EUGENE, Oregon — Elise Cranny was reluctant to skip the 1500m at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships, but a decision this week to enter the 10,000m instead paid off Thursday night.
Cranny, 13th in the Tokyo Olympic 5000m, won the 25-lap 10,000m on the opening night of the four-day championships at Hayward Field to book a place on August’s world championships team.
“I was trying to convince [coach] Jerry [Schumacher] to let me do the 1500m,” said Cranny, who is also entered in Sunday’s 5000m. “We came here Tuesday. Sunday, Monday night I was waffling.”
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Cranny even told training partners that if she was placed in the opening heat of Thursday evening’s first round of the 1500m, she would take it as a sign to choose the shorter race. That happened, but she still ultimately went with Schumacher’s recommendation to run the 10,000m.
Cranny used her 1500m speed to run away from American record holder Alicia Monson and win in 32 minutes, 12.30 seconds. Monson was 5.21 seconds behind, earning a world spot. Third place Natosha Rogers doesn’t have a qualifying time to make the world team but could get in on world ranking come the July 30 cutoff. If she doesn’t, fifth place Karissa Schweizer does have the qualifying time.
Woody Kincaid won his second U.S. men’s 10,000m title, using his trademark kick and clocking 28:23.01 to prevail by 1.49 seconds over Joe Klecker, who also made the world team. The third spot will either go to third place Sean McGorty, who doesn’t have the qualifying time yet, or his former Stanford teammate and traveling roommate Grant Fisher, the American record holder who went from first to fourth on the final lap.
The meet continues Friday, live at 10 p.m. ET on CNBC, NBCSports.com/live, the NBC Sports app and Peacock.
Earlier Thursday, Sha’Carri Richardson ran 10.71 seconds in her 100m first-round heat, a personal best by one hundredth. It’s the fastest time in the world this year and the best by an American since 2011 (Carmelita Jeter).
Friday’s semifinals will also include 18-year-old Shawnti Jackson and 17-year-old Mia Brahe-Pedersen, who were the fifth- and sixth-fastest qualifiers, both running 11.05. Jackson, the daughter of 2008 Olympic 400m hurdles bronze medalist Bershawn Jackson, can become the youngest U.S. sprinter to race at worlds since Allyson Felix’s debut in 2003. Brahe-Pedersen, a rising senior at Lake Oswego High School in Oregon, is younger than Felix was in 2003.
The top three in Friday’s final are set to make the world team in the individual 100m. It’s expected that the top six will go to worlds for the 4x100m relay.
Christian Coleman, the 2019 World champion, led the qualifiers into Friday’s men’s 100m semifinals (9.95).
Also advancing: world bronze medalist Trayvon Bromell (10.05) and world 200m champion Noah Lyles (10.05, after missing one week of training due to COVID-19).
Michael Norman, the world 400m champion who switched to the 100m, did not advance (10.31) but can still use a bye into the 400m at worlds as defending champion. Norman said he has been dealing with tendonitis and that he changed coaches in May from Quincy Watts to longtime sprint coach John Smith (who coached Watts to the 1992 Olympic 400m title).
World silver medalist Marvin Bracy-Williams was last of the 33 in the men’s 100m field (11.14), pulling up and slowly crossing the finish line.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the Olympic and world 400m hurdles champion, led the qualifiers into Friday’s 400m semifinals in 49.79. She was followed by Britton Wilson (50.08), who is the fastest American in the event this year at 49.13. If McLaughlin-Levrone makes the team in the 400m, she will then choose whether to race the 400m or the 400m hurdles at worlds.
Rio Olympic champ Matthew Centrowitz was the 12th and last qualifier into Saturday’s 1500m final. Centrowitz, a 33-year-old who has said he wants to make a fourth Olympics in 2024 and then “ride into the sunset,” is coming back from May 2022 ACL surgery.
The fastest qualifier into the final was Yared Nuguse, who already this year ran the world’s second-fastest indoor mile in history and became the second-fastest U.S. 1500m runner in history. Cooper Teare, the 2022 U.S. champ, did not advance.
Athing Mu, the Olympic and world 800m champion, is running the 1500m this week because she has a bye into the 800m at worlds. She lowered her 1500m personal best by 5.73 seconds on Thursday to qualify sixth-fastest into Saturday’s final.
All of the favorites advanced to 800m semifinals (Raevyn Rogers, Ajeé Wilson, Clayton Murphy, Bryce Hoppel).
Olympic medalists Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs led the qualifiers into Saturday’s 3000m steeplechase final. Coburn had the best time in qualifying (9:36.69) and is bidding for a record-tying 11th U.S. outdoor title in a track event (in 11 appearances). Frerichs fell and still qualified in the 13th of 14 spots.
Hillary Bor and Evan Jager, who combined to win the last nine U.S. men’s steeple titles, are both out injured.
Winners in field event finals included world bronze medalist Tori Franklin (triple jump), Sam Mattis (discus) and Maddie Harris (javelin).
