2022 USAs Day 3: Sydney McLaughlin Breaks WR, Cooper Teare & Sinclaire Johnson Win 1500’s, & Evan Jager Makes the Team

By LetsRun.com
June 25, 2022

EUGENE, Ore. – There were four sprint finals today on day 3 of the USATF Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field. In the women’s 400 hurdles, Sydney McLaughlin set yet another world record (her third, running 51.41), while Michael Norman won the men’s 400 in a world-leading 43.56 and Keni Harrison won the women’s 100 hurdles in a world leading 12.34 (-1.4). In the women’s 400, Florida’s Talitha Diggs won in 50.22 as Allyson Felix was 6th (51.24) in the final individual race of her career. You can watch those races in the links listed previously.

There were also three distance finals. The most impressive distance performance of the day belonged to Sinclaire Johnson, who used a terrific 59.28 last lap to blow away the field over the final 200 and win the women’s 1500 in 4:03.29. In the men’s 1500, US leader Cooper Teare kicked his way to the win in 3:45.86, the slowest winning time at USAs since 2011. And in the men’s steeple, Hillary Bor won his third straight title in 8:15.76 as American record holder Evan Jager completed a remarkable comeback by making the team in second place.

We recap and analyze all the distance action below. After that, we talk about the sprint prelims.

Men’s 1500: Cooper Teare wins a tactical race

Coming into the men’s US 1500 final, many people (including Cooper Teare) thought if the race was tactical that Cooper Teare would be vulnerable. Well, the race was slow and tactical and yet in the end, Teare was the US champ. A remarkable accomplishment for the US leader at 1500 this year as today’s final was the first time that Teare had ever even tried to race the 1500 at either an NCAA or USATF championship. Prior to today, he’d always gone for the 5000.

Nike’s Teare got the win in 3:45.86 thanks to a final lap of 51.90 and 25.22 final 200 that took him from 5th to 1st, as Illinois’ Jonathan Davis, who was just 6th at NCAAs, was a surprise second in 3:46.01 as he blitzed his final 100 in 12.28 to go from 6th to 2nd. The Bowerman Track Club’s Josh Thompson was third in 3:46.07 as his big kick was there once again as his 51.79 last lap was the fastest in the field and took him from 9th to 3rd. 

Davis doesn’t have the World Championship standard, nor does he have a world rank high enough to be selected so the third US World Championship team member will be 6th placer Johnny Gregorek (3:46.36) as the fourth (Eric Holt, 3:46.15) and fifth (Reed Brown, 3:46.28) placers also don’t have the standard and aren’t ranked high enough. The last person right now getting into Worlds on World Ranking is #49 and Davis is ranked 110th, Holt 73rd, and Brown is 132nd.

A couple of people with the standard were total nonfactors. 2019 NCAA champ Yared Nuguse and Henry Wynne both have the standard but they finished next to last and last. Sam Prakel, who has a world ranking of 27 and would have gone if he finished ahead of Gregorek, had the lead until the final 60 but he went from 1st to 8th in the final 60 with Gregorek passing him with about 10 meters to go. In the end, Prakel ran 3:46.49 – 0.13 behind Gregorek.

The Race

You can watch the full race video here. (don’t worry about the thumbnail, the video does play).

The first 400 was slow (65.60) and the second 400 wasn’t a whole lot faster (2:08.23). Things only started to pick up a little bit after 1k but at the bell (2:53.92) everyone was in it which was still true with 300 to go (3:07.72).

But in the end, the best guy won. Teare was in a perfect spot, in the lead on the rail with 450 to go, but let a bunch of guys come around and get the lead. So he had to make a big move to the outside to get clear just before 1200 but then 140 meters later found himself boxed in yet again, but yet again he was able to get out and once clear he had the most run.

Quick Take: Cooper Teare’s “redemption tour” is complete with his first US title

Teare felt left out last year after finishing 4th at the Olympic Trials in the 5,000 while his training partner Cole Hocker won the 1500 and ultimately placed 6th in the Olympic final in Tokyo. This year, the roles are reversed (unless Hocker can somehow make the team in the 5,000 tomorrow) as Hocker was eliminated in the first round on Thursday while Teare succeeded him as US champ.

