U.S. Champions Should Accumulate Enough Points For Entry To Tokyo

By David Woods for DyeStat

Becky Holbrook photos

EUGENE – Compared to Lauren Harris’ daily routine, racing 50 laps around a 400-meter track was, well, a walk in an Oregon park.

Harris, 26, is a middle-school math teacher and track coach on Long Island. To train, she arises daily at 4 a.m.

At the USATF Championships, she lowered her own American record for the 20-kilometer walk on the track by 27 seconds Saturday morning. She finished in 1 hour, 31 minutes, 23 seconds at Hayward Field.

Harris said she favors track over road for a 20K.

“This is more of a mental game . . . 400, 400, 400, let’s hit those splits,” she said.

She averaged 7:21 per mile.

Harris, a former Marist University cross country runner, finished more than a mile ahead of second-place Maria Michta-Coffey. Michta-Coffey, 39, a two-time Olympian and winner of 20-some national titles, had a time of 1:39:56.

Katie Burnett was third in 1:40:35.

World rankings should allow Harris to qualify for next month’s World Championships in the 20K walk and Michta-Coffey and Burnett in the 35K.

“I just wanted to play the points game and get my spot for Tokyo,” Harris said. “I felt good, and the American record came with it.”

In the men’s 20K walk, Nick Christie won a seventh consecutive title, clocking 1:24.56. As notable as that was, it was more so because he was coming off eight weeks of basic military training. He recently joined the Air Force’s World Class Athlete Program.

“I haven’t had a lot of support from USA Track & Field during my career,” Christie said. “Now I have the support of the U.S. government and U.S. Air Force. I’m pretty stoked and looking forward to the results that go along.”

Christie missed qualifying for the Paris Olympics in the mixed relay, lacking the necessary time or world ranking. He has not lacked for motivation, as evidenced by his 35K American record last October at Zittau, Germany.

“Nick is an animal,” said runner-up Emmanuel Corvera. “We went to the same community college, so I know his work ethic. I don’t know if anyone in the nation trains harder than he does.”

Corvera had a time of 1:27.59, holding off Jordan Crawford on the last of the 50 laps. Crawford was third in 1:28:02.

Christie, 33, played high school baseball in El Cajon, Calif., with two future major leaguers. He was a decathlete at Cuyamaca College until influenced by his coach, former racewalker Tim Seaman, to try racewalking. He won NAIA titles after transferring to Missouri Baptist and has 22 U.S. titles since 2018.

Christie aims to qualify for both walking events – 20K and half-marathon mixed relay – at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Contact David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.