Maia Ramsden blitzes to 1500m glory at the NCAA Championships

Maia Ramsden created history by becoming the first Kiwi to snare a track gold at an outdoor NCAA Track & Field Championships by sprinting to a dazzling victory in the women’s 1500m final in Austin, Texas.

The 21-year-old Havard University student unleashed a fearsome kick finish to storm to the title in a new PB of 4:08.60 – to finish 0.61 clear of Izzy Thornton-Bott (Oregon) to take out the biggest win of her career.

Ramsden from Wellington joins former Commonwealth champion Julia Ratcliffe as the only Kiwi to ever win an NCAA outdoor title, the latter claimed women’s hammer’s gold at the 2014 edition.

Kiwi Middle-distance runners Nick Willis and Geordie Beamish had both previously secured the NCAA Indoor mile title in 2005 and 2019, respectively.

Ramsden came into the meet with a 1500m PB of 4:11.73 but after placing second in her semi-final in Austin she lowered her best to 4:09.81 to catapult to sixth on the all-time New Zealand lists for the women’s 1500m.

In the final, the Kiwi ran a patient race refusing to get sucked into the searing pace at the front set by NC State athlete and pre-race favourite Katelyn Tuohy. But by the bell Tuohy’s race was run and on the final bend Ramsden hit the front and accelerated clear to the title and another PB – which consolidated her position as the sixth fastest Kiwi ever for the distance.

The New Zealand women’s 1500m record of Nikki Hamblin stands at 4:04:82.

Ramsden said of her win: “I can’t believe it. We thought it would be quick and I spoke to my coach about what kind of 800m split I could handle but that becomes pointless in the race, so he said ‘don’t worry about the splits, just run your own race, just be patient and maybe some girls will come back to you’. I’ve been working on staying really patient, staying smoother tucking in and just being ready, so I can get the most out of my kick. All of a sudden I was coming around the last bend, and it was like, wait a second, I have some legs left so let’s see what happens.”

Ramsden returned just under two hours later to run the women’s 5000m final, where she finished 18th in 16:12.95 outside of her PB of 15:40.05.

Maia Ramsden Facts

*Maia’s mum is from the US but her dad was born and raised in Masterton.

*Maia’s father works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Maia moved around a lot as a youngster with her father’s work. She has lived In New York, Wellington, the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Ethiopia. Her family currently lives in Wellington.

*She started her running career around the age of 13 while living in Fiji.

*Maia won the 2019 New Zealand U20 1500m title and the following year completed the 800m and 1500m U20 double at the Jennian Homes New Zealand Track & Field Championships.

*She started studying at Harvard University in 2020. She is studying an inter-disciplinary degree in history and literature focusing on the Pacific.

*Maia is coached by Havard University coach Alex Gibby.

*Last year she finished tenth in the NCAA outdoor 1500m final and 11th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships

*In February, Maia moved to number two on the all-time New Zealand women’s mile lists by running 4:30.19 indoors in Boston. She finished fifth in the mile and eighth in the 3000m at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in March.

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