Winning his first national title was obviously a big deal, but the way he did it was also impressive considering Teare has little experience in championship 1500’s. He didn’t run a perfect tactical race, but he didn’t panic despite finding himself in a couple tricky positions on the last lap, running on the rail on the final turn and trusting that a hole would open up and that his fitness would win out. 

Quick Take: A month ago, Jon Davis was content to close the book on his running career. Now? Maybe not.

Davis, 24, has a cross country and indoor season remaining at Illinois but will not return for his seventh year in 2022-23. But even he isn’t sure what he’ll be doing from here. Davis thought 2022 would be the final year of his elite running career but recent results may have changed that. 

“A month ago, things were pretty set in stone to finish up my last few races here competitively,” Davis said. “But the way the last 6-7 weeks have gone, I’ve definitely reconsidered a lot.”

Finishing 2nd at USAs will certainly open some doors, but Davis is also set to start a job at accounting firm KPMG next month. So he has some choices to make.

“I haven’t thought too much about the actual [pro] possibilities,” Davis said. “I don’t know what they are out there.”

As for his race today, how did Davis go from 6th at NCAAs to 2nd at USAs? Chalk it up to the unpredictability of a tactical 1500.

“The way the 1500 goes, if we were to run that race again, I think we’d see different results,” Davis said. “Just the volatility of it, you never know what’s going to happen.”

Quick Take: Can we take a second to appreciate the weirdness of today’s results?

If you told us a year ago that Matthew Centrowitz, Craig Engels, and Cole Hocker wouldn’t even make the 2022 US 1500 final and that Yared Nuguse would finish second-to-last, we would have suggested you get your head examined. But that’s what happened, producing a very odd set of results. Check out the top five and their credentials:

1. Cooper Teare – Had never raced the 1500/mile at NCAAs or USAs before this year but was the US leader this year.
2. Jonathan Davis – Only 6th at NCAAs two weeks ago.
3. Josh Thompson – Consistently one of the top US 1500 men of the last four years.
4. Eric Holt – Unsponsored 27-year-old never made NCAAs at Binghamton and had never made a US final until this week.
5. Reed Brown – Didn’t even qualify for NCAAs this year.

The injuries to the big dogs like Centrowitz, Engels, and Hocker threw the 1500 into chaos this year as this is among the stranger USA final results of recent years.

Quick Take: Yared Nuguse was feeling confident before this one, and didn’t want to qualify on a technicality

Nuguse wasn’t quite sure why he didn’t have it today but thought it was perhaps because he didn’t have a full season and hadn’t run rounds in a long time.

But Nuguse was far from despondent. “Nothing’s hurt so I’m grateful,” said Nuguse after the race. When he was talking to the media, no one was sure who would be going to Worlds but Nuguse said he didn’t want to qualify as the 11th placer. “But I really don’t want to qualify that way. I’d really have to think about it (if I’d go).”

Quick Take: The World Athletics rankings need to be reworked or World Athletics should just let countries send any 3 if they clearly are going to already be sending 3

In theory, we like the idea of having a world ranking in track. The problem is it’s very hard to implement accurately, particularly for distance races, which can be tactical. The world rankings severely punish tactical races as 90% of ranking points come from how fast you run (according to the World Athletics scoring tables) and then less than 10% is bonus points for place, which vary in size depending on the level of the competition. We guess that’s ok as long as people know how much a race is worth. Someone should develop a calculator that gives the runners an idea of what they need to do.

But what’s crazy is World Athletics counts all national championships the same when clearly the US nationals are the among the most difficult in the world in every event. Placing 2nd at the US champs isn’t the same as placing 2nd in the Mongolian champs (if there is such a thing) in terms of difficulty but it’s worth the same amount of bonus points.

In terms of bonus points, it’s also crazy that a top place at the US Outdoor champs is the same as a top place at the Nashville Distance Carnival or any other World Athletics silver race. It’s also worth the same as NCAAs.

