Making things interesting
Davis-Woodhall produces two world-leading marks in long jump after fouling on first two attempts in USATF Champs
Tara Davis-Woodhall won her 13th consecutive competition in the women’s long jump while producing the two longest efforts in the world this year in the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, on Thursday.
In addition, she had four of the five farthest jumps on the first day of the four-day meet at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field.
However, it would be over simplifying things to say that her victory came easily.
For she fouled on her first two jumps before moving into second place on her third effort and posting a yearly world-leading mark of 7.11 meters (23 feet 4 inches) in the fourth round and improving to 7.12 (23-4½) in the fifth.
The 26-year-old Davis-Woodhall had won the Olympic title in Paris last summer after winning the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham, England, five months earlier. But she got a scare in last year’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials in June when she fouled on her first two attempts of the final before getting a fair jump in the critical third round and eventually winning the event with a wind-aided leap of 7.00 (22-11¾).
She found herself in a similar situation on Thursday after fouling on her first two jumps, but perhaps because of her experience last year, she did not seem as nervous prior to her third attempt, in which she needed to register a fair mark that was long enough to place her amongst the top eight competitors in the standings after the first three rounds so she would be awarded another three attempts.
“Coach told me to hit the back of the board and that’s what I did,” Davis-Woodhall said about her third-round effort in a Citius Mag interview posted on youtube.com. “So I literally listened to my coach. I don’t think. What he tells me to do, I just do. I feel that’s where some athletes lack in that you have to believe in your coach, because he coaches you every single day and he sees what you’re capable of. So I turn my brain off. He tells me what to do, and I just do it.”
While Davis-Woodhall said she felt a little off during the early going because the 16 long jump competitors had been brought into the call room 30 minutes before the scheduled time, she took a lot of pride in winning a competition in which Claire Bryant, this year’s World indoor champion, finished second with a wind-aided jump of 6.97 (22-10½) and Quanesha Burks placed third at 6.90 (22-7¾).
Alyssa Jones of Stanford University also leaped 6.90, but Burks finished third on the tiebreaker because her second-best jump of 6.89 (22-7¼) was farther than Jones’ No. 2 mark of 6.74 (22-1½).
Jasmine Moore, the Olympic bronze medalist in the long jump and triple jump, placed fifth at 6.82 (22-4½).
“I did it though, so no complaints, no excuses,” Davis-Woodhall said about the extra time in the call room. “You show up at the championships and compete like a champion.”
She then confirmed that she was was satisfied with her victory, which gave her three consecutive national titles and marked the 10th time in the last 11 meets that she had leaped seven meters (22-11¾) or farther.
“I mean, world lead. I can’t be disappointed in that. That’d be messed up.”
Davis-Woodhall was one of seven athletes who won the final of their respective events on a day when Kyle Garland and Anna Hall put up big scores while taking large leads after the first day of competition in the decathlon and heptathlon, respectively.
Garland totaled a whopping 4,714 points after the first five events of the decathlon after running 10.44 seconds in the 100 meters, spanning 7.89 (25-10¾) in the long jump, putting the shot 16.95 (55-7½), clearing 2.14 (7-¼) in the high jump, and clocking 49.29 in the 400.
His marks in the 100 and shot put were personal bests and helped propel him to a 337-point lead over Heath Baldwin, who totaled a fine 4,377 in second place. He was followed by Austin West with 4,352 points, 2022 World bronze medalist Zach Ziemek with 4,341, and NCAA champion Peyton Bair of Mississippi State, who had 4,268.
Garland’s total was 54 points more than he had scored on the first day of the 2022 national championships, when his final score of 8,720 points had crushed his personal best and left him 147 points behind Garrett Scantling, whose 8,867 total puts him 10th on the all-time performer list.
Scantling ran 10.86 in the 100 and leaped 6.86 (22-6¼) in the long jump in the first two events on Thursday, but he withdrew from the competition prior to the shot put.
