INDIANAPOLIS — Competition at the 19th Pan American Games gets under way Sunday, October 22 in Santiago, Chile, with the men's and women's marathons. Coming off a 33-medal performance at the 2019 Games that included seven golds, Team USATF is fielding a small but talented squad that features American record holders and world champions in the men's and women's hammer. Race walks will be contested on Oct. 29, and track and field competition begins Oct. 30 at National Stadium. Event-by-event previews:
NCAA runner-up Kennedy Blackmon of Oklahoma lowered her PB to 11.02 at Sacramento in May and zipped to a windy 10.87 (+2.3) to take silver at the NCAA Championships in Austin. She was a semifinalist at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships and also ran in the heats of the 200 there. Former LSU all-American Kortnei Johnson had a PB of 11.05 at Clermont, Florida, on May 14 and rode a 2.6 wind to a 10.96 in June.
A pair of sub-2:00 performers will toe the line, led by Brooke Feldmeier. Feldmeier was sixth at last year's USATF Championships in a PB 1:59.08 and placed third at the USATF Indoor Championships in 2022. Brenna Detra, a semifinalist at this year's USATF Championships, clocked a PB 1:59.57 at Nashville in June. Formerly a 400 hurdles specialist, Detra first dipped under 2:00 with a 1:59.94 at Randalls Island in 2022.
After finishing eighth at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, Emily Mackay headed across the Atlantic to pick up wins in Dublin and Marseille, notching a PB 3:59.99 in the French port city. Mackay picked up bronze in the 3000 at the USATF Indoor Championships and was also seventh in the 1500. She set PBs in the 800, 1500, mile, 3000 and 5000 this season.
Returning Pan Am Games silver medalist Marisa Howard has a PB of 9:22.69, set at the Pre Classic in 2021. She was fifth at the Olympic Trials that year and matched that placing this year with a 9:22.73. Howard also has international experience in cross country, helping the U.S. to a fifth-place finish in the mixed relay at the World Championships in 2017. Logan Jolly took seventh at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships in June with a PB of 9:26.97. She was seventh in the event for Arkansas at last year's NCAA Championships and anchored the Razorbacks to gold indoors in the distance medley relay. In 2017 Jolly was on Team USATF for the World U20 Cross Country Championships.
Eight years ago, Emily Infeld earned bronze in the 10,000 at the World Championships. She was an Olympic finalist in that event at Rio 2016, and then placed seventh at the 2017 World Championships. At Oregon22, Infeld took 14th in the 5000 on the heels of a third-place finish at the USATF meet. She cruised to a PB 14:50.90 in the 5000 at Mt. SAC on May 6 and went on to take ninth at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. 2019 NCAA silver medalist Taylor Werner also earned silver in the indoor 3000 that year for Arkansas. She set her 5000 PB of 15:03.13 in June and was 16th at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships.
USATF cross country champion Ednah Kurgat placed 18th at the World Cross Country Championships in Australia and added a second national title with a win in the 6K on the road in July. After a PB 31:12.10 in London, she took sixth in the 10,000 at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, one place ahead of Emily Venters. Venters, the Pac-12 champion for Utah this year, was the NCAA silver medalist and has a PB of 31:48.35. She also took bronze in the 5000 at the NCAA meet. In 2018, she was ninth in the 5000 at the World U20 Championships.
USATF indoor 60 hurdles champion Alaysha Johnson was one place shy of making her second straight World Championships team in the 100H this year, placing fourth at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships in 12.46 after a season best 12.37 in the semis. Johnson was the runner-up in 2022, clocking a career best 12.35. She won the 2022 NACAC crown in the 100H and was a semifinalist in the 60H at the World Indoor Championships.
One of the most decorated athletes in the sport in the U.S., Maria Michta-Coffey has won 22 national titles in the walks, including this year's 20K gold. A veteran of seven World Championships, two Olympic Games and two Pan Am Games, her PB of 1:30:49 dates back to 2014. Michta-Coffey also won the USATF 5K title last month and was the silver medalist in the indoor 3000 walk and 35K earlier this year. Stephanie Casey was the runner-up at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships in a track PB 1:40:48.8 and has walked 1:37:11 on the roads. Casey was ninth at the 2019 Pan Am Games in the 50K walk and competed at the past two World Championships in the 35K.