We’ve run the numbers and Eric Holt’s world ranking of #73 wasn’t helped at all today even though he finished 4th at USAs. In terms of World Athletics ranking points, today’s run was worth less than him running 3:40.95 to win the Track Night NYC meet earlier this year or running 4:00.01 to finish 2nd in the mile at the Dr. Sander Invite indoors. For Eric Holt to jump up to #49, he needed to run 3:34.57 and place 4th.

The runner–up Jonathan Davis’ world ranking barely budged as we project he’ll move up from 110th to 97th in the world. For him to move up to #49 to get into via world rankings, he would have needed to run 3:26.26 for 1500 and then get the 80 bonus points for 2nd. His world ranking was so low there was nothing he could other than run under 3:34.00 if he wanted to go to Worlds.

The US champs deserve more bonus points for place. 

Women’s 1500: Sinclaire Johnson crushes it

Sinclaire Johnson left no doubt as to who is the best women’s 1500-meter runner in America on Saturday afternoon. In a race featuring reigning US indoor champion Heather MacLean, reigning US outdoor champion Elle St. Pierre, and reigning US 10,000m champion Karissa Schweizer, Johnson was in a class of her own, ripping a sensational 59.28 final 400 meters to win by over a second in 4:03.29. 2021 Olympian Cory McGee was second in 4:04.52 as St. Pierre held off Schweizer to book her place on the team, 4:05.14 to 4:05.40. MacLean was fifth in 4:06.40.

The win was the first US title for an athlete representing Pete Julian’s Nike Union Athletics Club and vindicated Johnson’s decision to join the group after spending 2021 as a member of the Bowerman Track Club. Between this performance, her 3:58.85 at Pre (#7 all-time US), and her incredible closing speed, Johnson will return to Eugene next month as a medal threat in the women’s 1500.

“After Pre about a month ago, it showed me that not only am I going to be able to compete against the best in the US, but I’m going to be able to compete with the best in the world,” Johnson said.

Today’s race started incredibly slowly, with the field nearly coming to a halt 100 meters in and hitting 400 in just 72.81. St. Pierre got fed up with the slow pace and picked it up, splitting 63.95 and 62.60 to hit 1200 in the lead. At that point, six women were clear of the field: St. Pierre, McGee, Schweizer, Johnson, MacLean, and Helen Schlachtenhaufen.

McGee broke the pack up with a move on the backstretch, one that only Johnson could match. Johnson then pulled ahead of McGee coming off the turn and would run unchallenged to the finish line (29.33 final 200), St. Pierre edging ahead of Schweizer for the final spot over the last 40 meters.

Race Video

Quick Take: Sinclaire Johnson has officially arrived and is absolutely capable of medalling at Worlds

Johnson was one of the top collegiate prospects in recent memory when she turned pro out of Oklahoma State in 2019. That year, she ran the #2 time ever by a collegian (4:05.98) to win NCAAs, then improved to 4:03.72 to finish 4th at USAs at the age of 21. So the fact that she is now a US champion three years later doesn’t come as a huge surprise. But progress at the professional level is not always linear. Johnson barely raced in her first year as a pro in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, and though she ran an 800 pb of 1:59.91 last year after joining the Bowerman Track Club, she could not make any progress in the 1500 and wound up 12th in the Olympic Trials final.

Johnson moved to Union AC after the season and is now thriving. And a medal at Worlds is not out of the question. Faith Kipyegon (3:52.59 sb) and Gudaf Tsegay (3:54.21) are a clear 1-2 on the 2022 world list, with no one else under 3:57. And while Kipyegon, will enter as the heavy favorite for gold, Tsegay was only named to the Ethiopian team in the 5,000 and reigning world champ Sifan Hassan has yet to race at all this year. And Tokyo silver medalist Laura Muir has not been herself this year after missing time with a hip injury earlier this year.

That means the other medals are up for grabs. Ethiopia’s Hirut Meshesha has impressed with two Diamond League wins this year and would appear to have the inside track for silver. But the race Johnson ran today is the sort of race that wins medals at Worlds.

