The best American track and field competition of the year is finally here, and the best American track and field athletes didn’t waste any time getting started on Day 1 of competition.

We had women running sub-11 in the 100m and sub-2 in the 800m in the first round of racing, raising the bar for the already-high standards U.S. track athletes have set in these events. Olympic champions Ryan Crouser and Athing Mu came back from early-spring training setbacks with no sign of struggle, easily advancing to their respective finals of the shot put and 800m. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing — we got a couple of classically-crazy distance races in the steeplechase and 1500m, most notably in heat 1 of the 1500m where 0.57 seconds separated 1st from 11th place and runners were swinging out into lane 5 to qualify.

The seeds of comeback stories were sown for fan favorites like Evan Jager and Kate Grace, both Rio Olympians trying to make one more squad. A battle royale was set up in the women’s 5000m between reigning U.S. champ Elise Cranny and current U.S. leader Elle St. Pierre, who each advanced easily to the final in separate semifinals. And the biggest shock of the day came in the men’s pole vault as American record holder KC Lightfoot failed to advance to the final after missing three jumps at 5.60 meters.

And then the evening ended with the men’s 10,000m final. In some ways, there was a bit of anticlimax baked into the narrative as the Olympic qualifying system meant four men were competing for three spots, but nobody told the guys competing they shouldn’t make it fun. Olympic Marathon Trials champ Conner Mantz took on the mantle of early leading, a familiar sight for longtime watchers of U.S. 10ks, keeping the pace just honest enough to run the legs off much of the field before Grant Fisher unleashed his trademark two-lap close to drop the competition and claim the win in 27:49.47. What’s crazy is that Fisher, despite being an Olympic 5th-placer and the American record holder in the event, had never won a U.S. title over 10,000m until last night, finishing 4th, 2nd, and 2nd in his last three championships.

Fisher and runner-up Woody Kincaid will be heading to their second Olympic in August and NCAA standout Nico Young, despite not winning a single outdoor title on this track a few weeks earlier, is finishing his Pride Month on the best of notes as he makes his first Olympic team at 21 years old.

What To Watch On Day 2

It’ll be a fun day for sprint fans as Day 2 features the final of the women’s 100m and the first round of the men’s 100m, so we’ll get showdowns between Sha’Carri Richardson and McKenzie Long and our first peek at Noah Lyles v. Christian Coleman.

Field event fans get the second day of decathlon competition, where Michigan State’s Heath Baldwin currently leads by 31 points after Day 1 over 2022 World bronze medalist Zach Ziemek. Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs have another round of their epic rivalry in the men’s shot put final and the best women’s triple jumpers in the country head down the runway for their final as well.

Follow along with live results here and on the CITIUS MAG social channels.

Race of the Day: Men’s 10,000m

The oft-maligned track 10,000m is brutal for competitors and can be tedious for spectators, but these particular 25 laps delivered in a big way. It’s always fun to see the speediest 5000m runners and the strongest marathoners meet in the middle, and with Conner Mantz and Sam Chelanga doing some leading work, it was hard to forget that the sub-2:09 guys can still hang on the track, even if their wheels can’t quite compare to the sub-13 minute guys.

Athlete of the Day: Quincy Wilson

By this point in the 16-year-old’s burgeoning track career, we’re used to seeing special performances and total dominance from Maryland’s and Bullis High School’s Quincy Wilson. But the multi-national champ on the high school level would surely hit an upper limit of success when he competes against the pros… right? Right??

Well, if that limit exists, we haven’t found it yet as Wilson dropped an incredible 44.66 400-meter performance in the first round of the 400m, winning his heat and advancing to the semi-finals with the second fastest time on the day and the 8th fastest by an American this year. Wilson broke Darrell Robinson’s 42-year-old all-time high school record of 44.69 in the first sub-45 performance of this career and claimed an outdoor U18 world record to match his indoor mark.

With two rounds of racing remaining, it’s not crazy to suggest Wilson has at least an outside shot of making an Olympic team as a rising high school junior. Whether or not he runs even faster, this rising star is going to be one to watch for years to come.

Photo of the Day

Even an untied shoe and an early-race stumble couldn’t stop reigning World champion Sha’Carri Richardson from leading all qualifiers in the women’s 100m with a 10.88.

Social Moment to Remember

2016 Olympic champion and 5x U.S. champion Matthew Centrowitz shares a heartbreaking update as he announces his withdrawal from the 1500m at the 2024 Olympic Trials. Centrowitz had previously announced that 2024 would be his final competitive season.