Champions Crowned, Roster Spots Filled On Final Day USATF Championships

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

DES MOINES – Even as a new group of young U.S. athletes began to plant flags in a variety of events over the weekend, another group of tested veterans re-claimed their territory Sunday at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships.

Emma Coburn won the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase final for the eighth time in eight tries, keeping her Olympic teammate Courtney Frerichs at bay over the final lap to win in 9:25.63. Frerichs was next in 9:26.61 and her Nike Bowerman Track Club teammate Colleen Quigley was third in 9:30.97. Allie Ostrander, the three-time NCAA Division 1 champion and new Brooks Beasts pro got fourth in 9:38.52.

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Thanks to Coburn’s status as the reigning world champion, Ostrander will get her first opportunity to step onto the global stage when the IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar come around in October.

Lopez Lomong of the BTC, 34, capped a wildly successful weekend when he outsprinted Paul Chelimo at the end of a fascinating men’s 5,000 meters. Doubling back from a victory in the 10,000 meters, Lomong showed his fitness to win in 13:25.53 for a facility record. He missed the world standard, but he didn’t intend on running in the 5,000 meters in Doha anyway. He just wanted to win another U.S. title, and in doing so, became the first male athlete since Galen Rupp in 2012 to achieve the 5,000 and 10,000 double in the same year.

Chelimo was second in 13:25.80 and will go to Doha. He pushed off the starting line with the aim of putting everyone away, but Lomong and his teammate, Woody Kincaid, stuck to him like fly paper.

Chelimo stepped out into lane 2 at one point, refusing to pace two runners without the standard to a time superior to 13:22.5.

That ended up being good news for the fourth- and fifth-place finishers, Hassan Mead (13:29.19) and 21-year-old Drew Hunter (13:31.39), who will both advance to the World Championships thanks to previously attaining the standard. Kincaid was third in 13:26.84.  

Hunter, of adidas and the Tinman Elite Team, the youngest to make the U.S. team in the 5,000 since Evan Jager in 2009, fought through a sore foot to reach the finish line. He will have an MRI this week to assess the magnitude of the injury.

Second place was as good as first for Olympic champions Matthew Centrowitz and Michelle Carter, who view the World Championships as a rung on the ladder to the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Craig Engels of the Nike Oregon Project continued his career-best year by defeating Centrowitz after studying videos of his former teammate’s races. Even after seizing the lead for the final two laps and flashing his improved closing speed, he beat Centro by a mere .04 seconds, 3:44.93 to 3:44.97.

The Bowerman Track Club’s Josh Thompson did not have the standard but finished third in 3:45.25. Ben Blankenship did have it and will make the U.S. team after taking fourth in 3:45.60.

In the women’s shot put, Chase Ealey demonstrated dominance over the field with a second attempt throw of 64-2.25 (19.56m). She had the four longest throws of the competition to become the first female athlete since Carter in 2016 to sweep both indoor and outdoor national shot put championships.

Carter, making steady progress back from a 2017 surgery, threw 61-4 (18.69m) to make her ninth consecutive USATF Outdoors podium.

Maggie Ewen, last year's U.S. national champion, edged out Jeneva Stevens by three inches to latch onto the third spot with 60-6 (18.44).

In the men’s 200-meter final, which concluded the four-day meet, Noah Lyles maintained his flair and speed on the way to a decisive victory in 19.78 seconds. Christian Coleman, the 100-meter champ, was second in 20.02 and Ameer Webb finished third in 22.45, but he does not own the standard.

The third team spot goes to Rodney Rowe of North Carolina A&T, who was seventh in the final but does have the standard. First-year pro Kenny Bednarek, who by all rights looked like a lock to make the team, suffered a pulled hamstring and shut down his race mid-way through the curve.

In the women’s 200, Dezerea Bryant came back from a disappointing fourth by .01 seconds in the 100 meters Friday to win the event in 22.47 seconds. Brittany Brown, strong through all three rounds, got the second spot in 22.61 and USC’s NCAA champion, Angie Annelus, got the third spot in 22.71.

