USATF Indoor Championships Recap: Weekly Newsletter #28

Now almost two weeks ago the USATF Indoor Championships were held in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Athletes at this event competed for a national title and a spot on Team USA at the World Indoor Championships on March 1st in Glasgow, Scotland. There were many great races on both days and let me walk you through the best ones.

The first race I want to discuss is the Women’s 1500m. As you may know, the 1500m has gained popularity in the past couple of years and in my opinion has become the best event in track and field. In this particular race the reigning outdoor and indoor national champion in the event, Nikki Hiltz ran a great race to take the title. They were able to beat Emily Mackay by .35 of a second, and they won in 4:08.35. Through this race, Hiltz kept a strong position by sitting in fourth place until 600 meters left where they broke for the lead and took second place, They took the lead with 400 meters to go, and they would eventually close in 60.6 to win the title. 

The next race I would like to touch on is the Men’s 3000m. In this race, the American record holder in the indoor and outdoor mile, outdoor and indoor 1500m, and the reigning national outdoor champion in the 1500m, Yared Nuguse was able to cruise to a win in his non-specialty event. Throughout the entirety of this race, Nuguse found himself at the front of the pack as you might expect and he was able to do this in a field of 15 men. The opening hundreds of meters went by at a very slow pace until Abdihamid Nur put in a surge and made anyone who wanted a chance at a title match his move. This was no challenge for Nuguse and unfortunately for Nur, he got swallowed up in the last 600m to place 5th. Nuguse would win this race in a time of 7:55.76, and Olin Hacker would finish behind him in 7:56.22 to join Nuguse in Scotland. 

The third event I would like to touch on is the women’s 3000m. Elle St. Pierre who I have now talked about in two newsletters in a row, ran away with this race. The women’s Wanamaker mile champion from this year’s Millrose Games, who is also the American record holder in the indoor mile, led this race from 600m into the race until the end. She finished in a time of 8:54.40 and she will be joined by Josette Andrews who finished nine seconds behind St. Pierre in 9:03.10. 

The last event I will talk about today is the Nike Men’s 60m. As you may know, Noah Lyles, who won this race, is one of the biggest personalities in track and field. He won the triple crown last summer at the Budapest World Championships, in the 100m, 200m, and the 4x100m relay. Lyles was joined in this race by Christian Coleman, the world record holder in this event, who has also shown promise in the outdoor 100m. This race was also very competitive like these two individuals. So competitive that it came down to .01 of a margin. Lyles was able to bring home the title in 6.43 and Coleman ran 6.44. Both athletes will represent the USA in Scotland and will most certainly be two of my favorites to win the world indoor title. 

I felt that these races were the best of the weekend, and these athletes will one hundred percent represent the USA in Glasgow, Scotland this weekend. If you would like to watch like I will, make sure to tune into NBC.