Embarrassment Of Riches In The Hurdles:

It was not going to be a surprise when a number of heavy hitters were left off the women’s 100m hurdles team; it was simple math. With only three spots to ration and at least seven women more than capable of making the team, more than half of them were going to go home disappointed. The real surprises came in which big names landed in the top three at the end of the night and which didn’t. After running the fastest semi-final earlier in the night, Alaysha Johnson missed out on third place by fewer thousands of a second (two) than outfits she raced in this weekend (three). On the other hand, Nia Ali avenged her most recent Eugene performance, a disqualification in the heats at last year’s World Championships, with a win. The 2019 World champion took home the national championship in her fastest time since her gold medal run four years ago in Doha, and will lead the U.S team to Budapest along with Keni Harrison and Masai Russell.

Krissy Has The Gears:

Over the past decade, the names of U.S steeplechase national champions did not vary all that much. Emma Coburn looked poised last night to win her eleventh U.S title - and ninth in a row - until Krissy Gear overtook her down the homestretch. Gear’s winning time gave her a personal best a whopping 26 seconds faster than the one she started the year with, and the world standard, meaning she can start packing her bags for Hungary. Coburn still finished second, ahead of Courtney Wayment, the runner many would have picked if they had to go with anyone besides the reigning champ. After such an exciting finish how could the men’s steeplechase possibly follow it up? Cue BYU’s Kenneth Rooks. Rooks hit the deck a few minutes into the race and dropped well behind the rest of the pack. Instead of panicking, he slowly worked his way back up and was able to kick to the win down the home straight. In Rooks’s post-race interview, he actually admitted that he ran through a scenario before the race in his head of what he would do if he fell. Talk about being prepared for anything! Similarly to Gear’s win, Rooks’s title represents a fresh name at the top of the event as Hillary Bor and Evan Jager – both of whom are currently injured – had combined for the last ten U.S. men’s steeplechase titles.

Disappointment In The Men’s Pole Vault:

Just a month after setting the American record in the event, KC Lightfoot fell short of the top three in last night’s pole vault competition, meaning he will be missing a second straight U.S team since finishing fourth at the Olympics in Tokyo. Lightfoot finished fifth at last year’s national championships, but had much higher expectations this time around being the highest American vaulter this year by a margin of 15 centimeters. Lightfoot seemed bothered by a hamstring injury during the competition, and ultimately déjà vu struck as he placed fifth for a second straight year. The man that Lightfoot took the American record from, two-time World champion Sam Kendricks, also surprised by falling short of the top three. The duo were expected to make the team along with 2022 World silver medalist Chris Nielsen. Nielsen held up his end of the bargain, taking home the title, and will be joined in Budapest by Texas Tech’s Zach Bradford, and BYU grad Zach McWhorter who earned second by vaulting the World standard for the first time this year.

Hall Gets It Done:

Quincy Hall entered the weekend as the 17th-fastest American man this year in the 400m and didn’t have the World standard, so don’t feel bad if you didn’t pick him to make the team. Furthermore, Hall’s signature event up until last year was the 400m hurdles, but if last night’s results were any indication, he might want to consider making the permanent switch. In a blazing fast final – four of the top six set personal bests – Hall (third), and fellow veterans Vernon Norwood (second) and Bryce Deadmon (first), held off a field that was otherwise made up entirely of collegians to form a team that will head to Budapest with experience on the biggest stages of the sport. And if you were wondering about that pesky world standard, Hall knocked it out in the semi-finals on Friday.