Six-time U.S. champion Miranda Melville will make a little bit of history in this new event, and she is coming off a USATF 35K gold in January and a bronze at 20K in July. Melville, the USATF indoor 3000 walk champion, has five World Championships teams on her resume, and was an Olympian at Rio in 2016. She has a 20K best of 1:31:42 and has gone 2:57:22 for 35K.
NCAA indoor silver medalist Rylee Anderson of Kansas placed second at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships and has a PB of 1.90/6-2.75. She won Big 12 indoor and outdoor titles for the Jayhawks this season, her third straight indoor conference gold. A qualifier for the 2022 indoor and outdoor World Championships, Tokyo Olympian Rachel McCoy went over a PB 1.96/6-5 in 2021. She was fifth at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. McCoy placed fourth at the 2014 World U20 Championships in Eugene.
Emerging as one of the most consistent vaulters in the country, Bridget Williams was 12th at the World Championships after placing fourth at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. Williams set her PB indoors in February with a 4.77/15-7.75 clearance and was the USATF indoor bronze medalist the past two years. She placed fourth in the NCAA Championships for Virginia in 2019 and was fifth indoors that year. Nastassja Campbell of Washington was the NCAA silver medalist outdoors and took sixth at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. She won the Mt. SAC Relays in April with a PB 4.55/14-11. In 2019, Campbell set an American U20 record indoors and took gold at the Pan Am U20 Championships after winning the U.S. U20 crown.
Tiffany Flynn was fourth at the 2022 World Indoor Championships and 12th at the World Championships, and she earned silver this year at the USATF Indoor Championships. Flynn has a PB of 6.80/22-3.75 and missed an Olympic berth by one place in 2021, taking fourth at the U.S. trials. She was fifth at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships and picked up a pair of European wins in Berlin and Zagreb last month. 2015 World Championships 4x100 silver medalist Jasmine Todd also earned a long jump spot at that meet to go with her 100 berth and was again a long jump team member in 2019. She placed sixth at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships.
Mylana Hearn tacked on eight inches to her PB with a 13.61/44-8 in the Bahamas in May before placing fifth at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. She was sixth at the USATF Indoor Championships in 2022. Missouri's Euphenie Andre improved her PB to 13.39/43-11.25 at the NCAA Championships and was seventh at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. She earned silver at the NACAC Championships.
Four-time NCAA indoor and outdoor champion Adelaide Aquilla of Ohio State has been on the past two World Championships teams and was an Olympian at Tokyo in 2021. Aquilla was the runner-up at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships and competed in three Diamond League meets this season. Her PB of 19.64/64-5.25 came in winning the NCAA gold outdoors last year She placed third at the 2021 Olympic Trials and was second at the 2022 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships.
Two 2023 World Championships team members will be in the ring for Team USATF with Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships bronze medalist Elena Bruckner and fourth-place finisher Veronica Fraley seeking a medal sweep. Bruckner, seventh in the shot put and discus at the 2016 World U20 Championships, notched a PB 61.51/201-9 at Mt. SAC in April. Fraley, this year's Southeastern Conference champion for Vanderbilt, significantly improved her PB to 63.51/208-4 at Randalls Island in June. She was fifth at the Pan Am U20 Championships in 2019.
A marquee event for Team USATF with two former world championships in the lineup. American record holder and 2019 Doha gold medalist DeAnna Price and Oregon22 winner Brooke Andersen are a formidable pair and hold the second and third spots on the world all-time performer list. Price set the AR of 80.31/263-6 to win the 2021 Olympic Trials, while Andersen set her career best of 80.17/263-0 at Tucson in May. Andersen won the last two USATF golds and was the 2019 Pan Am Games silver medalist, while Price earned bronze in Budapest at this year's World Championships. Price also shattered the world best in the indoor 20-pound weight throw in February, with Andersen taking runner-up honors.