Quick Take: The oldest woman in today’s final, Cory McGee, made yet another team

At 30 years old, Cory McGee was at least three years older than every other runner in today’s 1500 final. But as Jenny Simpson and Shannon Rowbury showed in the 2010s, it is possible to run well in the 1500s well into your 30s, and McGee, who has been revitalized since moving to Boulder to train under coach Joe Bosshard in 2019, made her third global team and second straight (she also made it in 2013 while still a collegian at Florida).

Quick Take: Sinclaire Johnson has officially arrived and is absolutely capable of medalling at Worlds

Johnson was one of the top collegiate prospects in recent memory when she turned pro out of Oklahoma State in 2019. That year, she ran the #2 time ever by a collegian (4:05.98) to win NCAAs, then improved to 4:03.72 to finish 4th at USAs at the age of 21. So the fact that she is now a US champion three years later doesn’t come as a huge surprise. But progress at the professional level is not always linear. Johnson barely raced in her first year as a pro in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, and though she ran an 800 pb of 1:59.91 last year after joining the Bowerman Track Club, she could not make any progress in the 1500 and wound up 12th in the Olympic Trials final.

Johnson moved to Union AC after the season and is now thriving. And a medal at Worlds is not out of the question. Faith Kipyegon (3:52.59 sb) and Gudaf Tsegay (3:54.21) are a clear 1-2 on the 2022 world list, with no one else under 3:57. And while Kipyegon, will enter as the heavy favorite for gold, Tsegay was only named to the Ethiopian team in the 5,000 and reigning world champ Sifan Hassan has yet to race at all this year. And Tokyo silver medalist Laura Muir has not been herself this year after missing time with a hip injury earlier this year.

That means the other medals are up for grabs. Ethiopia’s Hirut Meshesha has impressed with two Diamond League wins this year and would appear to have the inside track for silver. But the race Johnson ran today is the sort of race that wins medals at Worlds.

Quick Take: The oldest woman in today’s final, Cory McGee, made yet another team

At 30 years old, Cory McGee was at least three years older than every other runner in today’s 1500 final. But as Jenny Simpson and Shannon Rowbury showed in the 2010s, it is possible to run well in the 1500s well into your 30s, and McGee, who has been revitalized since moving to Boulder to train under coach Joe Bosshard in 2019, made her third global team and second straight (she also made it in 2013 while still a collegian at Florida).

Quick Take: Sinclaire Johnson has officially arrived and is absolutely capable of medalling at Worlds

Johnson was one of the top collegiate prospects in recent memory when she turned pro out of Oklahoma State in 2019. That year, she ran the #2 time ever by a collegian (4:05.98) to win NCAAs, then improved to 4:03.72 to finish 4th at USAs at the age of 21. So the fact that she is now a US champion three years later doesn’t come as a huge surprise. But progress at the professional level is not always linear. Johnson barely raced in her first year as a pro in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, and though she ran an 800 pb of 1:59.91 last year after joining the Bowerman Track Club, she could not make any progress in the 1500 and wound up 12th in the Olympic Trials final.

Johnson moved to Union AC after the season and is now thriving. And a medal at Worlds is not out of the question. Faith Kipyegon (3:52.59 sb) and Gudaf Tsegay (3:54.21) are a clear 1-2 on the 2022 world list, with no one else under 3:57. And while Kipyegon, will enter as the heavy favorite for gold, Tsegay was only named to the Ethiopian team in the 5,000 and reigning world champ Sifan Hassan has yet to race at all this year. And Tokyo silver medalist Laura Muir has not been herself this year after missing time with a hip injury earlier this year.

That means the other medals are up for grabs. Ethiopia’s Hirut Meshesha has impressed with two Diamond League wins this year and would appear to have the inside track for silver. But the race Johnson ran today is the sort of race that wins medals at Worlds.

Quick Take: The oldest woman in today’s final, Cory McGee, made yet another team

At 30 years old, Cory McGee was at least three years older than every other runner in today’s 1500 final. But as Jenny Simpson and Shannon Rowbury showed in the 2010s, it is possible to run well in the 1500s well into your 30s, and McGee, who has been revitalized since moving to Boulder to train under coach Joe Bosshard in 2019, made her third global team and second straight (she also made it in 2013 while still a collegian at Florida).

