USATF Championships Highlights 2026 | Day 4 Recap Show presented by HOKA and Fleet Feet
Cooper Lutkenhaus, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Cordell Tinch, and a slew of stars showed out during Day 4 of the 2026 USATF Championships. FloTrack's Devontae Ford and Nia Gibson recapped all of the action
Video Transcript
What's up everyone?
Welcome to FloTrack's official recap show of USA Outdoor National Championships.
Devante, we just concluded the fourth and final day.
Wow.
Yeah, it was been exci- exciting meet overall.
It went by really fast.
It did I'm not gonna lie.
Day one I was like, "Yo, we got a lot of days ahead of us" but now that we're done it feels like we just really started yesterday, honestly.
It was like an ongoing adrenaline rush as it's just everything was straight final, straight final, straight final, crazy fast times dropping, and I think that's the perfect place to start the women's 200, Melissa Jefferson Wooden.
Yes.
21.69, very close to her personal best.
Very close, and it's crazy because this is at a quote unquote "off year"- Mm-hmm but as we've seen this year, it's not the slow year.
You know, everyone's running fast.
She's been performing amazing.
It's nice to see her keep that momentum from last year, and I think this is very important for her because now she gets to keep rolling over.
There isn't a day or there isn't a gap where she doesn't perform elite for a whole year like last year, and then sit out this whole year, so she's still running fast, she's still in shape, she's still performing well.
Yep.
And it's just an amazing race to watch and just from start to finish, so composed, so dominant, so, and this is gonna be something I don't say a lot, but so symmetrical.
And that's so important in sprinting.
She looks so nice and just relaxed and just good to watch her be out here and be in shape.
Melissa and Coach Mitchell have something cooking right now, and I'm so excited to see by the time she's gonna be in peak, peak form for World Ultimates because it was an intentional choice to just focus solely on the 200.
For Melissa's entire career we've known her to be mainly a 100 meter runner.
She started taking the 200 seriously last year.
We've seen what that has not only done for her, one, but showed us what she can do in the 200.
She got out like a bat out of hell.
Man.
Her first 100 of that 200 she clocked 10.96.
That's insanely fast, especially on a curve.
On the curve.
It's, I would say, as an athlete as well, it's probably better to focus on your longer event- Mm-hmm because you can always go back.
You'll still stay in shape.
You'll be doing 200, but the alternative is running the 100 and, you know, getting out of shape for the 200, which is a much harder event to stay in shape for, so I think the decision was probably somewhere along those lines because of that reason.
And yeah, I mean 10.9 on the curve, I'm scared of her next season still.
I'm scared of her, and we have something great cooking with her, but also in, say, staying on the 200, Garrett Keelen- Man stunned the audience as he came out and he won.
The only collegiate winner of nationals.
Mind you, this was, like, his second or third race of the season?
Yes, yes.
Isn't it crazy to think that his time from indoor would've won as well?
His indoor 200 time, he didn't run the NCAA outdoor season seriously, was very injured, dealt with an injury all season long.
To see him just out here in shape, performing well, still showing his fitness off, it's really exceptional.
20.10.
Yeah.
All right?
He ran sub-20 indoor though, and it's like, it's, it's fast time but we know that he has so much more in the tank, and I cannot wait to see his transition into his pro career.
I wanna be the first one to apologize to Garrett for sleeping on him, because it was essentially the Noah Show who ended up pulling up before the race concluded, so we hope everything's okay on that front.
But Garrett came out, and why are we surprised?
Because, yes, he ran a really fast time indoor season, second-fastest time all time, fastest American ever indoor.
Why I, I feel disrespectful to be surprised- Yeah at his performance today.
Well, I wouldn't be, I wouldn't feel too disrespectful, 'cause honestly, he was shocked, okay?
We talked about beforehand, we told him, "Go out there and win, you know?
Do your thing, man.
It's never, it's never too late to go out there and win.
