Storylines for Sacramento: The year's hottest meet revs up

By Doug Binder and Erik Boal of DyeStat

It's going to be crazy hot and crazy intense as the USATF Outdoor Championships and USATF Junior Championships coincide beginning Thursday at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California. 

Forecasts call for afternoon temperatures above 105 degrees all four days of the meet. 

Webcast Information:

USATF Senior Outdoor Championships - RunnerSpace +PLUS, viewable only on RunnerSpace.com and will be restricted to viewers outside the USA. Some portions of the event will be blacked out for the international feed. On demand competition video will be available on a 24 hour delay for USATF.TV +PLUS, geo-restricted to USA only.

USATF Junior Outdoor Championships - USATF.TV +PLUS, viewable only on USATF.TV, no geo-location restrictions. On demand competition video will be made available immediately.

Here are some of the storylines we'll be closely following:

Maturation of Murphy

A year after storming into the track world's consciousness and nabbing a bronze medal in the Olympic 800-meter final, Clayton Murphy is taking on a big challenge at the U.S. Championships. He is entered in both the 800 and 1,500 meters and will attempt to become the first man to win both national titles in the same year since Rick Wolhuter in 1972. 

Murphy was the 2016 NCAA champion in the 1,500 meters and the U.S. Olympic Trials champion in the 800. In severe, hot weather making the U.S. team in both events would be accomplishment enough. In the 800, Murphy faces the prospect of racing first-year pro Donovan Brazier (the NCAA record holder) and in the 1,500 he faces a field with Olympic gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz.

Shot put showdown

Ryan Crouser became the best shot putter in the world in 2016 and the expectations are sky high in 2017. Crouser has openly discussed the possibility that he could throw at a world record level at the height of his season this summer. 

But there is another American who isn't ready to step aside and let Crouser be the dominant figure in the shot put. Joe Kovacs, who turns 28 next week, is in the prime of his career and is the 2015 world champion and the 2016 silver medalist. Kovacs would love nothing more than than get back on top. But Crouser's size and longer levers could be difficult to ovecome.

Rupp's final laps at USAs

Galen Rupp has made U.S. teams an astonishing 13 years in a row, dating back to his days at Central Catholic High School when he qualified for the World Youth Championships and Pan Am Juniors in the summer of 2003.

The three-time Olympian -- and two-time medalist -- is at the stage of his career where he is about to let track and field go and turn completely to the roads. Rupp is entered in the 10,000 meters and has won the U.S. title in the event eight years in a row. 

The 2012 silver medalist in the 10,000 has already enjoyed big success in the marathon despite having only run three of them -- the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials (first), the 2016 Olympic Games (third) and the 2017 Boston Marathon (second).

The Ascent of Christian Coleman and Fred Kerley

Christian Coleman ran a collegiate-record 9.82 seconds in the 100-meter prelims at the NCAA Championships two weeks ago and has turned pro ahead of this weekend's USATF Championships. Fred Kerley ran the sixth-fastest 400 of all-time at the NCAA West prelims and his future is apparently now.

Coleman, the former Tennessee star represents a changing of the guard and is a potential global medalist this summer if he can maintain what has been a long season. The biggest competition could come from Ronnie Baker, who at 24 appears to have hit his groove. Baker ran 9.86 (2.4w) at the Pre Classic. 

Justin Gatlin is 35 but remains a threat to make another U.S. team before retiring. Trayvon Bromell hasn't raced since the Rio Games and Marvin Bracy, the third member of the U.S. team last summer, isn't entered.

Kerley, who turned pro following a sensational year for Texas A&M, will get a chance to challenge 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Lashawn Merritt for U.S. supremacy in the 400 if he can make the team. Merritt, the reigning Diamond League 400 champion, already has a wild card to compete in the quarter-mile in London and is only entered in the 200 at nationals.

McLaughlin, 17, aims to make second team

Union Catholic NJ graduate Sydney McLaughlin, flying west after her capping off her high school career with her 11th and 12th New Balance Nationals titles, is aiming to make her second U.S. team. 

McLaughlin made headlines in 2016 when she made the U.S. Olympic team in the 400 hurdles as a 16-year old. She competed at the Rio Games but had a cold and did not run at her best. 

A year later, McLaughlin has been treated like a celebrity at almost every high school meet she has attended and has gotten faster and stronger. She split 49.85 seconds last weekend on a 400-meter carry of her team's winning Swedish Medley Relay (100-200-300-400) and two days later ran 54.22 in the 400 hurdles with a headwind on the homestretch. 

McLaughlin had earlier this year indicated that she didn't want to try and make the World Championships team because she wanted to enjoy one final summer before heading off to the University of Kentucky. 

The compromise that she struck with her coaches was that she try to seize the opportunity she has to represent the U.S. again, but is bringing a couple of her closest friends (and teammates) with her to share the experience.

Middle-distance masterpiece shaping up

The women's 800-meter final could be one of the best in championship history, with four athletes having already broken the 2-minute barrier this year and only three roster spots available to compete at the IAAF World Championships in August in London.