Hall, who won bronze and silver medals in the heptathlon, respectively, in the 2022 and ’23 World championships, had a 199-point lead over second-place Taliyah Brooks after she had compiled a score of 4,097.
Brooks was in second place with 3,898 points, followed by Allie Jones with 3,662, NCAA runner-up Jadin O’Brien from Notre Dame with 3,631, and Timara Chapman with 3,623.
Michelle Atherley had posted the fastest time of the competition with her 12.95 effort in the 100 hurdles, but she had retired after missing her first attempt at 1.54 (5-½) in the high jump.
Hall had posted the third-best time in the 100 hurdles when she ran 13.12 and she took a 100-point lead over second-place Brooks after she cleared 1.90 (6-2¾) in the high jump. She then expanded her lead further when she posted the top mark in the shot with a personal best of 15.02 (49-3½) and in the 200 when she ran 23.56.
Although Hall’s first-day total of 4,097 points on Thursday was 64 points less than the 4,161 score she had compiled on the first day of the Hypomeeting competition in Gotzis, Austria, on May 31 and June 1 of this year, she had moved into a tie for second on the all-time performer list when she won that meet with a score of 7,032.
In the four throwing event finals held on Thursday, Rudy Winkler and DeAnna Price won the men’s and women’s hammer throw, respectively, while Curtis Thompson won the men’s javelin and Evie Bliss took the women’s.
Winkler had a best of 81.47 (267-3) in the men’s hammer and he also had throws of 80.85 (265-3), 80.78 (265-0), and 80.41 (263-9) in a competition in which Trey Knight finished second at 78.76 (258-9) and Daniel Haugh was third at 77.28 (253-6).
Knight had moved from sixth place to second on his final throw when his 78.76 (258-9) effort was a personal best that was more than three meters better than his 75.29 (247-0) throw in the fourth round. It also exceeded the automatic qualifying standard of 78.20 (256-6) for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo from Sept. 13-21.
Like Winkler in the men’s hammer, Price had the top five throws in the women’s event.
The 2019 World champion produced a season best of 78.73 (257-7) in the sixth round and she also had throws of 78.33 (257-0) on her first throw, 77.77 (255-2) on her fifth, 76.88 (252-3) on her fourth, and 75.83 (248-9) on her second.
Brooke Andersen, the 2022 World champion and the yearly world leader at 79.29 (260-1), placed second at 75.14 (246-6). She was followed by Rachel Richeson at 74.57 (244-8) and 2023 World silver medalist Janee Kassanavoid at 74.55 (244-7).
Olympic silver medalist Annette Echikunwoke finished sixth at 71.61 (234-11).
Thompson also had the top five throws in the men’s javelin, topped by a best of 83.89 275-2) in the fourth round. He also bettered 80 meters (262-5) with efforts of 82.44 (270-6) on his sixth attempt, 80.87 (265-4) in the second, and 80.33 (263-6) in the third.
He was followed in the standings by second-place Dash Simpson at 77.28 (253-6) and third-place Marc Anthony Minichello at 76.81 (252-0).
Bliss, who had placed 12th in the NCAA championships in June as a Bucknell sophomore, won the women’s javelin with a best of 57.77 (189-6). She was followed by second-place Madison Wiltrout at (185-3) and third-place Sarah Blake at 55.80 (183-1).
No one in the field has met the automatic qualifying standard of 64.00 (209-11) for the World championships, so it is quite possible that the U.S. will not have an entry in that meet in the women’s javelin.
In the two track finals held on Thursday, Nico Young won the men’s 10,000 and Emily Infeld took the women’s event.
Young, who had set a U.S. outdoor record of 12:45.27 in winning the 5,000 in the Bislett Games in Oslo on June 12, clocked 29:02.12 in the 10,000 after he charged into the lead with about 250 meters to go and then held off Olympic bronze medalist Grant Fisher in the home straightaway.
