With a 65-second final quarter, Emily Infeld outkicked Elise Cranny to capture the women’s 10,000-meter title at the USATF Outdoor Championships on Thursday night in Eugene, 31:43.56 to 31:44.24. The victory marks the 35-year-old’s first-ever national title.
“I can’t believe it, I was manifesting [that] I want to break the tape and I did—it was wild!” Infeld said in the mixed zone after the race.
The national title comes after injuries hampered her build-up to the 2024 Olympic Trials, where she finished last in the 5,000 meter final. Her contract with Nike ended and she signed with Brooks this January—jumpstarting a new season of training and reconnecting with her college coach, Chris Miltenberg, now of University of North Carolina who guided her career while at Georgetown.
“Last year, I didn’t know if I would ever be competing again,” she said. “[This year] I wanted to compete for top three. Then when I was there [in the race], I was like, ‘I want to try to win.’ I’m so happy. I thought in a best-case scenario, I’ll be competing for top three, but I don’t want to tell myself I’m not gonna win so let’s try to win and we’re just gonna go in with that mentality. The 10K is a war of attrition. You gotta bide your time, bide your time. So that’s what I tried to do and tried to close hard.”
Infeld is in a strong position to qualify for her first world team in three years, and her first 10K team since 2017. In the mixed zone, she compared the surprise joy of this victory to her bronze medal performance 10 years ago at the 2015 World Athletics Championships in the 10K.
No experience necessary! Anyone can accomplish this training plan Build Speed Like 16-Year-Old Cooper Lutkenhaus was fourth in 31:45.41.
No U.S. women have run the world standard of 30:20 to qualify for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, but Infeld, Cranny, and Roe all have a solid shot to qualify through the world rankings quota which will be used to fill the 27-person field.
Athlete point totals are generated by an average of their top two performances during the qualifying window, which opened on February 25, 2024 and closes on August 24.
Right now, Cranny is projected to be safely in the quota with a 1238 average (1274 points from The TEN and 1204 points from USAs), while Infeld will also likely have spot with her 1218 average (1223 points from The TEN and 1214 points from USAs). Roe is firmly on the bubble with 1215 average points (1234 from The TEN and 1197 from USAs).
Final rankings will be determined based on results from national championships around the world and are subject to change. If Roe does not secure enough points to be named to the team, Kelati could potentially take the third spot despite placing fourth at USAs.
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Johanna Gretschel is a freelance writer and broadcaster living in Austin, Texas, who has covered elite track and field and running in all its forms. She contributes to Runner’s World, ESPN, Austin American-Statesman, FloTrack, MileSplit, Women’s Running and Podium Runner. Yes, she has run a marathon!