Brenda Martinez, the 2013 World Championship bronze medalist, ran 1:58.78 on May 18 at the USATF Distance Classic, her best performance since breaking 1:59 four times four years ago culminated with her personal-best 1:57.91 in the final in Moscow.

Perhaps the most intriguing challenger will be Oregon standout Raevyn Rogers, a three-time NCAA Division 1 800 outdoor champion and winner of five individual titles overall including indoors, who ran a collegiate-record 1:59.10 on April 15 at the Mt. SAC Relays.

Laura Roesler, a 2014 NCAA champion at Oregon, ran 1:59.54 in the same race as Rogers' record-setting run and has posted marks under 2:01 three times this year.

Ajee' Wilson, who had her American indoor record 1:58.27 from the NYRR Millrose Games taken away Monday because she tested positive for the anabolic agent zeranol found in a tainted supply of beef, is seeking her first outdoor national title since 2014. Her training partner, Charlene Lipsey, ran 1:58.64 indoors Feb. 11 at the Millrose Games and has produced sub-2 performances twice in the past month entering the meet.

Six-time champion Alysia Montano is expected to compete for the second time at a national meet while pregnant. Kate Grace, who won the Olympic Trials final in the 800, has decided to compete in the 1,500 this weekend.

Taylor, Claye battle in triple jump

Christian Taylor and Will Claye, former teammates at the University of Florida who have bounded through their track careers together, will renew their game of one-upsmanship in the triple jump.

Taylor, the second-best performer in the event in history, jumped 59 feet, 5 inches -- the third-longest jump of all time and the farthest ever on U.S. soil -- at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene last month. Claye threatened to win the competition with a lifetime best 59-2.75 until the two-time Olympic champion came up big.

Youngster Tyrese Cooper testing waters

Tyrese Cooper, the high school phenom from Miami, completed a 200/400 double over the weekend at New Balance Nationals Outdoor and is about to take the biggest competitive leap of his young career. 

Cooper is entered in both the 200 and 400 in both the senior and the junior competitions. With the prelims in both events, and the intense heat, it will be interesting to see how long he can hold up. But after dominating high school competition this spring he is eager to test himself against the best men in the United States. 

After all, there is no pressure. Cooper still has two years left of high school. 

Geist eager to step up against the men

Jordan Geist, the high school throwing standout from Knoch PA, will get a huge opportunity to throw against some of the best shot putters in the world. Geist threw a U.S. high school record with the 16-pound implement (68-4.25) last December and comes to the U.S. Championships as No. 7 on the list of entries.

The junior boys shot put figures to be a high-powered affair as Geist, who threw 76 feet to win New Balance Nationals over the weekend, gets a long-awaited chance to throw against Adrian "Tripp" Piperi of The Woodlands High School in Texas. Piperi was injured and did not make the trip to Greensboro, but has indicated that he still planned to throw in Sacramento.

Tara to tackle tough challenge

Agoura CA graduate Tara Davis will also be competing in junior and senior competition in the long jump and 100-meter hurdles.

Davis is no stranger to senior-level competition, participating in the 60-meter hurdles and long jump in March at the USATF Indoor Nationals in Albuquerque. She is also seeking a spot on her second U.S. roster after winning the World Youth gold medal in the long jump in 2015 in Colombia.

Davis, who ran the best high school 100 hurdles time under all conditions June 3 with her wind-aided 12.83 at the California state final, will square off at the junior level against George Walton Comprehensive GA sophomore Tia Jones, the wind-legal prep record holder at 12.84.

Davis is a signifcant favorite in the junior long jump with a wind-legal 22-1.25 (6.73m) from the June 3 California state final. She added a wind-aided 22-3.75 (6.80m) at the CIF Southern Section finals May 20, making her also a contender in the senior long jump against Brittney Reese, Tianna Bartoletta, Sha'Keela Saunders, Quanesha Burks, Kate Hall and Jasmine Todd.

Davis would be scheduled to line up in the senior 100 hurdles prelims less than an hour after the junior final Friday. She is in the same heat as world record holder Keni Harrison.

Harrison seeks redemption run

Keni Harrison already has a berth to compete at the IAAF World Championships based on winning the Diamond League series in the 100-meter hurdles, but she is still scheduled to race in pursuit of her first national title.

Harrison, the world leader this year at 12.56 seconds, set the world record July 22 by running 12.20 in London. But she is looking to rebound after placing sixth last year in the Olympic Trials final.

With reigning Olympic gold medalist Brianna Rollins suspended until December for failing to properly file whereabouts information for drug testing, only silver medalist Nia Ali and bronze medalist Kristi Castlin will be competing at nationals, along with five other American women -- Sharika Nelvis, Jasmin Stowers, Christina Manning, Queen Harrison and Dawn Harper Nelson -- ranked in the top 10 in the world.

All-time prep sprint greats square off

Candace Hill of Rockdale County GA holds the World Junior record of 10.98 seconds in the 100-meter dash. Symone Mason of Miami Southridge FL is the most complete sprinter in high school history, the only prep athlete to run wind-legal marks of at least 11.24 in the 100, 23.00 in the 200 and 52.42 in the 400.

They are expected to meet Friday in the junior 100, with Mason also scheduled to compete in the junior 200 and 400. Hill is also entered in the senior 200.