GAINESVILLE, Florida — Nick Christie and Lauren Harris bettered American records at three intermediate distances on their way to resounding victories Sunday at the USATF Half Marathon Race Walking World Team Trials at Celebration Pointe. Athletes were competing for berths on Team USATF for the World Athletics Race Walking Team Trials, scheduled for April 12 in Brasilia, Brazil.
Christie, who has won more than two dozen U.S. titles in his storied career, captured the men's gold in 1:34:29, while Harris continued her hot streak with a 1:44:03 that is an unofficial American record at this new international championship distance.
Taking the lead almost immediately in the men's race, Christie glided past 5K in 17:26, bettering the American record of 19:09 that was set by Tim Seaman in 2003. He hit the 10K mark in 39:13, also bettering Seaman's 39:22.7 mark from 2004, and he cruised through 15K in 1:01:23 to clip seven seconds off the 2004 AR by Seaman.
Jordan Crawford also had a strong outing to earn silver in the men's competition with a time of 1:39:49, with Jason Cherng claiming bronze in 1:40:38.
Harris dominated the women's race, speeding through 5K in 19:07, more than two minutes faster than the ratified American record of 21:51 that was set in 2015 by Maria Michta-Coffey, and also quicker than her split of 21:34 at the Marathon Race Walk Championships in January. She went by the 10K mark in 42:32, also well under the ratified AR of 44:09 by Michta-Coffey in 2016 and her own 43:12 split in January.
Flying past 15K in 1:06:46, Harris chopped more than a minute off Michta-Coffey's AR of 1:07:51 from 2014.
Silver went to Evergreen State student Izabelle Trefts, who won the NAIA indoor 3K title two days ago, as she crossed the line in 1:52:13, 10 seconds up on bronze medalist Katie Burnett.