USATF champion Maddie Harris set her PB of 60.73/199-3 in winning that title, adding almost two meters to her previous best. Harris was fourth at the NCAA Championships for Nebraska after a silver medal performance in 2022. Rebekah Wales placed fourth at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships and the former Southeastern Conference champion for LSU was eighth in 2022. She had her best placing in 2017 when she earned bronze. Wales' PB of 58.23/191-0 came in winning the 2017 SEC crown.
Last year's NCAA bronze medalist for Duke, Erin Marsh has had a breakout season in 2023. She was fifth at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships and then earned silver against Germany at the Thorpe Cup with a PB 6,024 points. Marsh was the USATF indoor bronze medalist in the pentathlon and took NCAA silver in the event last year. Decathlon American record holder Jordan Gray was the heptathlon bronze medalist at the Thorpe Cup and was seventh at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. She set her lifetime best of 5,903 in 2019 at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships.
Nine years after helping the U.S. to NACAC U23 gold in the 4x100, Chris Royster will step up to the next level internationally looking for another medal, this time individually. Enjoying one of his best years in the sport at age 31, Royster rolled to a PB 10.02 in June at Arkansas and just missed the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships final with a fifth-place finish in the semis. Four of his career top 10 times have come this season.
South Carolina's Evan Miller ran his 200 PB of 20.35 in the semis at last year's NCAA Championships and has a best this season of 20.48. He also has 400 skills, as evidenced by his 45.11 PB in the SEC heats and a semifinal berth at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships.
A name change didn't slow down Richard Johnson, who previously went by Kuykendoll at Oklahoma. Johnson was third in the Big 12 with a PB 44.80 and made it to the NCAA and Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships semis. Last year he placed sixth at the NCAA Championships after earning silver at the Big 12 meet.
Derek Holdsworth and Abraham Alvarado went 7-8 at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, and both men are making their international championship debuts. Holdsworth has the faster PB at 1:45.37, set in 2022 at Portland, and he won NJCAA indoor titles for Trinidad State in the 800 and 1000 in 2019. In 2018 he took top honors in the NJCAA indoor 800 and mile and outdoor 800. Alvarado ran his career best of 1:46.11 in 2021 and also sports a 1500 PB of 3:36.82 indoors. He is fifth on the all-time U.S. indoor performer list for 1000 with a PB of 2:17.43 last year.
Knocking more than three seconds off his PB with a 3:34.24 at Nice in June, Casey Comber moved into elite territory among U.S. metric milers. He was runner-up at the USATF Road Mile in Des Moines and also set PBs in the mile, 3000 and 5000 this season. Comber was the NCAA indoor mile silver medalist for Villanova in 2019 and placed eighth in the 1500 outdoors. Also setting a PB in that Nice race was Kasey Knevelbaard, who clocked 3:34.55 for eighth. He was fifth in the USATF Road Mile and smashed his 5000 PB with a 13:15.96 at the USATF LA GP in May. Knevelbaard was fifth in the NCAA indoor mile for Southern Utah in 2018 and sixth in the outdoor 1500 in 2019. He is doubling in the 5000 here.
Jackson Mestler set a PB by more than three seconds at Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, finishing seventh in 8:24.33. He was 12th at the 2021 Olympic Trials. Dan Michalski was agonizingly close to an Olympic berth in 2021, placing fourth at the Trials, and he closed out that season with a PB 8:20.96. He was seventh in the NCAA Championships for Indiana in 2019 after earning Big Ten silver, and he captured the NCAA II national title for Cedarville in 2017.
The fourth-fastest American man indoors, Emmanuel Bor has a PB of 13:00.48 that was set at Boston last year. Bor won the USATF cross country title in January and then placed 32nd at the World Cross Country Championships in Australia the next month. He lowered his outdoor 5000 PB to 13:10.91 to take fifth at the USATF LA GP. In 2021, Bor was fifth in the Olympic Trials and placed 10th in the 10,000. Kasey Knevelbaard will kick off the Pan Am Games in his longer event, where he has a PB of 13:15.96 and placed 11th at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. His previous career best came in December 2021 at Boston, where he clocked 13:24.98 indoors.