Fisher ran 29:02.37 and he was followed by Graham Blanks in 29:03.66 and Ahmed Muhumed in 29:11.89.
Young ran his final 200 in 27.07 seconds, his last 400 in 56.53, his 10th kilometer in 2:27.14, and the concluding 1,600 in 3:57.03 in a race in which Aidan O’Gorman was in first place when he led the field through the opening 5,000 in a sluggish 14:54.58.
The 35-year-old Infeld won the women’s 10,000 in 31:43.56 after overtaking Elise Cranny in the home straightaway.
Cranny finished second in 31:44.24 and she was followed by Taylor Roe in 31:45.41 and Olympic Trials champion Weini Kelati in 31:46.37.
Infeld ran her final 400 in 65.50 seconds.
No one in the race has met the World championship qualifying standard of 30:20.00, but Kelati and sixth-place Karissa Schweizer, who ran 32:10.82, are currently seventh and 15th, respectively, in rankings kept by World Athletics and could advance to the global title meet via that system.
In addition to the finals held on Thursday, first-round races were contested in the men’s and women’s 100 meters, 800, 1,500, and 3,000 steeplechase.
All of the top entries in the men’s 100 and 800 advanced to the semifinals of those events.
Kenny Bednarek posted the top time in the 100 at 9.95, with defending Olympic and World champion Noah Lyles taking his heat in 10.05.
Fred Kerley, the 2022 World champion and the Olympic bronze medalist last year, had confirmed in a social media post on Wednesday that he would not be competing in the meet. His post was as follows: “The 100m should be a straight sprint. 2025 has presented many hurdles. Taking some time out to get back on track. No USATF Champs this year. Thanks to all my supporters.”
In the 800, Olympic fourth-place finisher Bryce Hoppel won his heat in 1:45.69, with World indoor champion Josh Hoey taking his in 1:47.14 and 2019 World champion Donavan Brazier posting a winning time of 1:48.23 in his.
In the men’s 1,500, Olympic champion Cole Hocker won his first-round race — which served as one of three semifinals — in 3:32.57 after leading the field through 400 meters in 56.92, 800 in 1:54.13, and 1,200 in 2:51.88.
Ethan Strand, who recently completed his senior year at the University of North Carolina, won his heat in 3:34.12 and Olympic bronze medalist Yared Nuguse took his in 3:32.66.
The two heats/semifinals of the steeplechase were won by Matthew Wilkinson in 8:22.42 and Olympic silver medalist Kenneth Rooks in 8:21.35.
Six women ran under 11 seconds in the first round of the women’s 100, with Jacious Sears winning her heat in a wind-aided 10.85 and Olympic bronze medalist Melissa Jefferson-Wooden clocking 10.86 while running into a breeze of 1.5 meters per second.
Defending World champion Sha’Carri Richardson easily advanced to the semifinals when she finished second in her heat in 11.07.
All of the top women advanced to the semifinals of the 800, with Sage Hurta-Klecker turning in the fastest time at 1:59.28 and 2021 Olympic and 2022 World champion Athing Mu-Nikolayev winning the second of four heats in 2:00.06.
The three first-round races of the women’s 1,500 were won by Nikki Hiltz in 4:05.99, Sinclaire Johnson in 4:07.54, and Emily Mackay in 4:04.23.
Lacy Halladay-Lowry and Angelina Napoleon won the heats/semifinals of the women’s steeplechase in 9:37.53 and 9:30.44, respectively.
Halladay-Lowry had finished second in the NCAA championships in June as a BYU senior and Napoleon placed third as a North Carolina State sophomore.
The meet will begin at 2:30 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, today with the running of the 110-meter high hurdles in the decathlon, followed by the decathlon discus at 3:25, the heptathlon long jump at 5, and the decathlon pole vault at 5:05.
The semifinals of the men’s 800 meters will kick off the track events at 6:38.
The final of the women’s high jump will be the first individual field event, starting at 7:05.
You can click here for an event schedule and live results.