Quick Take: Elle St. Pierre asks (nicely) for some help in leading races…don’t expect her to get it

Elle St. Pierre is known as an athlete who likes to push the pace. She also entered today’s race as the defending champion. As a result, the rest of the field essentially deferred to St. Pierre to take the pace early, and when that didn’t happen, they almost wound up stopping 100 meters in as no one knew who would lead.

Ultimately, St. Pierre did end up leading, though. That’s part of the deal when you’re a strength-based 1500 runner. St. Pierre knows she does better in faster races and didn’t want today’s final to come down to a kick like the 1500 indoors, where she was edged out for a spot on the team. So she wound up taking it, even if she wasn’t happy about it.

“I feel like people always expect me to take it and so I kind of wish other people would sometimes do a little bit of the work, I’m not going to lie,” St. Pierre said. “I mean that in the nicest way possible.” 

The good news for St. Pierre is the last two global 1500 finals have been very fast, so she may not have to worry about pushing it at Worlds. The bad news is she was just beaten convincingly by two other Americans today, so it will be tough to put herself in the medal mix.

Men’s Steeplechase Final: Evan Jager returns to Worlds as Hillary Bor wins his 3rd straight

For the first time ever, Evan Jager has been beaten in a US men’s steeplechase final. But that’s more than ok with Jager as after winning 7 straight titles between 2012 and 2018 and then not competing in 2019, 2020 (not held) and 2021, Jager was able to finish second this afternoon in 8:17.29, his best time since August of 2018, and book his return to Worlds.

The win went for the third straight year to Hillary Bor, who moved to the top of the US steeple ranks in Jager’s absence, in 8:15.76 as Benard Keter, the 2021 Olympian, took the third spot in 8:19.16.

The pace was honest from the start as Tinman Elite’s Brian Barraza took things through 1k in 2:45.80. Then NCAA runner-up Duncan Hamilton of Montana State took over as 2k was hit in 5:36.25. With 800 to go, Jager went to the lead and pushed the pace down from 66 to 64 but that was still too slow for Bor who took the lead just before the bell and never gave it up as he went 63.80, 60.67 on the way home. At the bell, Bor, Jager and Keter had gapped everyone else and that gap stayed all the way until the finish. Heading into the final water jump, Jager was in third and had bout 10 meters on Hamilton but Jager’s closes this year had been quite poor. However, today Jager accelerated into the water jump and ended up passing Keter as he came off the water jump before not having any trouble over the final 150.

Quick Take: Hillary Bor is still the man in the US steeplechase

Bor hasn’t reached the heights of a global medal like Jahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHg_086paSsger yet, but he’s building a resume as one of the best US steeplers ever. His pb (8:08.41) puts him #3 on the all-time US list, and he’s now won three straight US titles. Now it’s on to Worlds, where Bor will try to avenge last year’s elimination in the heats in Tokyo and qualify for the final.

Quick Take: Jager said the emotions in this one rivaled how he felt making his first Olympic team in 2012 and earning his Olympic medal in 2016

Jager has won seven US steeplechase titles, an Olympic silver, and World Championship bronze, but he said the emotions as he crossed the finish line today rivaled anything he’d experienced in a race during his career. 

“It was the same kind of emotions [as the 2012 Trials and 2016 Olympics] where I couldn’t even really keep it together until the finish line,” Jager said. “The emotions came pouring out of me.”

Jager’s injury woes began in 2018 when he fractured the talus bone landing in the water jump at the Zurich Diamond League, an injury that would go misdiagnosed for months and cost him the entire 2019 season. He was healthy again in 2020 but there were no steeples for him to race due to COVID. And by the time of the postponed 2021 Olympic Trials, Jager was hurt again, a calf injury causing him to scratch from the Trials. From August 30, 2018, to April 14, 2022, Jager did not finish a steeplechase.

Jager said he “definitely doubted myself more than I believed in myself these last four years” but refused to allow the doubt to completely take over.

“I never really ran into any major challenges in my career in the steeple,” Jager said. “And I thought a lot of times, I don’t think I could live with myself if I just gave up the first time it got hard…There was just always a little something in me telling me if I could just stay healthy and get back to solid training, I could get back to running at this level.”

