By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor/John Nepolitan photos

The competition will serve as a selection event for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 - the first of its kind to take place on U.S. soil in Eugene, Oregon July 15-24.

WEBCAST INFO

Women's 100 meters

Sha'Carri Richardson is this weekend's must-see TV. One year after winning the races in the meet, and then being denied a spot on the U.S. Olympic team due to marijuana use to deal with her mental health, she is back in Eugene for another try and to show the world who she is.

Olympians Javianne Oliver and Teahna Daniels are back and part of a group of 13 women who have run under 11 seconds in the field, and Jenna Prandini is always in contention. Aleia Hobbs ran 10.83 for the top time in the U.S. 

NCAA standout Melissa Jefferson of Coastal Carolina and young pros like Twanisha Terry, Tamari Davis and Cambrea Sturgis are running after their dreams, too.  

Women's 200 meters

The best performance in the U.S. so far belongs to the University of Kentucky's record-breaking sprinter Abby Steiner, the NCAA champion, who has run 21.80. 

Steiner enters the USATF Championships not so much the favorite, but as the newcomer. 

Gabby Thomas, who enjoyed a brilliant 2021 that took her to an Olympic silver medal, has been working on her top-end with a lot more 100s this spring than 200s. 

Jenna Prandini, fourth in the Olympic final, will be looking for another national team berth.  Brittany Brown took bronze in the 200 at the 2019 World Championships. Olympian Anavia Battle was third at the recent NCAA meet. 

Women's 400 meters

World Championships wild card – Quanera Hayes, 2021 Diamond League champion

The great Allyson Felix will compete at the USATF Championships for the final time, nearing the completion of a legendary track career that has included five Olympic Games and 11 total medals. She has a chance to make yet another U.S. team, but the young talent might have finally caught up. 

Talitha Diggs, the daughter of Joetta Clark-Diggs, won the NCAA title for Florida in 49.99 and appears ready to take the next step. 

Kendall Ellis, Kaylin Whitney and Lynna Irby all have the potential to run up into the top three as well. Wadeline Jonathas, an Olympian last year, has not been running as fast in 2022. 

Quanera Hayes, the reigning U.S. champion and the Diamond League champion, is already confirmed for the team that will compete next month.  

Women's 800 meters

There is a deep well of talent in this event in the U.S., and yet the top three spots offer very little wiggle room with Olympic champion Athing Mu, Olympic bronze medalist Raevyn Rogers and World Indoor champion Ajee' Wilson present. 

Mu, who smashed the American record twice last year, became a global star in 2022 and despite a slow start appears to have regained her top form.

Wilson and Rogers are consistently on the podium. 

Is there room for a surprise? The most likely to upset the formchart are Michaela Meyer, fourth at the Trials last year, and Allie Wilson and Sadi Henderson of the Atlanta Track Club. Olivia Baker, Sage Hurta and Sabrina Southerland are all part of a field with 12 sub-2 minute runners.

Women's 1,500 meters

A very good trio of Olympians, Elle St. Pierre, Cory McGee and Heather MacLean, all return to compete for spots on this summer's U.S. team. However, MacLean hasn't raced since March. 

But this event has become a very competitive game of musical chairs and there are an additional four or five women who are in contention to make the team. 

Josette Norris is highly motivated after narrowly missing out on the Olympic berth last year. Sinclaire Johnson has the fastest time in the U.S. this year, with 3:58.03. And Karissa Schweizer, already on the team by virtue of winning the 10,000 meters, seems capable of doing anything she wants. 

St. Pierre, the world indoor silver medalist this year in the 3,000 meters, seems like a solid pick for one of the spots. The others are up for grabs.  

Women's 3,000-meter Steeplechase

Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs have elevated the event in the U.S. and have set themselves apart from the rest of the field over most of the past decade. 

But there is new blood coming up. NCAA champion Courtney Wayment (BYU) pressed herself to a U.S.-leading time and collegiate record 9:16.00 in Eugene two weeks ago and has become a member of the On Athletics Club. 

Val Constien, the unsigned third member of the Olympic team, hasn't raced since April. Kayley DeLay of Yale and Andrea Rodenfels have both run under 9:26. 

Women's 5,000 meters

There are a lot of different ways this could go. Will Elle St. Pierre run this event on Sunday if she has already made the team on Saturday? Is Elise Cranny back to the fitness she showed when she ran 14:33 in February? Which event does Karissa Schweizer aim to pair with the 10,000 at Worlds?

All will be reveled, of course, and Cranny and Schweizer, both Olympics, are the best in field if they are 100 percent. 

Emily Infeld, who barely lost a spot on the team when she was fourth in the 10,000 meters championship at Pre, will be highly motivated to go after a spot with this second chance. Josette Norris has a second chance to make the team if the 1,500 doesn't work out, and Weini Kelati looked very strong at the Portland Track Festival recently. North Carolina State sophomore Katelyn Tuohy, the prep phenom from New York and now an NCAA champion, will get her first big chance at making a U.S. team.  

Women's 100-meter Hurdles

World Championships wild card – Nia Ali, 2019 World Champion

It is appropriate that the United States gets four spots in this event because it's not hard to see four American women making a global final. Nia Ali, by virtue of her 2019 world title, has one spot locked up. 

Alaysha Johnson said she didn't even want to go to the New York City Grand Prix after learning she had a lane two days prior, but she is glad she did after running 12.40 for the second-fastest time in the world. She will return to Hayward Field for the first time since her days as a Duck in 2018. 

Keni Harrison, the world record holder and Olympic silver medalist, is right in the mix again. Gabbi Cunningham ran to bronze in the World Indoor 60-meter hurdles in March. Former LSU hurdler Tonea Marshall and current NCAA champion Alia Armstrong, also from LSU, are also performing well enough to pick off a top-three spot.  

