From personal bests to new records, track and field is all about pushing past limits. Yet, some records are simply out of reach for those who follow behind.
Scan through the women's outdoor track and field record book and you'll find several other records in the highest level of college track and field that have pushed the envelope to a new stratosphere. Records that we think will stand in the history books forever.
Here are six* women's outdoor track and field records that (we think) will never be broken. These opinions are mine and mine alone.
*Disclaimer: The 4x100 meter relay in the NCAA Championships final site was originally on this unbreakable record list until it fell in 2023.
1. Most points scored in the DI championship meet
UCLA set the record for the most points scored in the DI championship meet with 153 points in 1982. On that Bruins team was the legendary Florence “Flo Jo” Griffith Joyner. That was the first DI outdoor track and field championship.
The closest any program has come to the record was Florida State's 145 points in 1984. In the many years since, no school has sniffed even the 100 points mark.
So why is this record so unbreakable? A simple explanation comes from the year 1985. That's when scoring in the DI women's outdoor track and field championships changed from "15-12-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1" to "10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1".
From 1985 to the present, the highest score of a championship team has come from the 1993 LSU team; the Tigers scored 93 points. Thanks to the rule change, UCLA's record is unbreakable.
MORE: Here are the women’s track and field records that could be next to fall
2. Most outdoor team championships
LSU has the most women's outdoor track and field championships of any DI program with 14. That doesn't include 2012's vacated championship. One title aside, the Tigers maintain a 10-trophy lead over the next winningest women's program.
But other teams have the ability to win titles, so why is this record unbreakable?
Thanks to the 10-championship margin and LSU's continued success as one of the top programs in the sport, fans in the Bayou have no worries about anyone catching the team championship record anytime soon.
🏆: Here are the DI track and field teams with most NCAA championships
3. Longest championship streak
Part of the reason LSU has the record for the most outdoor team championships is its 11-year run from 1987-to 1997. During that time, LSU won 11 straight titles in dynastic fashion.
Let's put that into perspective.
Only four times has there been a repeat women's outdoor champion. The feat has happened just once in the 21st century.
It occurred with Texas A&M's three-year winning streak from 2009-2011, the second-longest title streak in women's outdoor track and field.
In an era of track and field with more parity than ever before, LSU's championship streak is truly an unbreakable record.
NCAA T&F: Here's how the outdoor track and field championships work
4. 100-meter hurdles in the NCAA championship final.
The record for the 100-meter hurdles in the NCAA Championships belongs to Clemson’s Brianna Rollins who finished in 12.39 seconds in 2013. Eight years later, the record is untouched.
Last year's champion, Southern California's Anna Cockrell, finished in 12.58 seconds; she was .24 seconds in front of second place.
During the 2021 regular season, the fastest time came from LSU's Tonea Marshall, running a 12.52 in the SEC Championships. Her personal best time of 12.44 seconds is the fourth-fastest time in NCAA history, but she got a DNQ in the 2021 NCAA championship final.
Marshall would be the best candidate to break the 100-meter hurdles record, but she's no longer in school.
Now, Rollins' record looks safe again. Her time is the fastest in NCAA history overall in addition to the championship final.
What makes her championship record unbreakable is that it would not only require a hurdler to run the fastest 100-meter hurdle collegiate time in history, it would also require such a performance to come in the season's final meet, with the fatigue of many months weighing on an athlete.
💨: Wind and scoring in track and field, explained
5. 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Championships
Stanford’s Kori Carter's 400 meter hurdle time of 53.21 in 2013 is no longer the overall NCAA record. Kentucky’s Sydney McLaughlin's 52.75-second time as a freshman at the 2018 SEC Championships knocked it from that perch.
However, not even the famed McLaughlin could break Carter's record at the NCAA Championships. Carter's 2013 title-winning performance remains the standard as she did it with a trophy on the line.
Outside of McLaughlin, the next closest athlete was within .30 seconds of Carter's record at the NCAA Championships. Carter's 400-meter hurdles championship performance looks to be out of reach for runners on the title stage.
👀: The track comeback to end ALL comebacks
6. Javelin at the NCAA Championships
In 2016, Texas A&M's Maggie Malone tossed her javelin 62.19 meters, a championship record. Malone is the only woman in NCAA history to reach 62 meters on her throw.
VENUE HISTORY: These historic moments all happened at Hayward Field
It doesn't look like anyone is getting close to Malone's record either; last season's regular-season-best throw was 61.37 meters and the championship-winning throw was 59.69 meters.
Malone need not worry about someone breaking her record anytime soon.
🏆: Arkansas sweeps 2023 indoor titles | Florida, Texas win 2023 outdoor titles | How the outdoor championships work
💥HISTORY: Programs with the most titles | Men's champ history | Women's champ history | Bowerman history
🧠 WHAT TO KNOW: Wind and scoring explained | Greatest venues | Best uniforms | The difference between indoor and outdoor seasons
🥇 Tokyo Olympians: Karel Tiga | JuVaughn Harrison | Cole Hocker | Camryn Rogers | Ruth Usoro | Athing Mu | Tara Davis | Tyra Gittens
