TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State sophomore sprinter Casey Hood Jr. will square off with the top short sprinters in Division I Friday night when he competes in the NCAA Indoor National Championships.
 
Hood Jr. will be in lane 1 of the first heat, which runs at 7:18 p.m. inside the Virginia Beach Sports Center. The top two finishers in each of the two heats, along with the next four fastest times, will advance to Saturday's final at 6:10 p.m.
 
Action from both days will be aired on ESPN+, with a tape-delayed broadcast also airing Sunday night on ESPNU.
 

2025 NCAA Indoor National Championships
Date	Friday, March 14 | 7:18 p.m. // Saturday, March 15 | 6:10 p.m.
Location // Venue	Virginia Beach, Va. // Virginia Beach Sports Center
Preview Info	Meet Schedule // Meet Information // Men's Heat Sheets
Live Results	Live Results Feed
Watch Live	Friday Stream // Saturday Stream // Sunday Tape Delay at 7 p.m. on ESPNU
Tickets	All-Session and Friday Tickets
Social Media	@IndStXCTF // @IndStAthletics

 
The Road To Virginia Beach
Hood Jr. has been among the national leaders in the 60m for the entirety of the season, never falling outside the top 30 in the national rankings in the event. His average time in the 60m this season is 6.63, with his top time of 6.57 coming in the prelims of the MVC Indoor Championships to earn his spot in the national championship field.
 
Hood Jr. has clocked three 60m times of 6.60 or faster this season, all of which have come in his last two meets. He ran times of 6.57 (prelims) and 6.60 (finals) at the MVC Indoor Championships, and also clocked a 6.59 at the Tyson Invitational.
 
Back-To-Back
The 2024-25 season was one of repeat success for Hood Jr., who successfully defended his 60m conference title and also took home the crown in the 200m. Hood Jr. ran the fastest 60m time in the Great Lakes Region this season and also had one of the top 10 200m times in the region this season.
 
Hood Jr. also brought home additional conference hardware for a second straight season, being named the MVC Most Outstanding Track Athlete a year after earning MVC Freshman of the Year accolades. His 20 points scored were the second-most for any athlete at the championships and the most for any athlete in running events.
 
Climbing The Charts
Hood Jr.'s 2024-25 season put him among the best men's sprinters in program history as only a sophomore. He already ranks second in program history in the 60m (6.57), just one-hundredth of a second off the school record, while his top 200m time (21.14) is third in program history and less than one-tenth of a second off the program record.
 
Hood Jr. was a four-time MVC Athlete of the Week honoree this season, including three straight honors in February. He also broke Missouri's facility record in the 60m while coming within one-hundredth of a second of the MVC Championship record in the event.
 
Sprinters On The Big Stage
Indiana State has a men's sprinter in the indoor national championship field for the second time in the last three seasons, with Casey Hood Jr. representing the Blue and White in the 60m this year in Virginia Beach.
 
Hood Jr. joins JaVaughn Moore, who earned Second Team All-America honors in 2023, as the only Indiana State men's sprinters to compete at the NCAA Indoor National Championships. Moore (6.56) and Hood Jr. (6.57) are the only athletes to clock a 60m time under 6.60 in program history.
 
Back In The Spotlight
Indiana State has had at least one athlete qualify for each of the last six national championships, indoor or outdoor, with Casey Hood Jr. being the latest national qualifier for the Blue and White.
 
Hood Jr. joins Elias Foor (2024 outdoor) and Will Staggs (2023 outdoor, 2024 indoor) as national championship qualifiers on the current Sycamore roster. Grace Quinlan (2024 outdoor) JaVaughn Moore (2023 indoor) and Ryann Porter (2021-23 outdoor) have all reached the national championships for Indiana State within the last three seasons.
 
Hood Jr. is seeking to become the first Sycamore to score points at a national championship since 2019, when Erin Reese earned First Team All-America honors at both the indoor (weight throw) and outdoor (hammer throw) championships.
 
Familiar Territory
While this is Casey Hood Jr.'s first time reaching the national championships, it won't be the first NCAA championship atmosphere he's competed in. Hood Jr. was a part of Indiana State's school record-setting 4x100m relay team which earned a top-15 finish at the 2024 NCAA East First Round.
 
Hood Jr. also knows what a championship mentality looks like, having won four individual conference titles (2024 60m, 2024 4x100m relay, 2025 60m, 2025 200m) while also being on Indiana State's 2023-24 team which swept the MVC Championships.
 
Championship Format
The 16 national championship qualifiers in the 60m have been split into two heats, with Casey Hood Jr. being in the first heat. The top two times in each heat, along with the next four fastest finishers, will advance to finals.
 
The top eight athletes will earn First Team All-America honors, with those placing 9-16 earning Second Team All-America accolades.
 
Follow the Sycamores
For the latest information on the Sycamore Track & Field and Cross Country teams, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from the both the App Store and the Google Play Store.