West Virginia's Ceili McCabe gearing up for NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship

West Virginia women’s track and field star Ceili McCabe is no stranger to performing on the largest stage of collegiate track and field, but the grandest prize of them all still eludes her. This weekend, she’ll have an opportunity to capture that brass ring.

McCabe has made five NCAA Track and Field Championship appearances between indoor track and outdoor track combined, and in each appearance, she’s earned All-American honors. But every runner’s dream -- a first-place finish at the national meet -- has yet eluded her.

McCabe's next shot at gold is rapidly approaching as she is slated to take the track in the Women’s Mile event at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. This year’s indoor championship meet will be held at The TRACK at New Balance in Boston, Mass. from Thursday, March 7 through Saturday, March 9. The Women’s Mile semifinal heats are set to begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 8, with the Women’s Mile final set for 7 p.m. on Friday, March 9.

McCabe earned her spot in the championship race with a finishing mark of 4 minutes, 30.24 seconds in at the Dr. Sander Invitational Columbia Challenge in New York, New York -- her time in that race was good for a WVU school record in the event.

McCabe’s time currently sits ninth-best in the nation in Division 1 track and field. And while she nabbed just third-place in the Women’s Mile during February’s Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship, she does carry some championship momentum from that meet -- she was a member of the program’s Distance Medley Relay squad that grabbed gold in Lubbock, Texas.

"Winning the DMR at this meet is a huge accomplishment,” WVU head coach Sean Cleary told wvusports.com after the meet. “We were able to come out here and pull off what is a very special win,"

With McCabe set for her third NCAA indoor championship and sixth NCAA championship meet overall, she has clearly secured her spot as a Mountaineer great. After she advanced to finals in the 3000 meter steeplechase event at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship meet, Cleary praised her career accomplishments thus far.

"This is Ceili's third finals in as many years," he told wvusports.com after the race. This is a remarkable accomplishment in and of itself."

Now she has a shot to not only achieve the same feat in both indoor and outdoor -- three finals in three consecutive years -- as well an opportunity to finally claim the gold she has yet to grasp.