In her final collegiate indoor race, Vancouver’s Ceili McCabe crossed the finish line at Saturday’s NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Virginia Beach, Va., with her arms raised in disbelief. McCabe became the first Canadian woman to ever win an NCAA title in the 3,000m event (indoors).
Women’s 3000m Champion
🥇 Ceili McCabe (@WVUXCTF)
📊 9:01.18#NCAATF x 🎥 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/WfXudVdFW8— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) March 15, 2025
The moment marked the first NCAA collegiate title of McCabe’s long career at West Virginia University (WVU). The 23-year-old closed with a 30-second final 200m lap to pull away from Alabama’s Doris Lemngole, who got the best of McCabe in their last two meetings. McCabe’s time of 9:01.64 was a new facility record, and she became the first WVU athlete to win the event at a national championship.
She is also only the fourth athlete in the WVU history to be crowned national champion in a track and field event, and the first Canadian distance runner to win an indoor national title in the NCAA since Justyn Knight won the men’s 5,000m in 2018.
Last year, McCabe represented Team Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she missed out on a spot in the final in her specialty event, the 3,000m steeplechase.
She previously told Canadian Running she left the Paris Olympics with a chip on her shoulder after missing out on the women’s 3,000m steeplechase final by just two spots, despite setting a new Canadian record just months earlier. “I felt so prepared to do well [in Paris],” McCabe told Canadian Running. “I wanted to be in the final, and I know I’m right there.”
McCabe is in her final year of eligibility at WVU, and plans to run professionally after her season. Although she’s unsure of the direction she’ll go, she knows there’s more opportunity to train in the U.S. and try to find the best fit.
Savannah Sutherland breaks Canadian 400m record
It was a historic day for Canadian athletes at NCAA indoors, as Borden, Sask. native Savannah Sutherland finished fourth in the women’s 400m final in a new Canadian record time of 51.29 seconds. The University of Michigan sprinter ran her fastest 400m time ever (across indoors and outdoors) to lower her previous national record of 51.60 by three-tenths of a second.
The 21-year-old reached the Olympic final in the women’s 400m hurdles last August in her Games debut, and won her first NCAA title at the 2024 outdoor championships in the same event.
Savannah Sutherland breaking a program record? Likely thing for her to do 😤 pic.twitter.com/gKLk4TLvxh
— Michigan Track & Field / Cross Country (@UMichTrack) March 15, 2025
The winner of the women’s indoor 400m, Isabella Whittaker of the University of Arkansas led the final from gun to tape, setting a new American and collegiate record of 49.24 seconds.
For full results from the 2025 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, view here.
