5-Minute Recap, Olympic Trials Day 3: Noah Lyles Golden
Rooks Wins Steeple, Noah Lyles Claims 100 Title, Kendall Ellis Wins Women's 400 as Pole Vault and Javelin Teams Selected
By LetsRun.com
Below we’ve got a five-minute recap of all the action of Day 3 at the 2024 US Olympic Trials.
Noah Lyles was the headliner by winning the men’s 100 meters (separate article here), but Kenneth Rooks put on an impressive performance to repeat as US champion in the steeple, Quincy Wilson set another high school record in the 400 and made the final, Kendall Ellis captured the 400m, and Athing Mu and Raevyn Rogers made the 800 final but Ajee’ Wilson didn’t for the first time since 2012.
Men’s 3k Steeple Final: Rooks Repeats as Matthew Wilkinson Books Ticket to Paris and James Corrigan Surprises in 3rd, But Jager May Still Go to Paris
After a very slow opening kilometer of 3:00, the pace picked up in the second kilometer (2:47) and really got going the final kilometer as Matthew Wilkinson of Under Armour Dark Sky made a long push for home with three laps to go Three-time US champ Hillary Bor fell over the water barrier with just over 900m to go, then defending champion Kenneth Rooks moved into the lead and upped the ante, blasting a 59.79 penultimate lap to open up a 2.4-second gap at the bell.Rooks would hold on to win in 8:21.92 over Matthew Wilkinson who had the fastest last lap and finished a clear 2nd in 8:23.00. Behind them, there was a fierce battle for the third over the final lap.
Bor held it with 100m to go, but he was out of energy coming back from the fall, and it was Rooks’ unheralded training partner, James Corrigan of BYU, went from 7th to 3rd on the final lap, finishing in in 8:26.78. Corrigan, however has not hit the Olympic standard and does not have enough World Ranking points to go to the Olympics, so the battle for 4th was possibly important behind him. Four or five men hurdled the final barrier nearly simultaneously, but it was 35-year-old American record holder Evan Jager who held off a charge from Yasin Sado of Virginia and his Bowerman TC teammate Duncan Hamilton to get 4th.
As it currently stands, Jager will go to the Olympics unless Corrigan hits the Olympic standard (8:15.00). Afterwards, Corrigan’s coach Ed Eyestone said on the LetsRun.com live post-race show that they had found an undisclosed meet where they will chase the standard before the qualifying window closes on June 30.We have more steeple analysis in a separate article here.
| PLACE | ATHLETE | SPONSOR | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenneth Rooks | NIKE | 8:21.92 |
| 2 | Matthew Wilkinson | Under Armour/Dark Sky Distance | 8:23.00 |
| 3 | James Corrigan | Brigham Young | 8:26.78 |
| 4 | Evan Jager | NIKE/Bowerman TC | 8:28.73 |
| 5 | Yasin Sado | Virginia | 8:29.04 |
| 6 | Duncan Hamilton | NIKE/Bowerman TC | 8:29.20 |
| 7 | Joey Berriatua | Tinman Elite | 8:29.95 |
| 8 | Anthony Rotich | NIKE/U.S. Army OLY STD | 8:30.14 |
| 9 | Benard Keter | NIKE/U.S. Army | 8:32.82 |
| 10 | Derek Johnson | New Balance | 8:34.37 |
| 11 | Nathan Mountain | Virginia | 8:34.63 |
| 12 | Isaac Updike | Under Armour/Dark Sky Distance | 8:35.98 |
| 13 | Hillary Bor | HOKA/American Distance Project OLY STD | 8:37.65 |
| 14 | Alec Basten | Under Armour Mission Run Balt | 8:44.81 |
Men’s 100 Final: Lyles leads way as Bednarek, Kerley join him in Paris and Coleman goes home devastated
Reigning world champion Noah Lyles lived up to the hype as he used a strong second half of the race to power home to victory in 9.83 seconds, tying his personal best. Just like in the semifinal, it was Olympic silver medalist Kenny Bednarek who pressed Lyles to the line and was rewarded with a second-place finish, running 9.87 and was followed closely by 2022 world champion Fred Kerley in 9.88. In a field this loaded, someone was going to be crushed and it was Christian Coleman, who led early and has made every 100 team he has tried out for since college, but faded to fourth.
