2024 USA Indoors Day 1: Elle St. Pierre & Yared Nuguse Claim 3K Titles, World Leaders by Tara Davis-Woodhall and Chase Jackson
St. Pierre & Nuguse are off to World Indoors while runners-up Josette Andrews & Olin Hacker will have to wait to learn their fates
By LetsRun.com
The highlights of Day 1 of the 2024 USATF Indoor Championships were the two world records by Grant Holloway and Tia Jones in the 60m hurdles. We recap them here.
The distance action was highlighted by the men’s and women’s 3000 meters, where Elle St. Pierre dominated and Yared Nuguse got the job done to win his first US indoor title. We recap those below with a few notes on the first round of the 800.
Women’s 3000: Elle St. Pierre Dominates
Elle St. Pierre of New Balance Boston came into this race on fire with an American record in the mile and a near-American record at 3000m in her first two races of 2024. She kept her hot streak going with a dominant win.
The women nearly came to a stop on the second lap, but by 1000m St. Pierre was in the lead and with a slight injection of pace she was clear of the field by the mile and would coast to a nearly nine-second victory in 8:54.40.
Josette Andrews of the OAC was clearly second-best in 9:03.10 while Katie Wasserman of HOKA NAZ Elite was a clear third.
Phil Bond photo
While St. Pierre has the World Indoor standard and is on the team, Andrews may have to wait to see if she is going to Glasgow. Andrews, who finished 5th in the 1500 at 2022 World Indoors, is currently 30th on the Road to Glasgow list, and there are only 15 spots in the meet as the 3000 is run as a straight final. A few women ahead of her will likely scratch but it could come down to the wire to see if Andrews is actually going to Worlds.
| PLACE | NAME | AFFILIATION | FINISHING TIME |
| 1 | Elle St. Pierre | New Balance/New Balance Boston WCS | 8:54.40 |
| 2 | Josette Andrews | On AC | 9:03.10 |
| 3 | Katie Wasserman | HOKA | 9:06.99 |
| 4 | Rachel Smith | HOKA | 9:10.21 |
| 5 | Allie Buchalski | Brooks/Brooks Beasts | 9:11.96 |
| 6 | Elly Henes | adidas WCS | 9:12.25 |
| 7 | Ella Donaghu | unattached | 9:21.32 |
| 8 | Angelina Ellis | Under Armour/Dark Sky | 9:23.51 |
| 9 | Jenn Randall | Tracksmith | 9:27.09 |
| 10 | Carmen Graves | Oiselle/Denver Athletics | 9:38.11 |
| 11 | Kayley DeLay | Brooks/Brooks Beasts | 9:39.70 |
| 12 | Lydia Olivere | Under Armour/UA MRB | 9:49.05 |
Men’s 3000m: Yared Nuguse Wins as Expected, Olin Hacker Gets Up for 2nd
Outdoor 5000m champion Abdihamid Nur of Nike took the lead 1000m into the race and led with American record holder Yared Nuguse of the OAC on his shoulder until just before 400m to go when Olin Hacker of HOKA NAZ Elite took the lead.
But this was Nuguse’s race to lose and he got the job done. He seized the lead with around 300 to go as Morgan Beadlescomb of adidas and Dillon Maggard of the Brooks Beasts were trying to challenge as well, but it was no contest the final lap as Nuguse was a comfortable winner and Hacker a comfortable #2.
Nuguse has the World standard and is definitely going to Glasgow. Hacker, like Josette Andrews on the women’s side, will have to wait and see. Hacker is lower than Andrews on the Road to Glasgow list (36th vs 30th) but there are more men ahead of him likely to scratch. The qualification period ends on Sunday so we’ll have an answer fairly soon.
| PLACE | ATHLETE | AFFILIATION | FINISHING TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yared Nuguse | On AC WCS | 7:55.76 |
| 2 | Olin Hacker | HOKA/HOKA Northern Arizona El | 7:56.22 |
| 3 | Morgan Beadlescomb | adidas | 7:56.70 |
| 4 | Dillon Maggard | Brooks Beasts TC | 7:57.56 |
| 5 | Abdihamid Nur | NIKE | 7:58.65 |
| 6 | Kasey Knevelbaard | Under Armour | 7:58.99 |
| 7 | Sam Gilman | unattached | 8:00.55 |
| 8 | Matthew Wilkinson | Under Armour/Dark Sky | 8:01.51 |
| 9 | Ian Shanklin | unattached | 8:01.53 |
| 10 | Benjamin Veatch | Under Armour/Dark Sky | 8:02.68 |
| 11 | Alec Basten | Under Armour/UA MRB | 8:05.35 |
| 12 | Waleed Suliman | Brooks/Brooks Beasts | 8:09.06 |
| 13 | Isaac Updike | Under Armour/Dark Sky | 8:09.55 |
| 14 | Nick Randazzo | unattached | 8:12.90 |
| 15 | Willy Fink | Under Armour | 8:14.72 |
Women’s 800 – Addy Wiley Runs, Nia Akins Loses a Shoe but Makes Final
There were no surprises once the action got underway in the women’s 800. 20-year-old phenom Addy Wiley opted to run the 800, which wasn’t a total surprise (she is also entered in the 1500), and race favorite Nia Akins lost her shoe before 400m in her prelim, but still won her heat in 2:02.53.
Men’s 800 – Brandon Miller Scratches
Brandon Miller scratched due to a hamstring injury as veterans Bryce Hoppel and Isaiah Harris won their heats.
World leaders in shot put and long jump
Chase (Ealey) Jackson got a world leader in the shot put with her 20.02 toss. Tara Davis-Woodhall had a world-leading 7.18 pb in the long jump as Chris Nilsen went 6.00m n the pole vault. Davis-Woodhall’s jump was the longest indoors since 2017 and the longest indoors or out since 2019.
