Historic 800 tops final day of Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships

EUGENE, Oregon – The strongest and deepest men's 800 final in U.S. history did not disappoint Sunday afternoon at Hayward Field on the final day of the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. The race was the highlight of a day that also featured a meet record in the women's discus and a world-leading time in the men's 200.
 
World indoor champion Josh Hoey went to the front and took the pack through the bell in a very quick 49.29, with Brandon Miller and American record holder Bryce Hoppel just behind him. Hoey still had a slim lead over Hoppel and former American record holder Donavan Brazier at 600 in 1:15.54, setting up a very speedy finish. Off the turn, Brazier took over the lead and high school phenom Cooper Lutkenhaus was charging hard on the outside. Brazier held off the precocious 16-year-old Texan to win in a meet record 1:42.16, with Lutkenhaus shattering the world U18 best and the American U20 record with a stunning 1:42.27, fueled by a 12.48 final 100. Hoppel grabbed the bronze in 1:42.49, relegating Hoey to fourth in 1:43.04.
 
“Finally, I have a chance at redemption and to just showcase resiliency," Brazier said. "That was just pure grit that last 200 meters.”
 
Lutkenhaus added, "I was really seizing the moment, racing the best guys in America and globally, I was just going out there and having fun and just trying to see what I can do.”
 
Brazier's time makes him the third fastest American ever, while Lutkenhaus took over the No. 4 slot on the all-time U.S. performer list, and Hoppel's time was the seventh fastest ever. Brandon Miller's 1:43.14 for fifth place put him at No. 9 on the all-time U.S. performer list. Lutkenhaus broke the American U20 record of 1:43.55 that was set by Brazier in 2016, and took down the world U18 best of 1:43.37 by Ethiopia's Mohammed Aman in 2011.
 
Indomitable and undefeated in two years, Valarie Allman became the winningest thrower in U.S. Championships history in the women's discus, taking her seventh straight title with a meet record 71.45/234-5, the third-farthest throw in American history. Allman, who hasn't lost since earning silver at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, had six throws good enough to win, including two past 70 meters. The last woman to beat her, 2023 world champion Laulaga Tausaga-Collins, secured the silver with a 64.86/212-9, and Gabi Jacobs used a last-gasp 63.33/207-9 to earn bronze.
 
“To leave with the stadium record feels really special," Allman said. "I feel like I have a lot of momentum, and I'm excited just to take it to the Diamond League Final.”
 
Reigning world champion and American record holder Noah Lyles steamed down the straightaway to overtake Kenny Bednarek in the final meters of the men's 200 and win his fifth U.S. title in a world-leading 19.63. Bednarek clocked 19.67 for silver, and Robert Gregory took bronze in a lifetime best 19.80 as five men dipped under 20 seconds.
 
“I'm racing into every race right now, like I have to give 100% every time I run," Lyles said. "I think I have to be in a mindset of, if this takes me all the way to the first round of Tokyo to get it, then so be it. I feel really good. They ain't gonna beat me now.”
 
After a slowish first lap in the women's 800, everyone was still in contention. Two-time defending champion Nia Akins led at the bell in 60.81, but eight other women were within a half-second of her. Around the penultimate turn and down the backstretch not much changed, but coming off the final bend chaos ensued as three runners made contact. Roisin Willis and Maggi Congdon took advantage at the front and sprinted away, with Willis breaking the tape in 1:59.26 and Congdon taking silver in 1:59.39. Sage Hurta-Klecker staved off Akins for the bronze in 1:59.48-1:59.52.
 
It's been 12 years since Dalilah Muhammad won her first U.S. title in the women's 400 hurdles, and in the interim she became Olympic champion in 2016, world champion in 2019, and a world record setter. Showing the same form that earned her those accolades, the 35-year-old future Hall of Famer ran away with her fifth national crown in 52.65, with Paris Olympic Games silver medalist Anna Cockrell second in a season best 52.89 and Paris fourth-placer Jasmine Jones earning bronze in 53.23 as that trio finished more than two seconds clear of the rest of the field.
 
Muhammad said, “I do think I can execute… going into this championships, this is one of the best builds I've ever had. And going into this race, it really was about flying to me.”
 
Content to remain near the lead through the first five barriers in the men's 400 hurdles, Olympic champion and American record holder Rai Benjamin stamped his authority on the event in the middle of the final bend and quickly pulled away from all his challengers, striding home confidently to claim his sixth straight U.S. crown in 46.89. Benjamin now holds the record for most wins and most consecutive wins at the Championships. Caleb Dean earned silver in 48.45, and Chris Robinson bronze in 48.56.
 
“I'm pretty confident (to win)," Benjamin said. "I think I just gotta head back and, you know, get a solid couple of weeks in before we go to Tokyo and make sure that I'm dialed ready to go in September."
 
The big fellas brought the heat in the final round of the men's shot put, and a huge lifetime best by 2022 World Championships bronze medalist Josh Awotunde gave him his first national title. Awotunde jumped from fourth to first with a 22.47/73-8.75 blast, and Payton Otterdahl immediately responded with a season best 22.35/73-4 to take over second from Tripp Piperi, who had taken the lead in round four with a lifetime best of 22.29/73-1.75. Piperi couldn't improve on that and all that remained was two-time world champion Joe Kovacs, who needed a big effort to claim his spot on the Tokyo team. Kovacs, who was the early leader at 22.07/72-5, powered out a 21.99/72-1.75 that left him short of the podium.
 
