Lessons Learned for the USA Championships

This past weekend in running in the United States was by far one of the most historic and one most storied weekends of track and field in recent memory, and maybe of all-time - outside of the Olympics! With spots to the Tokyo World Championships on the line, the United States’ best went toe to toe with some incredible upsets and remarkable feats that could very well never be matched in our lifetime!

Pursue the Process with Joy; Results Will Come.

If the meet as a whole wasn’t enough to follow along, the story of the men’s 800 meter championship should garner headlines globally until the World Championships later next month. First off, our key players, starting with Bryce Hoppel, the returning 7x USA Champion had joined the field after finishing 4th at the 2024 Olympics where he ran the American record. And as crazy as it sounds, Hoppel was not even the favorite heading into the championships. That honor was held by Josh Hoey, who was coming off an Indoor World Championship for the 800 meters and currently holds the 2nd fastest time in the world at 1:42:01. With Hoppel and Hoey being near shoe-ins for the team, returning star Donavon Brazier and high school sensation, Cooper Lutkenhaus were the stories to keep an eye on heading into the final. Donavon Brazier’s story is one rooted in resilience, but more on that later!

Luktenhaus on the otherhand, was an extraordinary talent that many track fans may never have heard of. Even though he had been able to runaway with the high school scene, the 16 year old sophomore had yet to run performances that showed him to be near the top of the world. This all changed on Sunday.

Entering the final, many bets were on a team of Hoppel, Hoey, and hopes were on Brazier, but Luktenhaus was largely counted out. Fortunately for us fans, that is not how the race took out. Hoey truly trusting his strength and ability, took out in a blistering pace, running the first 400 meters in 49.26. Clearly leading the field, but Brazier, Hoppel, and Brandon Miller decided to follow, while Luktenhaus was in 7th place over a full second behind the quartet battling for a podium spot. With 200 meters to go, Luktenhaus still sat in 7th place, deciding it was time to use his strength of closing speed to fight his way to the line. Closing his last 400 meters in nearly the same time as his first (51.61 seconds), Luktenhaus not only finished as the United States runner-up, he took three seconds off his own personal best, has now run four seconds faster than the second fastest time in high school history, and ranks 4th all-time on the US 800 meter list - all over THREE MONTHS BEFORE he turns 17. This may be one of the greatest athletic feats in high school history... making high school LeBron, as Steve Magness puts it, “like a nobody”.

Now in looking into the United States’ two best 800 meter runners... what did they have in common. Sure they were nervous, but in the grand scheme of things, they were not there for an outcome. They were just trusting the process and the people behind them and enjoying the fruits of their labor. “Really seizing the moment, racing the best guys in America, and globally. Just going out there having fun to see what I can do against the best”. On a similar note Brazier remarked in a post race interview that he is “just happy to be back and is having a good time this season, “ noting that after losing the ability to race for so long, he is enjoying this time more than ever.

Don’t Fold to Giants

We have already looked at both Brazier and Lutkenhaus, and soon we will dive into the unlikely story of Emily Infeld, but if you haven't noticed already, underdogs won the weekend at the championships. Unfortunate for fan favorites, but these stories prove that David can slay Goliath.

If there was a race that most people were looking towards, it was the men’s 1500 meters to see how Olympic gold and bronze medalists would fare against each other, and then also who would take the third spot on the team. After an amazing showing at the Olympics in 2024, with the United States going 1-3-5, it seemed the be a decent lock on who should make the team... likely the three guys who proved they were top five in the world just one year prior. With giants being the story, guys like NCAA star Ethan Strand and up-and-comer Jonah Koech were primarily overlooked. Nonetheless, in an extraordinarily fast championship, strung out by Kentucky legend, Yared Nguse, these guys stuck their nose in it and gave themselves a fighting chance just long enough to blast past the reigning Olympic Champion and Bronze medalists down the final stretch.

How powerful confidence is, “I don't think there is anyone in the world who I view as not being able to beat,” Strand commented after his monstrous kick led him to the world championships.

As David had the confidence in the Lord and in his ability to sling a stone, so much so, confidence in your ability to execute a race can lead to extraordinary results.

Have Belief. Always Keep Fighting.

Now back to Brazier. After bursting onto the scene to set the 800 meter American record in 2019 and willing the 2019 World Athletics Championships in the 800 meters, Brazier spent years on the sidelines due to multiple surgeries caused by Hagland’s deformity. These issues limited Brazier from 2020-2022, but ultimately forced him to sit out almost all of 2023 and 2024, where he claims to have never run for more than 30 days in those two years. As most people, including myself, had believed believe Brazier had retired, he was quietly working through the early parts of 2025 and burst onto the scene just nearly two months ago, where he ran a US Championship qualifying standard. After showing improvement on improvement, Brazier is now returning to the World Championships with many expectations to be able to medal.

Along with Brazier, Emily Infeld has had a storied career, not near complete with a story almost too good to be true. Injuries have also plagued Infield’s career. As Infield burst into the professoinal running scene as a member of the Bowerman Track Club, the young star was able to capture a bronze medal in the 2015 World Championships 10,000. After battling for nearly 31 minutes in this race, her tenacity proved through, outlining a fellow American at the line, to take a medal by .09 seconds. Since this superstar moment, Infield has had her moments of defeat and moments of shine. But what has continually alluded her was a USATF National Championship. Who knew what Infield was capable of, as like Brazier, she missed nearly all of 2024 with an achilles injury.

While possibly a dark horse contender, Infield was anything but a favorite entering the championship. Barely making the top 10 in the USA 10K rankings heading into the championships, the 35 year old simply entered the race, wanting to give herself an opportunity to make the team. This belief stems from her community and her team, ““To have that belief and faith and to feel like a company that just saw me and wanted to support me just means the world,” Infeld said.” What did this belief do, enabled her to stay on a slow pace and absolutely blast past the pack of former Olympians to not only make the 10,000 meter team, but winning a United States National Championship.

The power of belief is incredible. Never stop believing, keep those believing in you around you, and always, always, always fight on!