Oklahoma State's Isai Rodriguez added a seventh-place finish at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships to the fifth-place effort he had at the NCAA Championships. His PB of 27:52.92 came in 2021, giving him 10th in the NCAA final. Rodriguez was eighth in the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 2022. Veteran Sam Chelanga, 38, was recently ninth in the Chicago Marathon with a PB 2:08:50. He won the NCAA 10,000 in 2010 and followed with a collegiate title at 5000 the next year. Chelanga also won a pair of NCAA cross country golds. In 2017 he placed 11th at the World Cross Country Championships, and he was 21st earlier this year. His three USATF national golds include a 25K win in 2018 and victories at 12K and 10 miles in 2015.
This year's Boston Marathon 18th-place finisher, Turner Wiley, has a PB of 2:11:59, set in 2022 to place 19th at Chicago. Wiley competed collegiately for Seattle Pacific and is a two-time Olympic Trials marathon qualifier.
NCAA silver medalist De'Vion Wilson of Houston used a 13.26 PB to earn that medal, and he advanced to the semifinal at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. He won the Penn Relays and was the American Conference champion this season, his second straight league gold. Howard's Dylan Beard has a pretty decent hurdler for a coach, former American record holder and 2013 world champion David Oliver. Oliver will be hoping his 2015 Pan Am Games gold medal will carry over to Beard, who has a best of 13.31 and was a Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships semifinalist.
NCAA champion Chris Robinson of Alabama and Texas A&M's James Smith meet again and the SEC rivals give Team USATF strong hopes for a 1-2 finish. Robinson won the collegiate title with a PB 48.12, while Smith set his career best of 49.21 in that race. Smith placed sixth at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. A silver medalist at the Pan American U20 Championships in 2019, Smith won the USATF U20 gold that year and was fifth at the NCAA Championships. While at South Plains College, Robinson won the 2022 NJCAA indoor 600 title and the 2021 400H crown.
South America has a rich tradition in the walks, so the atmosphere should be good for a strong pair of Team USATF representatives. Winner of 16 USATF titles in his career, Nick Christie has dominated the U.S. walking scene of late. He has four championship wins this season, including the 20K and 35K, along with the indoor 3000. Christie's PB for 20K on the road is 1:22:44, set last year at Podebrady, and he has also clocked 2:38:16 for an American record at 35K. He will also team up with Miranda Melville in the mixed marathon relay. Emmanuel Corvera was the runner-up to Christie at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships and has a road PB of 1:26:35. Corvera was third in the 3000m Race Walk at the USATF Indoor Championships and captured the 2017 U.S. 20K gold.
Last year's USATF and NCAA bronze medalist, Dontavious Hill of Auburn, finished fourth in the NACAC Championships in 2022. He also earned bronze at the NCAA indoor meet and was the SEC indoor and outdoor runner-up. This season, Hill has upped his PB to 2.24/7-4.25 and was sixth at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. He was the 2019 USATF U20 champion and took fifth at the Pan American U20 Championships. Eli Kosiba of Grand Valley State placed just off the podium at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, taking fourth. His PB of 2.25/7-4.5 came in April, and in 2022 he was the NCAA Division II indoor silver medalist and outdoor bronze medalist.
2018 World U20 silver medalist Zach Bradford has stepped up in a big way to the senior level, qualifying for the 2019 and 2023 World Championships for Team USATF. Bradford, a Texas Tech student, was third at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships and picked up outdoor bronze and indoor silver at the NCAA Championships. He set a PB of 5.91/19-4.75 at the NCAA indoor meet and swept the Big 12 indoor and outdoor crowns. Tokyo Olympian Matt Ludwig was the 2017 NCAA champion for Akron and has cleared a best of 5.90/19-4.25 in his career. Ludwig was fourth at the USATF Indoor Championships and seventh at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. An experienced international competitor on the European circuit, he won the 2020 USATF indoor title.
