Noah Lyles, Abby Steiner Run To Victory In 200m; Athing Mu Wins Tight 800 Final; Emma Coburn Wins 10th U.S. Title; Chase Ealey Throws Huge Mark In SP; Daniel Roberts Wins 110 Hurdles; Bowerman Group Dominates 5,000

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

EUGENE, Ore. – The United States earned 26 medals at the Tokyo Olympics last summer, seven of them gold. 

Can the most successful track team in the world do even better next month on home soil, back at Hayward Field?

All the evidence of what the U.S. will bring to the table was on display this weekend at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, including 13 event finals in suddenly hot Eugene. 

The athletes who qualified for the team in the men's and women's 200 meters survived two rounds on the hot track and showed that there are multiple medal contenders at that distance.

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Noah Lyles took the full measure of 18-year-old phenom Erriyon Knighton and won a very close men's final 19.67 to 19.69. Fred Kerley, running his sixth race in a few days, used his strength to pull out third place in 19.83. 

"I'm the world champion in the 200 meters and I worked hard for that. I'm not going to just give it away," Lyles said. 

Knighton, who ran 19.49 earlier this spring, practically jogged the second half of the prelim and still ran 19.98. But the older, more experienced Lyles got the better of him in the final. 

"It was just about keeping my composure, being powerful, being assertive and reeling in Erriyon one step at a time," Lyles said. 

In the women's competition, Kentucky's Abby Steiner continued her roll in 2022 and ran a world-leading time of 21.77 seconds and won her first U.S. title. Tamara Clark (21.92) was second and Jenna Prandini, and Olympic finalist last summer, was third in 22.01. 

The NCAA champion continues to improve. 

"Just trusting in my coach and the training plan that he set up. We're working hard every single day," Steiner said. 

Gabby Thomas, the Olympic bronze medalist, was unable to put two good enough rounds together on a recent Grade 2 hamstring tear and finished last in the final. 

The final day of competition began early with the 5,000 meters getting re-scheduled for the morning to avoid the heat. 

Nike's Bowerman Track Club was dominant, with Grant Fisher and Woody Kincaid going first and second in the men's race, and Elise Cranny and Karissa Schweizer first and second in the women's. 

Fisher demonstrated that he is a cut above everyone in the U.S. right now, running clear of the field and breaking the meet record with 13:03.86. 

"I was actually kind of excited for it to be hot, because I wanted to make a really strong move and in the heat when people start to open things up you start to think 'Hey man, maybe I shouldn't be extending myself so hard, maybe I'm going to blow up,'" Fisher said. 

Kincaid closed his final 200 meters in 26.65 seconds and moved up from fourth to second, in 13:06.70. 

Northern Arizona's Abdihamid Nur ran strong for third place to make his first U.S. team in 13:08.63. 

Cranny and Schweizer were joined by former Bowerman teammate Emily Infeld, who sprinted along with them on the homestretch and finished within a second. Cranny won it in 15:49.15, Schweizer was next in 15:49.32 and Infeld, who was a heart-breaking fourth at the 10,000-meter championship three weeks ago, ran 15:49.42.

Olympic champion Athing Mu said for the first time the phrase "target on your back" made sense as she needed a big effort to hold off the charging World Indoor champion Ajee' Wilson and Olympic medalist Raevyn Rogers as they all ran in the 1:57s. Mu's long stride pulled it out in the final three steps. 

In the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, Emma Coburn hit a milestone with her 10th U.S. steeplechase championship in 11 tries. She picked her spot to make a move and charged past NCAA champion Courtney Wayment and won the race in 9:10.63. Wayment continued to show great promise as she ran another personal best of 9:12.10 for second place. 

Courtney Frerichs of the BTC was stepped on early in the race and had a hole ripped in the top of her shoe, but she managed to keep racing and finished third in 9:16.18. 

The meet concluded with another exciting finish in the men's 110-meter hurdles. Grant Holloway, who has the wild card for the World Championships, scratched the final and opened the door for a new U.S. champion. Daniel Roberts emerged from a blanket finish to win the race by .05 seconds in 13.03.

Trey Cunningham, making his pro debut this weekend, was second in 13.08. Devon Allen got the third spot by .003 seconds with 13.09. 

Chase Ealey pumped out a big mark of 67-3.50 (20.51m) for a meet and facility record in the women's shot put, moving to No. 2 on the U.S. all-time list. NCAA champion Adelaide Aquilla was second with 63-9.75 (19.45m) and Jessica Woodard with 63-7.75 (19.40m).

Rai Benjamin ran over barriers for the first time in weeks at the meet this weekend, but still managed to run a world-leading time of 47.04 and lead the fastest overall race in meet history, with six runners under 48.6. 

Trevor Bassitt took second in a personal best 47.47 and Khallifah Rosser was third in 47.65. 

At just 24, Bryce Hoppel raced like a savvy veteran as he won the men's 800-meter final in 1:44.60. Jonah Koech, representing the U.S. Army, was second in 1:44.74 and Brandon Miller of Texas A&M, Mu's boyfriend, was third with 1:45.19. 

Donald Scott made quick work of the men's triple jump competition, jumping 56-0 (17.07m) on his first attempt and never needing to go an inch further to win the U.S. title. 

Will Claye finished second with 55-6.50 and Chris Benard jumped 55-2.75 for third, though he doesn't have the World standard. Defending world champion Christian Taylor, who has the wild card, finished fifth. 

Shelby McEwen won the U.S. high jump title with a clearance at 7-7.75 (2.33m) and after he made it he had the bar raised to 7-10.50 (2.40m) for his last attempt. It may yet prove to be an important look at a bar that may well decide medals next month at the World Championships. 

JuVaughn Harrison finished second by making 7-6.50 (2.30m) to earn his spot on the team after missing out in the long jump. 

In the men's javelin, NCAA runner-up Ethan Dabbs of Virginia speared the lead from Curtis Thompson in the sixth round and won the U.S. title with 266-8 (81.29m). Thompson was second with 264-1 (80.41m) and NCAA champ Marc Minichello was third with 259-4 (79.05m). The only thrower who owned the WC standard heading into competition, Michael Shuey, finished seventh.