EUGENE, Oregon — Five champions were crowned on the first day of competition at the 2023 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field. On the track, the reigning Olympic Trials men's champion at 5,000m and last year's U.S. women's champion in that event moved up to double the distance to take gold, and two of the three field event finals were decided by very narrow margins. In the day's final event, Woody Kincaid sprinted away from the field on the final lap to win the men's 10,000m in 28:23.01. Kincaid covered the last 400m in 54.76 to jet past last year's winner, Joe Klecker, who took second in 28:24.50, with Sean McGorty earning bronze in 28:24.96. American record holder Grant Fisher briefly took the lead in the final stages but ended up fourth in 28:25.61. Isai Rodriguez and Brandon Garnica made most of the pace through the first two miles before two-time Olympic 5,000m medalist Paul Chelimo and Sam Chelanga took over. Chelimo was passed by Conner Mantz with just over a mile to go, but then Fisher powered to the front and made a bold move to steal the victory. He was a second up on Kincaid with a lap to go but couldn't match his closing speed. Settling into what can be generously described as a leisurely stroll, the field in the women's 10,000m followed Kassandra Parker through 800m in a smidge under three minutes and then hit the first mile mark in around 5:40. Parker continued to lead as the tempo picked up a bit, going by two miles in around 10:50, and over the next mile it ebbed and flowed, with no one willing to take over the duties at the front from Parker. After the four-mile mark, Emily Venters made a move and went to the lead and then Natosha Rogers dropped a 73-second lap to move into the front. Rogers led for three laps before yielding to American record holder Alicia Monson, and Monson was in prime position until the final circuit when Elise Cranny surged to the fore and went on to win in 32:12.30. Monson held on for second in 32:17.51, while Rogers rounded out the medalists in third at 32:22.77. A see-saw contest in the men's discus between U.S. leader Sam Mattis and NCAA champion Turner Washington of Arizona State ended up with 2019 champion Mattis atop the podium, winning with his fifth-round throw of 65.93m/216-4. Washington, whose father, Anthony, won the 1999 USATF title, took the lead immediately with an opening effort of 64.27m/210-10. Mattis then passed him with a 65.58m/215-2 on his next throw and Washington grabbed the lead back in round four with a 65.60m/215-3. Hitting his best throw of the day on his next attempt, Mattis sealed the win. Brian Williams took third with a 63.36m/207-10 in round five. In what was always going to be a three-way contest, the women's triple jump was decided by only one centimeter. Tori Franklin broke Keturah Orji's six-year winning streak, spanning an outdoor season best 14.44m/47-4.5 on her second attempt to end up atop the podium. Orji came as close as she could on her final jump, but her 14.43m/47-4.25 was agonizingly short and she had to settle for silver. American indoor record holder Jasmine Moore, who was the NCAA indoor and outdoor champion for Florida this year, grabbed the bronze with a best of 14.19m/46-6.75. Nebraska's Maddie Harris picked an opportune time to set a lifetime best, capturing the women's javelin gold with a 60.73m/199-3 in round five. Former American record holder Maggie Malone had a best of 58.79m/192-10 for silver, and North Carolina's Madison Wiltrout took the bronze at 55.51m/182-1. Ariana Ince, the only woman in the field who has achieved the World Championships qualifying standard, was sixth. One of the most eagerly anticipated events of the day was the heats of the women's 400m, with NCAA record holder Britton Wilson in heat one and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, world record holder in the 400m hurdles, lining up in heat two. With Lynna Irby-Jackson to her inside and a notorious fast starter, Wilson had all she could handle through 300m before coming away with a 50.08 victory ahead of Irby-Jackson's 50.80. Nothing was close in the next heat as McLaughlin-Levrone made it look very easy on the way to a 49.79 that gave her a winning margin of more than a second over Makenzie Dunmore. Southeastern Conference foes Talitha Diggs of Florida and Texas A&M's Jermaisha Arnold went 1-2 in the third heat, with Diggs taking top honors in 51.31, and Rosey Effiong of Arkansas won the final heat in 51.35 ahead of Courtney Okolo and Paris Peoples. USATF indoor 