EUGENE -- Will Claye saved his best jump for last in the men’s triple jump while Elle Purrier St. Pierre claimed the women’s 1500m crown and Clayton Murphy kicked his way to gold in the men’s 800m to wrap up the first four days of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials — Track and Field in Eugene, Oregon. Fans can find and watch full event replays via NBC Olympics here. Reigning Trials champion Claye (Buckeye, Arizona / USATF New York) defended his title with a last-round 17.21m/56-5.75 season best that gave him his fourth national title. Claye took the lead in round one at 16.95m/55-7.5 and held it until the fourth stanza when two-time defending national champion Donald Scott (Ypsilanti, Michigan / USATF Michigan) took over with a 17.18m/56-4.5 that was also a season best. Claye fouled on his next jump before his winning leap, while Scott put two more 17m+ efforts on the board. Chris Benard (Chula Vista, California / USATF San Diego-Imperial) also surpassed 17m, going 17.01m/55-9.75 on his final effort. Shocking the Hayward Field crowd with his kick, Rio bronze medalist Clayton Murphy (Pepper Pike, Ohio / USATF Lake Erie) came off the final turn sprinting at top speed to pull away with 30m remaining, winning in a world-leading 1:43.17. Murphy had moved up closer to the lead on the final bend after running in the middle of the field through one lap and covered the final 200m in 26.52. NCAA champion Isaiah Jewett (Inglewood, California / USATF Southern California) of USC pushed the pace right away, leading through 400m in 50.60 and 600m in 1:15.65, but even though he couldn’t stave off Murphy’s charge he smashed his personal best to take second in 1:43.85. 2019 World Championships fourth place finisher Bryce Hoppel (Midland, Texas / USATF Missouri Valley) did enough to place third in 1:44.14, but American record holder and reigning world champion Donavan Brazier (Grand Rapids, Michigan / USATF Oregon) faded to last down the stretch. Disaster almost struck in the first 50m of the women’s 1,500m final when Elle Purrier St. Pierre (Brighton, Massachusetts / USATF New England) was shoved to her left and stepped inside the track. Purrier St. Pierre recovered and retook the lead with Cory McGee (Tuscaloosa, Alabama / USATF Alabama) right behind her trailed by Dani Jones (Boulder, Colorado / USATF Colorado). With two laps to go Shannon Osika (Ann Arbor, Michigan), moved up to fourth and that quartet eased away from the chase pack. Purrier St. Pierre and McGee were 1-2 as they sped away from all challengers, and Purrier St. Pierre’s strength and speed were too much for McGee as she broke the meet record that was set in 1988 with a personal best 3:58.03. McGee set a lifetime best of 4:00.67 for second, and Heather MacLean (Brighton, Massachusetts / USATF New England) made a huge move down the stretch to grab third in 4:02.09, .09 ahead of Osika and almost three seconds better than her previous PR. An extremely middling pace through the first 3,000m of the women’s 5,000m due to the sweltering temperatures left all 12 women in contention as the field came through that mark in just over 9:35 with Taylor Werner (Chapel Hill, North Carolina / USATF North Carolina) at the front. After one more lap at the slower tempo, a group that included Elise Cranny (Beaverton, Oregon / USATF Oregon) and Karissa Schweizer (Urbandale, Iowa / USATF Oregon) started to put the pedal down a bit and picked up to 71 second 400s. With two to go, Schweizer and Cranny ran almost side by side, trailed by Rachel Schneider (Flagstaff, Arizona / USATF Arizona) and Abbey Cooper (Boone, North Carolina / USATF New England). Those four dramatically picked up the pace, clocking a 68-second penultimate lap and then Cranny and Schweizer went at it in earnest. Over the last 400m Cranny had the better finishing speed and ran 63.73 to win in 15:27.81, .3 ahead of Schweizer. Cooper gamely tried to catch Schneider but to no avail as Schneider completed the Tokyo trio in 15:29.56. A talented field of the best group of American pole vaulters in many years produced the deepest Trials finish ever, capped by Chris Nilsen’s 5.90m/19-4.25 on his sixth first-attempt clearance of the day. Nilsen (Vermillion, South Dakota / USATF Dakotas) made three tries at 6.00m/19-8.25, which would have been a Trials meet record, but was not able to navigate that height. American record holder and reigning world champion Sam Kendricks (Oxford, Mississippi, USATF Southern) tied for second with KC Lightfoot (Lees Summit, Missouri / USATF Missouri Valley), the NCAA indoor champion for Baylor, both clearing 5.85m/19-2.25. Curtis Thompson’s (Florence, New Jersey / USATF New Jersey) first throw in the men’s javelin would be enough to win the competition, and he improved that mark in the final round with an 82.78m/271-7 that was the third farthest in modern Trials history and the best by an American this year. Michael Shuey’s (Johnsonburg, Pennsylvania / USATF New York), 79.24m/260-0 in round three earned him the runner-up spot, with Riley Dolezal (Fargo, North Dakota / USATF Dakotas) taking third on his final attempt at 77.07m/252-10 to pass Marc Anthony Minichello (West Pittston, Pennsylvania / USATF Mid-Atlantic).
Running conservatively in the scorching heat, the first section went out in a large pack and stayed together through the first half of the race. Sean McGorty (Beaverton, Oregon / USATF Oregon) had shoe problems and had to stop and pull his spike back on, then steadily tried to make up the ground he had lost. Isaac Updike (Dobbs Ferry, New York / USATF New York) and Hillary Bor (Colorado Springs, Colorado / USATF Colorado) were at the front at the bell, with Alec Basten (Green Bay, Wisconsin / USATF Wisconsin) and Dan Michalski (Longview, Texas / USATF Southwestern) behind them. Bor and Updike cleared the final barrier together and Updike edged ahead for the win in 8:21,01, .08 ahead of Bor. Michalski came through for third in 8:22.03, while Basten was fourth in 8:22.22, chopping almost seven seconds off his lifetime best. Travis Mahoney (Old Bridge, New Jersey / USATF New York) claimed the final automatic qualifying spot with a personal best 8:24.05, and McGorty made it back to finish ninth in 8:25.95, ultimately claiming the final time qualifier. 2016 Trials fifth place finisher Mason Ferlic (Ann Arbor, Michigan / USATF Michigan) took the early pacing chores in heat two, which went out slightly slower than the first section, sharing the lead occasionally with Benard Keter (Colorado Springs, Colorado / USATF Colorado). Obsa Ali (Minneapolis, Minnesota / USATF Minnesota) started to move up next to Keter after four laps and 10 men were still in striking distance. Keter assumed the lead with more than a lap to go ahead of Ferlic and then Ali, and Brian Barraza (Boulder, Colorado / USATF Colorado) took over fourth ahead of Jordan Mann (Providence, Rhode Island / USATF New England). As Keter took off for the finish line, Mann fell at the final water jump and local favorite Jackson Mestler (Eugene, Oregon / USATF Oregon) was able to pass him and nab the last auto qualifier slot. Keter won in 8:29.04, and all four time qualifiers came from heat one. Competition will resume on Thursday, June 24 beginning with women’s hammer throw qualifying and shot put. Click here for a full schedule.