Though Jager’s races this year had been fairly unimpressive, he knew based on workouts he was capable of more. He showed that in Thursday’s prelims, running a season’s best of 8:23, but he still needed a lot to go right today: a top-three finish and the World Championship standard of 8:22.00. But he wound up getting both, and, at 33, the greatest steepler in American history will be heading back to one more World Championship – this time on home soil.

Quick Take: Jager has had to adjust his tactics since his return

When Jager took up the steeple in 2012, he immediately became the best American in the event and would remain in that position for the next six years. It meant that, at the domestic level, Jager never had to worry much about tactics.

“I’d be in these race situations and just always feel comfortable until the last two laps and always feel like, no matter where I was in the pack, I could get out and move to where I needed to be without really exuding any energy,” Jager said. “…When you’re always the fittest guy in the field, tactics are very easy.”

Jager is in a different spot now. He has to evaluate every move and its energy cost.

“That red line is way thinner right now,” Jager said. “I don’t really feel like I can run 66’s and drop a 62 or whatever I need to whenever I want. I have to spread my energy out a little bit better and be smarter about when I’m making moves and positioning.”

With two laps remaining today, Jager faced one of those choices. Well-positioned in second, just off of Hamilton’s shoulder, Jager had the opportunity to take the lead. It was the kind of move the old Jager would know he could hold. The 2022 version wasn’t so sure.

“I was like, well this is your move if you want it,” Jager said. “And I sat there for a little bit. I was like, I don’t know if I want it, I don’t know if I can do it. And I was just like, fuck it. This is what I have to do. This is your chance right here.”

Jager dropped the pace from the 66’s and 67’s the field had been running to 64 for the penultimate lap, and though Bor would pass him at the bell, the move had had its desired effect, creating a gap to fourth that Hamilton could not close over the final 400.

Sprint prelims. 

Note, we didn’t paste results below but you can find them here.

Women’s 200: Richardson advances, Steiner leads all qualifiers

With a large number of the entrants scratching, only eight of the 24 starters in the women’s 200 prelims were eliminated this morning. NCAA champion Abby Steiner of Kentucky led all qualifiers with a time of 22.14, while Olympic bronze medalist Gabby Thomas ran 22.59 to win heat 1.

Notably, Sha’Carri Richardson, who was eliminated in round 1 of the 100 on Thursday, finished second in her 200 prelim in 22.69 and advanced to Sunday’s semifinals. As on Thursday, she did not stop to talk to media in the mixed zone.

Men’s 200: Knighton, Lyles cruise

There was little drama in the men’s 200 first round as reigning world champion Noah Lyles led all qualifiers with a 19.95. Lyles said he unknowingly had COVID when he ran 19.61 in New York on June 12 and missed some training the following week as a result but he looked good today and is not in danger of missing the team as he has the bye.

Teen phenom Erriyon Knighton jogged a 20.08 looking around for most of the home straight to win his heat, while 100m champion Fred Kerley started slowly but came on to finish second in heat 3 in 20.29 and advance automatically to the semis. Christian Coleman won that heat in 20.13 after scratching the 100m final last night.

“I actually wanted to run, but coach just felt like he got what he needed in that semi and felt like that was a good run,” Coleman said. “Still some things to clean up and get better at so he just felt it was best to pull me from the final and use that competitive fire I have to get better these next three weeks and be back out here [for Worlds].”

Men’s 110 hurdles: Holloway leads the way, Cunningham signs with adidas

The big three of Grant Holloway (13.11), Devon Allen (13.27), and Trey Cunningham (13.13) all won their heats comfortably, with 2019 US champ Daniel Roberts taking the fourth and final heat in 13.28.

The two newsworthy items of the day were Holloway’s announcement that he plans on running all three rounds at USAs (as defending world champ, he only needed to run today to make the team) and Cunningham signing with adidas and agent Mark Wetmore (he will remain based in Tallahassee).

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• MB: Cooper MF Teare. Take that boys. The 5k stud just won a TACTICAL 1500. 
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