60m champion J.T. Smith dominated the NCAA Division II scene for Texas A&M-Commerce this year, and in his first U.S. outdoor championship meet he stamped his presence with a 10.02 win in the first heat ahead of World Championships bronze medalist Trayvon Bromell and Oregon's Micah Williams. Another collegian, Florida's Pjai Austin, took heat two in 10.17, and then the third heat was a display of Cravont Charleston's newfound form as he blew out of the blocks and was uncatchable on the way to a 10.01. World 200m champion Noah Lyles made a strong effort to catch Charleston and was second in 10.05. Fastest of the day was 2019 world champion Christian Coleman in the final heat, zipping to a 9.95 that looked effortless. Last year's World Championships silver medalist, Marvin Bracy-Williams, appeared to stumble midway through the race and could not recover, ending his bid for another World Championships berth. Bursting away from the field in the first heat of the women's 100m, Sha'Carri Richardson tied the meet record with a world-leading 10.71 lifetime best that left the rest of the field far behind. Brittany Brown, a World Championships silver medalist at 200m in 2019, tied her PB in second at 10.96, with Oregon high school champion Mia Brahe-Pedersen third in 11.05. Separated by six lanes in heat two and sprinting into a wind, defending champion Melissa Jefferson and USATF indoor 60m champion Aleia Hobbs hit the line almost together, with Jefferson winning by .01 in 11.10. Tamara Clark came through in the final meters to take the third heat in 11.02 ahead of Tamari Davis and TeeTee Terry. Morolake Akinosun and high schooler Shawnti Jackson battled it out in the final heat, with Akinosun getting the nod in 11.03 and Jackson second at 11.05. Local favorite and Oregon legend English Gardner nabbed the third auto qualifying spot in 11.12. NCAA runner-up Ryan Willie of Florida eased to a 45.48 win in heat one of the men's 400m, followed by another SEC win in heat two from Chris Bailey of Arkansas, who used a fast finish to edge Vernon Norwood by .02 in 45.04. USATF indoor champion Justin Robinson used a late charge in heat three to pass Trevor Stewart and win in 45.22, while Quincy Hall surged past Georgia's Matthew Boling in the closing stages to take heat four in 45.21. Boling set a personal best of 45.53 in second. Notable absentees included scratches by 2022 World Championships team members Michael Cherry and Elija Godwin. World Championships bronze medalist and current world leader Anna Hall didn't have any spectacular individual events on day one of the heptathlon, but she put together a 4,009-point tally to lead by 119 over Taliyah Brooks. Hall, who scored 6,988 in Austria earlier this year to move to No. 2 on the all-time U.S. performer list, clocked 13.08 in the 100m hurdles, then cleared 1.87m/6-1.5 in the high jump. A lifetime best of 14.03m/46-0.5 in the shot put helped her cause, and she won the 200m in 23.45. Brooks was the fastest in the 100H at 12.98 and tied her PB in the high jump, putting 3,890 points on the board after four events. In third is Chari Hawkins with 3,831 points, with Tokyo Olympian Annie Kunz fourth at 3,776. Returning to the form that saw him make Team USATF for the 2019 World Championships, Harrison Williams put together a very impressive first five events in the men's decathlon to lead with 4,465 points. Williams got it going with a 10.65 in the 100m and followed up with a 7.48m/24-6.5 in the long jump. A lifetime best of 15.33m/50-3.5 in the shot put preceded a season best in the high jump, and he finished off the afternoon with a big 46.35 PB in the 400m. Iowa's Austin West had two very good running events, winning the 100m in a PB 10.52 and the 400m in 46.31, another lifetime best, and was second with 4,430. Another combined events bronze medalist from Oregon22, Zach Ziemek, is third with 4,370 and increased his PB in the shot to 15.72m/51-7. Last year's USATF silver medalist, Kyle Garland, is fourth, 17 points behind Ziemek. There were no major casualties in the first event on the track. NCAA champion Will Sumner of Georgia kicked off the day's proceedings in non-combined events, winning the first heat of the men's 800m with a wire-to-wire 1:46.49. The second heat went out a bit slower but that didn't keep defending champion Bryce Hoppel from controlling the pace all the way, easing to a win in 1:47.87. Rio 2016 bronze medalist Clayton Murphy had the fastest time overall at 1:46.36 after keying off a good early tempo from Brandon Miller