10,000m races crown first-time champions at Day One of 2025 Toyota USATF Outdoor and Para National Championships
Emily Infeld won her first-ever national title in the women’s 10,000m with a time of 31:43.56 on day one of the 2025 Toyota USATF Outdoor & Para National Championships at Hayward Field. Photo by Evan Poulsen.
By Owen Murray, TrackTown USA
Emily Infeld, 35, had never won a national title in her life. With 3,000 meters to run in the US women’s 10,000m final, she was part of the four-athlete breakaway pack. With 100m left, she pulled ahead of four-time national champion Elise Cranny, hit the tape, and won her first.
“I was just like, ‘I’m going to be there, and I’ll try to follow any moves,’” Infeld said. “It felt so good…I can’t believe it.”
The first day of competition at Hayward Field featured field and distance event finals for both para and able-bodied athletes — DeAnna Price and Curtis Thompson took wins in the able-bodied women’s hammer and men’s javelin throws, respectively, while Christie Raleigh Crossley and Beth Grauer (women’s F34 shot put) and Daniel Romanchuk (men’s T54 5000m) headlined the para competition.
The end of the night crowned two first-time national champions on different ends of their career: Infeld (35) and Nico Young (23) earned gold medals.
Price, who said she had complete ankle reconstruction surgery following the 2021 World Athletics Championships, returned to rise above a stacked field that included four other world championship standard qualifiers.
“My strength levels are back up,” Price said. “I feel good. I feel healthy. It’s just about being grateful for what we’re doing and getting in there, making it technical, attacking the throw and staying calm.”
The American record holder threw a season-best 78.53m (257-7) on her final attempt of the competition to take her win at Hayward Field.
In the para women’s F34 (seated) shot put final, five-time Paralympic swimming medalist Christie Raleigh Crossley took a silver medal with a 5.96m (19-6 ¾) throw on her third attempt. Raleigh Crossley, a high school shot put athlete who will compete at the para swimming World Championships later this year, qualified for and earned a silver medal (Grauer won gold in the category with a 6.77m/22-12 ½ throw) in their first-ever national track championship.
“It’s about these conversations,” they said. “It’s about the elevation of awareness for Paralympic sport. Even though I am a swimmer, the hope is to be doing two sports in Los Angeles (at the 2028 Paralympic Games).”
Raleigh Crossley didn’t know if she would be able to compete after a cancer diagnosis, but when they were classified and qualified, their decision was made.
“Now we’re here. Now we’re having fun,” they said. “This is the easy part.”
Athing Mu-Nikolayev ran just her third 800m race of the 2025 season in the preliminary round and took a heat win (second overall) in 2:00.06. Sage Hurta-Klecker had the fastest qualifying time (1:59.28).
Daniel Romanchuk won the men's 5000m – T53/54 with a time of 11:02.93 on day one of the 2025 Toyota USATF Outdoor & Para National Championships at Hayward Field. Photo by Evan Poulsen.
In the para T53/54 (limb deficiency, impaired muscle power, or impaired range of motion) 5000-meter final, Daniel Romanchuk closed in 44.56 to win the T54 category with a 11:02.93 time. Brian Siemann won the T53 category in 11:06.79.
Romanchuk, a two-time Paralympic gold medalist (Tokyo 2020/T54 400m and Paris 2024/T54 5000m), has wins across sprint, middle-distance and distance events — he’s won worldwide from sprints to the Chicago, New York, Boston and London Marathons and will also compete in the 100m, 400m, 800m and 1500m throughout this weekend’s meet.
Evie Bliss won the women’s javelin competition with a 57.77m (189-6) throw on her third attempt. Bronze medalist Sarah Blake was the only athlete to throw a season-best mark.
Evie Bliss won the women’s javelin throw competition with a 57.77m (189-6) throw on her third attempt on day one of the 2025 Toyota USATF Outdoor & Para National Championships at Hayward Field. Photo by Kelcey McKinney.
Men’s hammer world leader Rudy Winkler won the event on Thursday evening with an 81.47m (267-3) throw on his second attempt. Silver medalist Trey Knight achieved the world standard with a personal-best 78.76m (258-5) final effort.
“I think everything is just coming together this year,” Winkler said. “It’s the longest I’ve gone without an injury. It’s the longest I’ve been with a coach. I’m married now, so I have a life outside of throwing…I just have a better perspective on my relationship with throwing, in general.”
The women’s para mixed shot put crowned six champions from its 11 entries. F44-category (lower limb impairment without a prosthetic) champion Arelle Middleton had the longest mark of the day — a 12.99m (42-7 ½) effort on her fifth attempt. Middleton, the reigning Olympic and world silver medalist, is just 17 years old.
Reigning women’s long jump Olympic champion Tara Davis-Woodhall jumped 7.11m and 7.12m on her fourth and fifth attempts to set back-to-back world-leading marks after fouling on her first two. Her world-lead (7.12m/23-4 ½) outjumped seven other athletes who had the world standard. Two athletes, Quanesha Burks and Alyssa Jones, achieved it with their third and fourth-place finishes, respectively. Claire Bryant, who secured the world standard earlier this season, finished second and Quanesha Burks finished third.
In the women’s 10,000m final, Cranny led for nearly 7,000 meters before falling into a breakaway group of four athletes: herself, Infeld, Taylor Roe and Weini Kelati Frezghi. Infeld’s final 200m, which she ran in 30.83 seconds, secured her first ever national title in 31:43.56, 13 years after she began her pro career in 2012.
“I was just like, ‘I have to bide my time,’” Infeld said. “It’s gonna hurt. I just have to beat one person.”
“I’ve got a lot of confidence going into worlds.”
– Nico Young
In the men’s final, reigning national champion Grant Fisher waited in third place for 5000 meters of a slow race before falling back in the pack. Northern Arizona University athlete Nico Young was the one to take advantage. Young, who sat as low as 12th with 2000m left, rose into the top three slots with two laps to run before securing the win with a 56.54 final 400m ahead of second-place Fisher.
“It definitely gives me confidence (to beat Fisher),” Young, who thought the 5k, which he races on Sunday afternoon, was still his better event, said. “I’ve got a lot of confidence going into worlds.”
Competition continues tomorrow with the able-bodied men’s and women’s 100m finals and the para T62/64 and T11/12/13 men’s 100m finals.