By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
NEW YORK (24-Jul) — The brutal nature of championship racing was on full display tonight on the second day of the Toyota USATF Track & Field Championships at Icahn Stadium. At this year’s championships the men’s and women’s 800m only have two rounds, so fields of 22 men and 22 women were cut down to just nine for Sunday’s finals. Only the top two finishers in each of the three heats was guaranteed a place in the final, so there was some fierce racing as a result.
On the men’s side all eyes were on Cooper Lutkenhaus, the rising high school senior from Justin, Texas, who won the World Athletics Indoor Championships gold medal back in March. He ran in the first heat against 2024 Olympian Hobbs Kessler, the world indoor (short track) record holder for 2000m. The two stars let Christian Jackson and Lloyd Frilot lead through halfway in 52.58 before Lutkenhaus moved to the front on the backstretch. Kessler followed the 17 year-old, and the pair was able to run undisturbed to the finish in 1:45.83 and 1:45.93, respectively. Jackson finished third in 1:46.16 and qualified on time.
“I felt really good,” Lutkenhaus told reporters. “One forty-five now feels not so bad, so that’s a good sign. The final is in two days.”
Kessler, who decided not to contest the 1500m here, was not only pleased with his race, but also shared his admiration for Lutkenhaus. Like the young Texan, Kessler also turned pro in high school and skipped the NCAA.
“I only had one gear left,” Kessler admitted. “Like, a junior in high school is looking at me like, this is all you’ve got? He’s just measuring his effort trying to see how easy it would be for him. It’s pretty crazy. I think I’m a pretty good runner, and I can appreciate what it means to try to do it young. He’s doing it younger. He’s carrying himself pretty well. It’s pretty incredible.”
Tinoda Matsatsa of Georgetown University made a bold bid to win the second heat by streaking through the halfway mark in 49.77 seconds. He still held the lead through 600m (1:16.59), but the wheels fell off in the final 100 meters and he faded to sixth place and did not advance. Instead, Wes Ferguson got the win by hanging back in the first half then only slowing slightly in the second. He clocked 1:45.17, the fastest time of the day.
“That’s exactly how I wanted to run it,” said Ferguson, who competed for the University of Nebraska-Kearney during his NCAA career. “Coach and I talked about how those guys needed to make it quick to have a good shot. So, we planned for that and it happened. I made sure to stay attached and that’s exactly what I did.”
Andrew Casey, the University of Wisconsin 800m record holder, ran behind Matsatsa through 600 meters, and managed to hold it together in the final 200 meters of the race to finish second in 1:45.59. Carver Morgan (1:46.24) and Shane Cohen (1:46.27), too third and fourth, respectively, and advanced to the final on time. Casey, 21, was delighted to make his first USATF final.
“I didn’t expect to make the U.S. final,” Casey told Race Results Weekly. “I’ve got two years eligibility left. I’m really excited about it.”
The third and final heat featured defending national champion, and 2019 world champion, Donavan Brazier. The 29 year-old completed a remarkable multi-year comeback from injury last summer, and was certainly a fan favorite coming into tonight’s race.
But sadly, Brazier ran in fourth position for every split of his heat, including the finish. He ran a tepid 1:46.93 and did not advance. Ahead of him, Atlanta Track Club Elite teammates Sean Dolan and Camden Marshall finished one-two in 1:46.11 and 1:46.40, respectively, and advanced to the final. Dolan, 25, has had an excellent year and recently won the 800m at the Cork City Sports meeting in Ireland.
“Make the final was the plan,” said Dolan. “Whatever it took to make that final. I want to win every race. I don’t care who’s in there. I want to compete and I want to beat people. I don’t have a flashy PR to my name, but I know how to race and compete. I’m beyond excited for Sunday’s final.”
WILLIS FASTEST AMONG WOMEN
Roisin Willis, the defending national champion, powered to victory in the first of the three women’s heats in 1:59.83, the only sub-2:00 recorded here tonight. She followed former Brigham Young University star Meghan Hunter through halfway in 57.85, held back through 600m, then eased away from the field in the final 200 meters to win.
“I tried to get out and I just kind of wanted to stay calm until the last hundred,” Willis told reporters after her race. “I knew I needed to go out there with a hard effort.”
Hunter got the second automatic qualifying spot in 2:00.38, and the fast pace she set allowed the next three women –Emma Sullivan (2:00.66), Lauren Tolbert (2:00.93), and Paige Sheppard (2:00.99)– to all advance on time. Sheppard is a 16 year-old high school student from Scotch Plains, New Jersey, who will represent the United States at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon, next month.
Nia Akins and Juliette Whittaker went one-two in the second heat in 2:01.78 and 2:02.22, respectively. Akins led the entire heat and was joined by her training partner Ajee’ Wilson through the first 600 meters. Wilson was still in second place coming out of the final bend, but Whittaker overhauled her in the homestretch. Wilson, the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships gold medalist, finished third in 2:02.45 and did not advance.
“I was just trying to stay in the spirit, listen to the Lord, cross the line and just be content with my performance, no matter what it was,” said Akins, who revealed that she was in a car accident earlier this year which put her out of training. “I’m just content.”
Doubling back from the 1500m prelims last night, Addy Wiley won the third and final heat in 2:01.40. She just edged 2025 NCAA indoor champion Makayla Paige who is in her first pro season after finishing her NCAA career at the University of North Carolina in June. Wiley plans to contest both the 1500m final tomorrow and the 800m final on Sunday. She said that yesterday’s 1500m race was “a nice little warm-up” for tonight’s heat.
“I felt really good on my warm-up,” said Wiley. “Everything felt really loose and ready to go. I don’t know; I feel pretty confident.”
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Distance action at the 2026 Toyota USATF Outdoor Track & Field Championships continues tomorrow at Icahn Stadium with the finals of the men’s and women’s steeplechase and the 1500m. The 800m and 5000m finals will be on Sunday
PHOTO: Hobbs Kessler and Cooper Lutkenhaus finished second and third, respectively, in their heat of the 800m at the 2026 Toyota USATF Outdoor Track & Field Championships in New York (Photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
PHOTO: Roisin Willis ran the fastest time in the first round of the women’s 800m at the 2026 Toyota USATF Outdoor Track & Field Championships in New York (Photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
PHOTO: Atlanta Track Club Elite teammates Camden Marshall and Sean Dolan finished second and third, respectively, in their heat of the men’s 800m at the 2026 Toyota USATF Outdoor Track & Field Championships in New York (Photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
PHOTO: Wes Ferguson ran the fastest time in the qualifying round of the men’s 800m at the 2026 Toyota USATF Outdoor Track & Field Championships in New York (Photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
ENDS
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