Yared Nuguse fought off all challengers on a fast final lap to claim the men’s 1,500 meters Saturday in the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field.
NCAA champion Joe Waskom and Olympian Cole Hocker both made late bids as the Hayward crowd of 8,965 roared.
“When Joe passed me I wasn’t like, ‘Oh my God, I’m not going to win,’” Nuguse said. “It was like, ‘Oh, good. I have something to fight for right in front of me.”
Nuguse, the U.S. indoor record-holder, was ready for the fight, winning in 3 minutes, 34.90 seconds. Waskom finished second in 3:35.32, a personal record.
Hocker kicked from behind on the home straight, but the former University of Oregon star could not make up the difference. He settled for third in 3:35.46. Former UO runner Sam Prakel was fourth.
Hocker won the Olympic Trials at Hayward in 2021. This year has been different as he had Achilles tendon issues in both legs over the winter.
He wasn’t at 100 percent here. But he did gut his way onto Team USA as one of three men in the 1,500 for the World Outdoor Championships next month in Budapest, Hungary.
“I really wanted to win today, but I can put it in perspective and just know where I’m at,” Hocker said. “I can be content right now because I know where I’m going with it.
Matthew Centrowitz, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist, came in 10th.
The women’s 1,500 final was exciting too. A determined Nikki Hiltz turned back the field in an exciting last lap, posting a winning time of 4:03.10.
Athing Mu, Tokyo Olympic gold medalist and reigning world champion in the 800, went up in distance here. She battled Hiltz to the finish, taking second in 4:03.44.
Mu has enough top end speed to make anyone nervous coming off the final turn.
“This is Athing Mu,” Hiltz said laughing. “But also you’re like, it’s just another person. Obviously, everyone in there is a class act. But I know I’m a great runner too, and I believe in myself.”
Cory McGee was third in 4:03.48, finishing just in front of defending champion Sinclaire Johnson. Johnson, who trains with the Portland-based Union Athletic Club, sprawled across the finish line in fourth in 4:03.49.
Mu has a wildcard entry into the 800 at the World Championships as a reigning champion. She said after the race she hadn’t made a decision about which event(s) to contest in Budapest.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, world record-holder in the women’s 400 hurdles, ran the 400-meter race this weekend. Different event, similar result.
McLaughlin-Levrone dazzled while winning in 48.74. The time was a meet record, a 2023 world leader and more than a second faster than second-place finisher Britton Wilson.
“Obviously I want to continue to get better and put the race together properly,” she said.
Imagine the possibilities.
Devon Allen, the two-sport star from the Oregon Ducks, made it through the first-round heats of the 110 hurdles, but it wasn’t easy.
The two-time Olympian, who doubles as a receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles, tweaked his left calf in a track and field practice shortly after the New York Grand Prix two weeks ago.
He hasn’t done a hurdle workout or practiced a start since.
“That was the first time out of the blocks,” said Allen after finishing fourth in his first-round heat in 13.51. He advanced to the semifinals on time.
Allen said he plans to get treatment, be on the line for Sunday’s semifinals and, if all goes well, the final later Sunday evening.
“My goal is to run the fastest in the world and be the best in the world,” he said. “That’s the goal for tomorrow.”
Reigning world champ Grant Holloway posted the day’s best qualifying time of 13.07, fractionally better than NCAA Division II star Cordell Tinch of Pittsburg State.
Nia Ali, Keni Harrison and Masai Russell went 1-2-3 in the women’s 100 hurdle final. That meant heartbreak for former UO runner Alaysha Johnson.
Johnson finished fourth, missing the final spot on Team USA by a fraction of a second. Russell’s time was 12.458, Johnson’s 12.460.
Fresh from winning Friday’s 100 final, Sha’Carri Richardson picked up where she left off in the first-round heats of the women’s 200.
Richardson exploded out of the blocks, rocketed around the turn and sped to the finish line in 21.61.
Tamara Clark had the second-fastest time of 22.05. Also making it through to Sunday’s semifinals were defending U.S. champ Abby Steiner, 17-year-old Lake Oswego sprinter Mia Brahe-Pedersen and two-time Olympian Jenna Prandini, a former UO star.
Krissy Gear outkicked 10-time champion Emma Coburn to win the women’s steeplechase final. Gear’s time was 9:12.81. Coburn was second 9:13.60. Oregon State’s Kaylee Mitchell placed sixth.
Courtney Frerichs, of the Eugene-based Bowerman Track Club, didn’t start. She had fallen in qualifying.
UO signees Simeon Birnbaum and Daniel Watcke finished 2-3 in the U20 men’s 800. Tinoda Matsatsa won from in front in 1:47.76. There was drama behind him.
Birnbaum was way off the pace on the first lap, but mounted a series push over the final 300, went wide on the home straight to catch a diving Watcke at the finish line. Birnbaum crossed in 1:47.96, Watcke in 1:47.99.
Oregon’s Ben Balazs captured the U20 men’s steeplechase in 8:49.64.
Here are the results from the USATF Outdoor Championships: https://results.usatf.org/2023U20Outdoors/
Here are the results from the USATF U20 Championships: https://results.usatf.org/2023U20Outdoors/
— Ken Goe reported from Eugene for The Oregonian/OregonLive.
KenGoe1020@gmail.com | Twitter: @KenGoe
