Woody Kincaid wasted little time become the early talk of the first day of competition at the USATF Outdoor Championships in New York on Thursday at Icahn Stadium as he threw down a late kick to win the men’s 10,000m title in 30:13.66.
An impressive 54.89 on the final lap was the deciding factor for Kincaid, who held off Grant Fisher on the last 100m. Kincaid left nothing up to chance, as Fisher and Drew Bosley held close as he pressed through the 5K mark in 16:12.77. But as the field began to show some signs of fading, Kincaid, Fisher and Bosley widened their lead on as the battle for the order of the podium began.
Still, Kincaid knew he was in position to seize his moment as he bolted away from Fisher in the closing steps to take the victory. Fisher was second in 30:14.46 and Bosley took third in 30:20.60.
“I’m sure there were some doubters saying, he’s 33, but I didn’t feel that when I finished the race,” Kincaid said. “I felt a lot of love. I mean, I came in here being like, it’s not going to be given to me, but I think I can still win this, you know? With 100 meters, 200 meters to go, I’ve come too far and I’ve got to just lay it down now.”
In the women’s 10,000m, Sydney Vaught injected a burst of speed in what felt like a relax session through the halfway point as she bolted to a 33:30.60 to take the title.
Vaught carried the lead at 18:09.44 through the 5K mark and made the decision to shake off the rest of the group and pull away to take the win. Katie Izzo finished second in 33:36.98 and Allie Buchalski was third in 33:42.29.
“I think I enjoy racing like that,” Vaught said. “Sometimes it’s a little bit scary, especially on the day like today. You know, sometimes I think, in my head, I said, okay, be willing to fail big. And so I think it was just kind of taking that risk and running over it. Like, once I didn’t move, I was like, I did to be strong and just doing what I can.”
Rudy Winkler grabbed his second straight men’s hammer title with a 77.05m toss — his fifth U.S. title — after clearing the distance on his fifth attempt over Alex Young (74.93m) and Trey Knight (73.70m), while Madison Wiltrout took the women’s javelin crown in 61.53m in her third toss ahead of Evie Bliss Bucknell (60.41m) and Madelyn Harris (57.14m)
On his final attempt in the men’s long jump, Isaac Grimes found the distance he needed as he cleared 8.18m to win the title over Malcolm Clemons (8.07) and Steffin Mccarter (7.97).
In a shift from its usual home at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, this year’s championships have the New York City skyline as its backdrop, which is the first time in 35 years that the competition has touched down in the city.