Twice an NCAA Division II champion for Chadron State before transferring to Oregon, Damarcus Simpson won two Pac-12 titles for the Ducks in 2017-2018, the latter with a wind-aided 8.33/27-4. At the 2017 USATF Championships, Simpson sailed 8.36/27-5.25, also with strong aiding wind, and placed third. He won the USA vs. Europe meet in 2019 and was fourth at the 2021 Olympic Trials. At this year's Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, he was sixth, one place in front of Jermel Jones. Jones, a junior at Azusa Pacific, placed second at the NCAA Division II championships with a PB leap of 8.10/26-7. He was also the D2 indoor champion last year.
Two-time Olympian Chris Benard is a powerful force for Team USA. Benard finished third at this year's Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships and was ninth at the World Championships in Budapest. The NACAC champion last year, Benard was third at the USATF Championships and fourth at USATF Indoors. He has a PB of 17.48/57-4.25 and placed sixth at the 2017 World Championships.
Another dynamic duo gives Team USATF medal hopes in this event. NCAA indoor and outdoor champion Jordan Geist of Arizona earned silver at the 2019 Pan American Games and has a PB of 21.59/70-10. Geist was the USATF Indoors silver medalist in February and won Pac-12 golds in the shot and hammer. The 2017 USATF U20 and Pan Am U20 champion, Geist also captured the 2019 NACAC U23 gold and was the NCAA indoor bronze medalist last year. Roger Steen joined the 22m club in May with a 22.08/72-5.25 at Tucson and was eighth at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. He took fourth at the USATF Indoor Championships and was last year's NACAC champion after a bronze at the USATF indoor meet. For Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Steen won NCAA Division III indoor and outdoor golds in 2015.
This year's Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships champion, Sam Mattis, was eighth at the Tokyo Olympics and is a veteran of three World Championships teams. Mattis has a PB of 68.69/225-4 that was set last year in Tucson. He placed 11th at Oregon22, matching his placing from the 2019 World Championships in Doha. Mattis won his first USATF title in 2019 and was the NCAA champion for Penn in 2015. He was an NCAA silver medalist in 2016, when he went on to take silver at the NACAC U23 meet. 2019 NCAA Division II champion Joseph Brown was fourth at this year's Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships and has a best of 64.82/212-8.
American record holder and reigning Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships champion Rudy Winkler teams up with last year's USATF champion, Daniel Haugh, to give the U.S. a solid shot at two medals. Winkler set the AR of 82.71/271-4 at the 2021 Olympic Trials and was the 2019 Pan American Games eighth-place finisher. He has competed at six Olympics and World Championships as well as the World U20 and World U18 Championships in his illustrious career. Haugh, the runner-up at this year's USATF meet, won the 2022 U.S. title with a PB 80.18/263-1 and was eighth at the World Championships in Eugene. In February he won the USATF indoor 35-pound weight throw with a massive 25.44/83-5.75, the fourth-best throw in American history. Haugh was an Olympic finalist in Tokyo, placing 11th, and has been on three World Championships teams.
The top two finishers from the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships will rock the red, white and blue in Santiago, with Curtis Thompson making his second Pan American Games journey after taking 10th in 2019. A three-time USATF champion, Thompson set his PB of 87.70/287-9 last year and took 11th at Oregon22 to go with NACAC gold. He won his first USATF title in 2018 and was the NACAC silver medalist that year, and he also took the 2021 Olympic Trials crown. Capers Williamson has a PB of 80.49/264-1 and his silver at this year's Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships matched his finish from 2018. Williamson was fourth in the NACAC Championships in 2018 and sixth at the 2021 Olympic Trials.
Sam Black, the 2021 NCAA Division II champion for Saginaw Valley, scored a PB 7,946 points to place eighth at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. He was fourth against Germany at the Thorpe Cup and earned silver in the heptathlon at the 2022 USATF Indoor Championships. Last year's Big Ten champion, Ryan Talbot of Michigan State, joined the 8,000-point club with a PB 8,064 to win that title. Talbot was 10th at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. Event by event results and a schedule of events can be found here. Photo Credit: Juan Pablo Carmona Y/Panam Sports via Xpress Media