Christian Miller, who just graduated high school, was an impressive 5th in 9.98.
| PLACE | ATHLETE | SPONSOR | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Noah Lyles | adidas OLY STD | 9.83 |
| 2 | Kenny Bednarek | NIKE OLY STD | 9.87 |
| 3 | Fred Kerley | Unattached OLY STD | 9.88 |
| 4 | Christian Coleman | NIKE OLY STD | 9.93 |
| 5 | Christian Miller | St. Johns Striders OLY STD | 9.98 |
| 6 | Courtney Lindsey | NIKE OLY STD | 10.02 |
| 7 | Brandon Hicklin | NIKE OLY STD | 10.03 |
| 8 | Kendal Williams | adidas OLY STD | 10.04 |
| 9 | JT Smith | Unattached | 10.22 |
Women’s 400: Ellis wins U.S. title, Aaliyah Butler surprise second-placer
Kendall Ellis continued a resurgent 2024 as she captured the US title in 49.46 ahead of Aaliyah Butler of Georgia, who didn’t make the NCAA final, and Alexis Holmes. Ellis was a devastating 4th at the 2021 Trials, and didn’t even make the final at USAs last year. Arkansas’ Kaylyn Brown, who ran 49.13 at NCAA’s (NCAA #2 All-Time), finished 4th this year. Between Brown and Rosey Effiong, who was eliminated yesterday, the Arkansas women didn’t quite meet the moment.
| PLACE | ATHLETE | SPONSOR | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kendall Ellis | New Balance | 49.46 |
| 2 | Aaliyah Butler | Georgia OLY STD | 49.71 |
| 3 | Alexis Holmes | NIKE OLY STD | 49.78 |
| 4 | Kaylyn Brown | Arkansas OLY STD | 50.07 |
| 5 | Quanera Hayes | NIKE OLY STD | 50.55 |
| 6 | Isabella Whittaker | Penn OLY STD | 50.68 |
| 7 | Lynna Irby-Jackson | adidas OLY STD | 50.74 |
| 8 | JaMeesia Ford | South Carolina OLY STD | 50.80 |
| 9 | Shamier Little | adidas OLY STD | 50.96 |
Men’s 400 Semifinal: Quincy Wilson Sets HS Record (Again) En Route to Final
Semifinal 1: Matthew Boling got out to a fast start but it didn’t matter–Quincy Hall, the 2023 World Championship bronze medalist reeled him in down the homestretch, crossing the line in 44.42 seconds, a season’s best. Chris Bailey would also bring Boling in, nabbing the second auto-qualifying spot. Ultimately, Boling would qualify for the final on time.
Semifinal 2: For Quincy Wilson, it seems that the moment can’t be big enough, as the high school phenom lowered the national HS record and U18 world record of 44.66 he had set in Friday’s prelims, clocking 44.59 for third place and qualifying on time. In front of Wilson, experience shined through–Bryce Deadmon and Vernon Norwood finished 1-2 in 44.44 and 44.50, respectively.
Semifinal 3: After a brief holdup Michael Norman went gun to tape, perfectly executing a 45.30 for the heat win in a slow race. The second place spot was a battle between Alabama’s Khaleb McRae and USC’s Johnnie Blockburger in the final 100. In the end, it was McRae who came through for the second qualifying spot in 45.59.
Women’s 800 Semis: Athing Mu makes final, Ajee’ Wilson eliminated
Semifinal 1: In a semifinal that Ato Boldon called the “semifinal of death” Olympic champion Athing Mu came through with a last-second win, running 1:58.84 which was a season’s best. Michaela Rose was almost a full second ahead of the field after leading the entire first lap and coming through in a quick 57.75. She had a gap on the entire field until the final 100, where the gas started to run out and the experienced vets started to kick. Rose made the mistake of leaving space on the rail and in the final strides Mu passed her to win the heat, and Kate Grace who snuck by her for second while making contact with Rose running a season’s best of 1:58.97. Grace would then hit both the ground and scoreboard hard as she fell over the line taking the second automatic qualifying spot by .03. The heat had all three-time qualifiers with Michaela Rose, Juliette Whittaker, and Kristie Schoffield.
Semifinal 2: Two callbacks didn’t faze Raevyn Rogers as she won the second heat in 2:01.08–a season’s best. OAC’s Sage Hurta-Klecker took the lead at the bell (59.85 seconds) and held it all the way until she was overtaken by Rogers in the final 30 meters. Ajee’ Wilson, the former U.S. record holder, finished third and just missed the final, running 2:01.25.
Quick Take: End of an Era with Ajee; Wilson missing the final
Wilson had made every US 800m final starting in 2013 until now.
Quick take: Final looks way more wide open
Athing Mu won her heat with the fastest time of the day, but it didn’t look easy. And afterwards, she revealed she had only been running for a couple of weeks before the Trials after injuring her hamstring in April. She is still the favorite, but question marks surround her.
Field Action
Men’s Pole Vault: Kendricks Leads Crew to Paris
2019 world champion Sam Kendricks was able to win another U.S. championship with a clearance over 5.92 m. He will be joined by Chris Nilsen and Jacob Wooten, who cleared 5.87 m.
Afterwards, Kendricks said he would go to the Olympics. Previously, he had discussed possibly not going as he was upset how he was treated in 2021, when he was not allowed to compete in Tokyo because he tested positive for COVID. He then missed the 2022 Worlds because he did not want to get vaccinated for COVID-19.
Men’s Javelin: Curtis Thompson Brings it Home
Curtis Thompson was able to repeat as national champion throwing a season-best 83.04 to take the gold. Joining him in Paris will be Capers Williamson and Donavon Banks, who both threw 79m to book their tickets to Paris.
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