Two young Olympians and one of the greatest competitors in American history swept the podium spots in the men's triple jump. Russell Robinson, the U.S. leader in 2025, and Salif Mane, the Olympic Trials champion last summer, had the same best mark at 17.15/56-3.25, but Robinson took the gold on the basis of a better secondary jump of 17.06/55-11.75 to Mane's 16.89/55-5. In third was 34-year-old Will Claye, a two-time Olympic and two-time World Championships silver medalist and the second-farthest jumper in U.S. history. Claye bounded a season best 17.09/56-1, 11 years after his first national title.
 
A cadre of great kickers had to be salivating at the relatively slow pace in the men's 5000 as Olympic 1500 champion Cole Hocker was at the front through 1000 in 2:45.45, 2000 in 5:34.44, and 3000 in 8:21.34. That slow pace kept the field in close contact from front to back, and at 4000 there was less than two seconds between Hocker at 11:03.81 and the last runner. The good stuff started with 800 to go, and at the bell 10,000 champion Nico Young was a smidge ahead of double Olympic bronze medalist Grant Fisher, with Hocker in seventh. Unleashing his formidable finishing kick with a 51.76 last 400, Hocker came through on the inside to take the title in 13:26.45, with Fisher second in 13:26.75 and Young earning bronze in 13:27.05.
 
Hocker said, “I felt like it was right in my wheelhouse and coming off tired legs yesterday, that's exactly the way I wanted the race to go.”
 
This year's fastest woman in the world, 100 champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, completed the sprint double in majestic fashion with a lifetime best 21.84 to take 200 gold. Jefferson-Wooden had the lead throughout the race, blazing through the first 100 in 11.14 and coming off the bend with a good lead.
 
“I always just try to stay in my lane," Jefferson-Wooden said. "I try to stay in my bubble. Also just understanding the difference between being prideful versus being confident in who you are.”
 
Anavia Battle finished very well in lane two to take silver in 22.13, and Olympic champion Gabby Thomas got the bronze by the very tiniest of margins in 22.20. Thomas' time to the thousandth was 22.197, while Brittany Brown was fourth in 22.198 and McKenzie Long fifth in 22.199.
 
Sandi Morris picked up her fifth career U.S. title in the women's pole vault with a clearance on her second try at 4.83/15-10. Morris was the only woman to clear that height, with reigning world champion Katie Moon and 20-year-old Amanda Moll filling out the medal stand with makes at 4.73/15-6.25.
 
“I absolutely believe I can be world champion this year and nothing is standing in my way but myself," Morris said. "I'm going to make sure that I'm not standing in my way and I know that I'm going to give this 100% my all, and I'm not going to leave any stone unturned. I'm going to do everything I can to be world champion.”
 
In the men's high jump, Tyus Wilson was the only competitor to go over 2.27/7-5.25 and that earned him the gold ahead of Olympians Shelby McEwen and JuVaughn Harrison. None of that trio had any misses until 2.27, and Wilson made it on his third and final attempt for the victory, with Paris silver medalist McEwen taking silver at 2.22/7-3.25 and Harrison bronze at the same height.
 
“I think the main thing is just staying focused on one thing at a time, running fast, sticking my foot on the ground, jumping high and not overthinking anything," Wilson said. "I had no idea that winning was in the cards today so that was just an unexpected blessing.”
 
Winner of three straight women's 5000 golds from 2017-19, Shelby Houlihan captured her fourth career U.S. title in the event by laying down a 61.85 final lap to clock 15:13.61. Three-time champion Elise Cranny took silver in 15:14.26, and this year's fastest American, Josette Andrews, earned bronze in 15:15.01. Like the men's race earlier, the tempo was very pedestrian and the field came through 3000 in 9:30 and change. Pace picked up a bit over the next kilometer as Andrews pulled them through 4000 in 12:31.50. Houlihan's 2:41.77 final kilometer sealed her victory as nobody could contend with her finishing speed.
 
Capping off a memorable Championships, Ja'Kobe Tharp came through in lane one to win the men's 110 hurdles in a lifetime best 13.01. Tharp, who won the world U20 title last year and then swept indoor and outdoor NCAA crowns in the sprint hurdles this year, cut .04 off his personal best as he eased past Cordell Tinch, who nabbed silver in 13.03, and Dylan Beard, the bronze medalist at 13.04.
 
 
AMERICAN RECORDS
W20,000 Walk - 1:31:23.7 Lauren Harris
 
MEET RECORDS
WDT - 71.45 Valarie Allman
M800 - 1:42.16 Donavan Brazier
M1500 - 3:30.17 Jonah Koech
W100 - 10.65 Melissa Jefferson-Wooden
W100H - 12.22 Masai Russell
W20,000 Walk - 1:31:23.7 Lauren Harris
WSP - 20.84 Chase Jackson
 
WORLD LEADING MARKS
M200 - 19.63 Noah Lyles
W100 - 10.65 Melissa Jefferson-Wooden