in the third heat, and Isaiah Jewett took the final heat in 1:46.55. Breaking free of the pack midway down the final stretch in the first heat of the women's 800m, Raevyn Rogers, Roisin Willis and four-time USATF champion Ajee' Wilson finished within a quarter-second of each other, led by Rogers' 2:00.08. Sage Hurta-Klecker, the third-fastest American this year, powered away to take the second heat in 2:01.48 after leading through 400m in 60.61. Sprinting away from the pack off the final bend, Nia Akins rolled to a season best 1:59.09 to turn back NCAA champion Michaela Rose of LSU and Stanford's Juliette Whittaker in heat three. Closing out the heats, Charlene Lipsey led Kaela Edwards and Allie Wilson to a clear 1-2-3 finish, winning in 2:00.10. A group of five women started to break away after three laps in the first heat of the 3,000m steeplechase and stayed together through the finish, with less than a second separating winner Logan Jolly at 9:48.56 and fifth-placer Kayley DeLay. NCAA champion Olivia Markezich and 2022 World Championships 12th-place finisher Courtney Wayment were in the middle of that lead pack, along with Krissy Gear. Former American record holder and 2017 world champion Emma Coburn won off a faster pace in the second heat, crossing the line in 9:36.69 as the first five women were faster than the first heat. American record holder Courtney Frerichs had to settle for a time qualifier spot in the final after placing eighth in 9:47.36. For the first time since 2011, someone named Bor or Jager will not be the men's 3,000m steeplechase champion. Leading the way in the first heat, Mason Ferlic captured a relatively rapid section in 8:24.14, an inch or two ahead of runner-up Daniel Michalski. NCAA gold and silver medalists Kenneth Rooks of BYU and Duncan Hamilton of Montana State, who just signed with Nike and now represents the Bowerman TC, also secured advancement, along with veteran Andy Bayer. A blanket finish in the second heat saw six men finish in the space of .3 seconds, led by winner Craig Nowak at 8:29.17. World Championships semifinalist Benard Keter was an easy qualifier in the runner-up spot. After a very quick first heat won by U.S. leader Yared Nuguse in 3:35.37, the next two heats of the men's 1,500m fell victim to slow early pace. Sam Prakel cranked out a 54.12 closing quarter to win the second heat in 3:42.78, the slowest winner overall. Tokyo sixth-place finisher Cole Hocker used a similar finish to take the third heat in 3:39.23, but Cooper Teare was relegated to fourth in 3:39.38 and missed out on the final. All three time qualifiers came from the first section, including 2016 Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz, who took the final slot in 3:37.36. One of the bigger questions coming into the Championships was how Athing Mu would fare in the women's 1,500m. The Olympic and world champion at 800m and the American record holder at that distance, Mu has minimal competitive experience at the longer distance. You couldn't really tell by her performance in heat one as she easily advanced with a third-place finish in a PB 4:10.33, less than a second behind winner Addy Wiley and U.S. leader Cory McGee. A marginally faster pace in section two had Sinclaire Johnson at the front with 400m to go and she held on to win by .06 in 4:07.84 over Heather MacLean, with Helen Schlachtenhaufen advancing in third. Showing superb strength over the final lap in heat three, Nikki Hiltz came away victorious in 4:11.55, the slowest of the three sections. Emily Mackay and Dani Jones claimed the final two automatic qualifying spots. Competition begins for the USATF U20 Championships today at 11:00 a.m. PT. The 2023 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships and USATF U20 Championships will be broadcast live from Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, Thursday through Sunday, July 6-9 via a mix of USATF.TV+, CNBC, and Peacock. CNBC and Peacock coverage will air from 10:00 p.m. - midnight ET on July 7 and 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. ET July 8-9. For the first time ever, USATF.TV+ will air every jump, every throw, and every race (outside the TV window) for the 2023 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships and 2023 USATF U20 Outdoor Championships, including the multi-events. The entire USATF U20 Outdoor Championships will be shown on USATF.TV+. Follow along and join the conversation on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtags #USATFOutdoors and #JourneyToGold.