Women's 400-meter Hurdles

World Championships wild card – Dalilah Muhammad, 2019 World Champion

Dalilah Muhammad has a hamstring injury and said Wednesday that she will not compete at the USATF Championships this week to allow for more time to rest for the World Championships. Since she has a free pass to next month's event, she can do that. 

Olympic champion and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin should be able to coast through to a U.S. title and secure her spot on the team. 

With two more spots up for grabs, NCAA champion Britton Wilson from Arkansas and Olympian Anna Cockrell both look to be in position to make the team. Shamier Little, the 2015 and 2018 U.S. champion, has not run at their level this spring.  

Women's High Jump

This event belongs to Vashti Cunningham and it's getting more and more difficult to find anyone on the horizon that's going to take the U.S. title away from her. 

At 24, Cunningham has 10 national titles already and her biggest challenges are in the next tier, when she competes against the best jumpers around the world and and tries to win a medal. She was sixth in Tokyo. 

Jelena Rowe, her training partner, is seeded second. Olympian Rachel McCoy and Inika McPherson will likely contend for the team spots as well, along with 2021 NCAA Outdoor champion Rachel Glenn of South Carolina. 

Florida's Anna Hall, already on the U.S. team in the heptathlon, is also entered in the high jump.  

Women's Pole Vault 

Olympic champion Katie Nageotte has struggled to maintain her status at the top of the event this year after scaling the mountain in 2021. It will likely take a season-best performance, at a minimum, to make the team. 

Sandi Morris, the American record holder, won the Diamond League meet in Rome with 15-9.25 (4.81m), the best of the year by a U.S. vaulter. 

Olivia Gruver, Emily Grove and Bridget Guy-Williams are all candidates to make the team, as is NCAA champion Gabriela Leon from Louisville. Olympian Morgann Leleux Romero has not competed this year and Jenn Suhr, the 2012 Olympic champion, has scratched. 

Women's Long Jump

A young and talented group of jumpers is looking to occupy the space formerly occupied by the legendary Brittney Reese. Olympians Tara Davis and Quanesha Burks are at the start of that conversation and double NCAA champion Jasmine Moore from Florida is part of it now, too. 

Monae Nichols from Texas Tech owns the longest jump in the U.S. at 22-10.50 (6.97m), but ultimately took fourth at the NCAA Championships. Tiffany Flynn is also a worthy candidate for a spot after taking fourth at the World Indoor Championships.  

Women's Triple Jump 

The returning Olympic trio of Keturah Orji, Tori Franklin and Jasmine Moore have separated from the pack of potential challengers, at least domestically. 

Competing with the likes of world record holder Yulimar Rojas and the rest of the top jumpers is the new challenge for them. 

Orji was seventh in Tokyo and owns the American record at 48-11 (14.91m). Two weeks ago she jumped a U.S.-leading 48-5 (14.76m).  Franklin and Moore are the only others who have jumped 14 meters.  

Women's Shot Put

World Championships wild card – Maggie Ewen, 2021 Diamond League champion

The U.S. is loaded in this event and some very talented throwers will not make this weekend's top three. There are six Americans ranked in the top 16 in the world. Fortunately for Maggie Ewen, she owns the Diamond League title and has a free pass to Worlds. 

Chase Ealey has risen up to become one of the co-favorites for the U.S. title and she has two Diamond League wins already this season, including a 66-0.50 (20.13m) personal best in Oslo. 

Raven Saunders, the Olympic silver medalist, belongs in the conversation, too, but it's been a ragged spring for her. NCAA champion Adelaide Aquilla from Ohio State broke the collegiate record and should be full of confidence as the No. 4 thrower in the world. Jessica Ramsey, the Trials champion in 2021, is No. 8 in the world. Jessica Woodard is also in contention and 14th in the world.  

Women's Discus 

World Championships wild card – Valarie Allman, 2021 Diamond League champion

It seems every discus thrower in the world, men and women alike, is studying YouTube videos of Valarie Allman. Her ethereal technique combines brute strength and artistic grace. The Olympic champion is in a class by herself and is possibly the greatest "clean" female thrower of all-time. 

Allman can use her time at Hayward Field this week as a rehearsal, as there is no pressure on her with a bye already secured. 

The three throwers closest to her are Rachel Dincoff, Laulauga Tausaga and Veronica Fraley.  

Women's Hammer

World Championships wild card – DeAnna Price, 2019 World Champion

Who can forget DeAnna Price's breakthrough in Doha in 2019, when she won the world title. Then, she flew back to the United States and helped promote the Eugene effort, at one point picking up Gov. Kate Brown on stage as construction crews busily worked on the new Hayward Field. 

Seems like a long time ago. Price has dealt with injuries and setbacks this year, but has a spot waiting for her at the World Championships. This week, Brooke Andersen is the world leader in the event and favored to make the team. Janee' Kassanavoid, Gwen Berry and Texas State's Alyssa Wilson, the NCAA runner-up, are the players in what could be an amazing competition.  

Women's Javelin 

Maggie Malone is the big story here after throwing 215-7 (65.73m) at the Harry Jerome Classic in Canada. That's a world-leading mark in an event where the U.S. typically isn't very competitive globally. Malone could face a challenge from American record holder Kara Winger, looking to make yet another team at 36. She's ranked seventh in the world. 

Ariana Ince is the third American who has thrown past 200 feet this spring. Younger throwers Ashton Riner, the NCAA champion from BYU, and Madison Wiltrout of North Carolina, are also eager to join the upper echelon of throwers.