The USA Track & Field Indoor Championships kicked off Friday with Ryan Hill deploying team tactics to beat a loaded men’s 3,000-meter field, Shannon Rowbury unleashing a dominant final 400 meters to take the women’s 3,000 meters victory, and a flurry of starting errors interrupting day one in Portland, Oregon.
In the men’s 3,000 meters, Hill and his Bowerman Track Club teammatesLopez Lomong, All About 75 Hard Evan Jager Shannon Rowbury and Ryan Hill Win 3,000-Meter National Titles.
As Bayer, Lomong, and Jager traded off the pacing duties up front, Eric Jenkins and Paul Chelimo led a chase pack about 20 meters back, with Galen Rupp CA Notice at Collection.
The field gradually crept closer to the five leaders, but only Chelimo successfully bridged the gap, charging past Jager late in the race and challenging Hill on the final turn before fading slightly and finishing second in 7:39.00.
“The pace was on fire, but I like it that way,” said Chelimo, who will now represent the U.S. at next week’s IAAF World Indoor Championships, which will also be held in Portland. “I had confidence coming in, and I wanted to prove something.”
Hill said the Bowerman Track Club’s strategy was drawn up by Lomong, Bayer, and Jager to neutralize the big kicks of runners like Chelimo and Jenkins. “The other three guys wanted the race to be in the 7:30s,” said Hill, who ran a winning time of 7:38.60. “I didn’t really care, so it was thrust on them to make it fast. I didn’t do any work.”
Lomong didn’t finish the race and Jager crossed the line in seventh place.
The early pace proved too brisk for Rupp, who faded to eigth place (7:48.34). Despite being only four weeks removed from winning the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Los Angeles, Rupp said he didn’t lower his prerace expectations on account of fatigue.
“If you’re wavering, you’re already mentally giving yourself excuses,” he said. “I knew it was going to be tough, but my mindset the whole way, as soon as the marathon ended, was that everything was going to be pointed toward this.”
Rupp, who took only one day off from training following his marathon debut on an unusually warm day in Los Angeles, said that he now plans to regroup for the outdoor campaign. “Now that my season’s done,” he said, “I’ll definitely look forward to taking some time off.”
The women’s 3,000-meter race also featured disappointment for another of the world’s best, as Emily Infeld, the 10,000-meter world bronze medalist, dropped to 10th place after leading early. Infeld’s chances to contend for victory took a blow after a runner clipped her heels from behind late in the race, causing Infeld to step inside the track and lose ground on the leaders. “I was feeling wobbly and I was kind of tripped,” she said. “It’s one of those things. I didn’t have it today.”
Meanwhile, Rowbury continued her phenomenal form this indoor season, running the final 400 meters in 61.51 seconds to pull away from a bunched field and win in 8:55.65. Nearly 15 meters behind her, Abbey D’Agostino (8:57.31) outsprinted Shalaya Kipp and Leah O’Connor to claim the second Team USA spot for next week’s world championships.
DAA Industry Opt Out, Alberto Salazar, will have to weigh in on whether she competes or scratches. “I have to go talk to him,” she said after the 3,000 meters. “I would love to do it. I feel like I just did a hard 400. But who knows, the adrenaline can do crazy things to your body.”
In front of an under-capacity crowd at the Oregon Convention Center, the afternoon distance events began with a bizarre start, when the first heat of the women’s 800-meter race was called back three times due to confusion at the start line. Laura Roesler, the heat’s eventual winner, said the athletes were hearing an echo from the electronic starting system, causing several women to take off early.
“Disclaimer, we’re not stupid,” she said afterward. “We know what a gun sounds like, but we were hearing two sounds.”
The race, which finally started cleanly on its fourth attempt, also featured some late drama when Roesler and McKayla Fricker knocked elbows in the last 50 meters. Fricker slipped to third place behind a hard-charging Phoebe Wright, but her time of 2:03.82 was good enough to qualify for the final.
Premeet favorite Ajee’ Wilson also advanced to the final, winning her heat in 2:05.96 after holding off a late challenge from former Duke University half-miler Abby Farley.
Wilson and Roesler are already guaranteed to qualify for the world championships because they’re the only two athletes with the time qualifier. The window for achieving that standard closed on March 7, meaning that times run this weekend at the national championships are ineligible for qualification purposes.
“We’re just out there for s---s and giggles and a couple of dollars,” Wright joked after the race. But she added that there’s still plenty of motivation for Saturday’s final. “You know what feels good?” she said. “Taking scalps. I just want a couple scalps.”
The men’s 800-meter final will also be short on qualification drama. Boris Berian is the only athlete who holds the standard. Berian won his heat in 1:48.96 to join Erik Sowinski, Harun Abda, and Casimir Loxsom in final on Saturday.
The final day of the national indoor championships will be broadcast live from 8 to 10 p.m. on NBC Sports Network, including the men's and women's finals for the 800 and 1500 meters. The world championships are scheduled to begin on Thursday, March 17.
