent this year, but may not have a big throw to contend with the Virginia Tech throwers if they are having a good day. The winning throw could conceivable be under 22 meters, which also opens the door to the dozen throwers entering the meet with a best of 21.40 meters or better.

Women

Talk about the women's winner probably starts and ends with one name: Jeneva McCall (Southern Illinois). In four of seven meets this year, McCall has thrown over 23 meters. Two more meets have been over 22.74m. Felisha Johnson (Indiana State), the second seed, has a season best of 21.67m. You do the math. It will be difficult for the field to beat McCall as long as she stays in the ring, even if she is having a below average day. And after finishing as the NCAA runner-up both indoors and out, McCall is ready for the title. The competition for the other podium positions, however, should be exciting. Only three feet seperate all the other women in the field. The more consistent throwers have been Kelly Closse (Texas Tech), Johnson, and Taylor Smith (Wisconsin). Johnson is also the defending champion. While she has not been in the same shape this year (eight times last year she threw better than her mark from this season), she is the one thrower in the field that has proven she does have the power to get near 23 meters and that will be needed to challenge McCall.

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