In the biggest local story of the weekend, Iowa natives and Bowerman Track Club teammates Shelby Houlihan and Karissa Schweizer went 1-2 in the women’s 5,000 meters. Houlihan, the 1,500-meter champion, came back won the 5K in 15:15.50. She became the first woman to win the 1,500-5,000 double two years in a row since Regina Jacobs did it in 1999-2000.

Schweizer, a relative newcomer to pro track after a successful run at the University of Missouri, was second in 15:17.03. New Balance’s Elinor Purrier ran to the third spot with 15:17.46, passing Rachel Schneider in the last lap to get the final team spot. Schneider, who possesses the World standard, could still compete in Doha, should Houlihan only focus on the 1,500.

A pair of potential World medalists won the U.S. 800-meter titles. Ajee' Wilson won her 10th national title overall and fourth outdoor 800. She showed her class and experience throughout and won in a track-record time of 1:57.72. Behind her, Oregon Track Club Elite’s Hanna Green rode the momentum of a strong 2019 season and took second in 1:58.19. Raevyn Rogers, Wilson’s Philadelphia-based training partner, was third in 1:58.84.

Olivia Baker of New Jersey’s Garden State Track Club was fourth and high school phenom Athing Mu from the Trenton Track Club logged a new PR with 2:01.17 for fifth.  

In the men’s final, Donavan Brazier got the best of Nike Oregon Project teammate Clayton Murphy. Brazier had the lead over the final lap and was never in trouble as he won in 1:45.62. Murphy was next in 1:46.01 and Kansas’ NCAA champion, Bryce Hoppel, held on for third ahead of Isaiah Harris to nab the final team spot in 1:46.31.

Sandi Morris won the women’s pole vault title for the third straight year with a clearance in the rain at 15-11 (4.85m) to nab the victory away from two-time indoor champion Katie Nageotte, who had no misses through five bars, but skipped 15-11 and then missed three at 16-0.75 (4.90m). Decorated veteran Jenn Suhr qualified for her 10th straight global championship and made her 14th consecutive podium at U.S. nationals with a clutch make at 15-5 (4.70m) to overtake South Dakota standout Emily Grove and secure third.

At fifth place, with a new PR, Daylis Caballero Vega, a 2012 Olympian for Cuba, made 15-1 (4.60m) on just one year of training after a five-year absence from the sport.

Ja’Mari Ward of the University of Missouri was part of a big day for current NCAA standouts as he won the men’s long jump title with 26-7.75 (8.12m), ahead of Will Claye 26-5.50 (8.06m). Third-place finisher Trumaine Jefferson won a tiebreaker for the final team spot over Jarvis Gotch after both went 26-3.75 (8.02m), with Jefferson having the better second jump in his series.

Recent NCAA stars Daniel Roberts and Grant Holloway flipped their order from a historic college final in Austin, with Roberts taking the win in 13.23 and Holloway second in 13.36. Olympian Devon Allen withstood a late rally by slow-starting Freddie Crittenden and clawed his way to the third spot, 13.38 to 13.39.

Jeron Robison made first-attempt bars to gain an advantage over the field and he repeated as champion in the men’s high jump over Alabama’s Shelby McEwen after both made 7-6.50 (2.30m) on third attempts and both missed three times at 7-7.75 (2.33m).

Valarie Allman pumped out a big first-round throw of 211-1 (64.34m) that held up to win the discus competition. Kelsey Card, already secured in second, threw a season-best 207-9 (63.33m) on her final attempt to solidify her placing and spot on the U.S. team. The University of Iowa’s Laulauga Tausaga, the NCAA champion, thrilled local fans with her third-place finish and 203-8 (62.08m) throw.

Erica Bougard won the heptathlon with a clutch 800 meters to overtake Kendell Williams, who had a 66-point lead through six events. Bougard ran 2:12.41 for an eight-second margin over Williams and scored 6,663 points. Williams achieved a new personal best 6,610 for second. Chari Hawkins logged a PR total of 6,230 points. Although 70 points below the standard, it appears she will be one of the final entrants to make the team.

In Sunday morning’s racewalk finals, Nick Christie showed his superiority to win the 10K event in 41:56.61. He won by 74 seconds to secure a national title at a third different distance this year.

Katie Burnett of the Harrier TC won the women’s title in 46:12.45 for a new personal best and first outdoor track national championship in her career.