On Saturday, West Virginia graduate student Ceili McCabe did something that few who sport the old-gold-and-blue are ever able to accomplish -- she brought home a national championship to Morgantown.
McCabe competed for the Mountaineers at the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Track and Field Championship in the women's 3,000-meter run -- despite entering the race ranked tenth nationally in the event, McCabe blazed to the front of the field and narrowly secured the win in a tight race.
"We have had a lot of special athletes come through this program," said WVU coach Sean Cleary. "Each and every one of them has played a role in what we were able to experience today. For those who have never met Ceili, that is unfortunate as she is someone who everybody should want to represent this program, university and state. To watch her join some of the past greats of this program is a moment that I will never forget."
Let's use some numbers to take a deep dive into McCabe's historic win.
541.18
It took McCabe approximately 541.18 seconds -- or 9 minutes, 1.18 seconds -- to cross the finish line in Virginia Beach to claim the gold medal finish for the Mountaineers.
The time is not her personal best in the event -- McCabe set her top mark and the all-time program record in the 3,000-meter run in December 2024 at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston. At that meet, she managed an amazing mark of 8:45.97 seconds (525.97 seconds) in the event.
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With her national title, McCabe also earned First-Team All-American honors for the 2025 Indoor Track season.
Between cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track, it marks McCabe's tenth time being named an NCAA All-American during her illustrious collegiate career -- that achievement itself will also stand as a new program record for WVU, topping nine-time All-Americans Megan Metcalfe and Keri Bland.
2.25
With her mark of 9:01.18 to take home the national title, McCabe also set a new facility record in the 3,000-meter run at the Virginia Beach Sports Center where the championship meet was held.
McCabe shattered the previous facility record in the event by 2.25 seconds -- it previously stood at 9:03.43, which was set by NC State runner Elly Hennes in February 2021.
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With the win, McCabe managed to secure her third-ever national championship -- though neither of the previous two were NCAA-sanctioned titles.
McCabe's previous two national titles came under the umbrellas of Athletics Canada, which is the governing body for track and field for the nation. The British Columbia native has previously secured the 2022 3,000-meter steeplechase national championship in track and field and 2023 10,000-meter run national championship in cross country. She also hold the Canadian national record in steeplechase.
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McCabe is one of just two women to ever capture an NCAA Indoor Track National Championship for WVU track and field -- the last such win came back in 1999 as Kate Vermeulen earned the gold medal in the Women's Mile Run at the NCAA championship meet.
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McCabe is the first-ever WVU track and field runner to earn a national championship win in the 3,000-meter run.
0.46
McCabe secured the win by quite a narrow margin of victory -- she managed to cross the line just 0.46 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, sophomore Doris Lemngole of Alabama.