The gun hasn't went off yet."
And he was like, "Nah, man, I'm not gonna beat Noah" and I'm like, "Okay, cool, you never know what you're gonna do" and then to go out there and do it, he shocked himself honestly.
And it's really also even more beautiful watch the storyline.
You know, Max Thomas and Garrett were both teammates at USC actually, and so now they're sharing the track at the USA Nationals in the final, both performing well, two bros out there running and having fun, and Max Thomas actually placed third place today, so kudos to him as well.
Yeah, says a lot about what they got cooking in California, but let's shift over to the 4 hurdles.
We talked about this a little yesterday.
Yes.
Chris Robinson pulled out the win and the season's best.
I was, I keep saying this, day in, day out, all right?
This year's very important for the rookies, the athletes who are just really getting their career started.
This meet here will be the baseline for a lot of athletes.
The next generation of titans will come from this meet here today, actually, and Chris Robinson is no exception, all right?
He came out here.
He just got signed this year to Adidas.
He's dr- down there in Florida training- Yep with Kayla Deena and Alison Dos Santos.
And so for him to come out here and win that title after struggling, dealing with so much adversity, he really thugged it out and I'm really proud of him, amazing job from him, and it just shows what perseverance can do because you don't have to be signed initially out of college.
And I think that this new age of track and field is so really nice because the big stars aren't always the athletes that were signed straight out of college.
Correct.
We're seeing so many more athletes unsigned in the final, you know?
So many athletes that weren't signed before that are now signed and performing well as well.
Mm-hmm, 100%, and you mentioned he trains with Kayla Deena, Alison Dos Santos, but I think something that's really important to note, that he also trains with Kayla McCray, who he's been training with for the last four or five years.
And with that being said, he made it- Might be six yeah, you know what?
You might be right.
Six.
Yeah, it might be six years.
But on that front, he made it a point to talk about his versatility.
He says, like, looks, he's gunning for that world record in the 4 hurdles and he has his own goals for the 400.
He thinks he's fast, he thinks he's compet- Wow well, not even thinks, he is fast.
He is fast.
He is competitive, and we've seen what he can do.
He had a very long indoor season and we've seen him over 400 meters placing fourth at World Indoors.
There's a lot in the tank, and the talent is there, and I'm really ready to see what he's gonna do, especially because competing the way he did today and winning nationals, that world ranking's going up.
Oh, yeah.
Coming in he was number 17, right outside that bubble, so I can just see it.
He's gonna crack that top 16, and I think by the end of the season he can crack that top 10.
And now he's one step closer to breaking the world record.
One step closer, one step closer.
Also, shout out to James Smith, another unsigned shoe deal athlete.
Second place in the 400 hurdles, actually.
Yeah.
So I stand on that.
You can never count anyone out.
Never count anyone out.
You can never count anyone out.
The women's 400 hurdles, Anna Cockrell.
Anna Cockrell's re- Oof.
Yeah.
We know- Jinx we both on the same page.
Jinx.
But- From, from start to finish, you know?
It's just exceptional race.
And it's crazy because I It's nice watching her race evolve.
A few years ago, you know, she tended to get out really, really hard, really, really fast.
Could not maintain it as well as the rest of the field.
So a lot of times you seen her get out, lead to around 300 meters, and then people kinda start closing in on her.
Well, obviously that has been fixed, that has been changed.
Up there in Arkansas, they have been working on something special, working out hard, because that is a hard thing to fix, and they managed to do it.
And now she's a national champion.
Absolutely.
She pulled out a season's best, sub 53, and when we were talking to her after, she was saying the way, to your point, her race has evolved.
Because once upon a time when she'd just run 53 mid, she'd be over the moon excited.
Yes.
So her and Boogie clearly have something cooking, and she even said she's not even sharp right now.
Wow.
She's not even sharp right now.
They, she says she feel like she just started sprinting.
So what is in the What's left in the tank?
And I think the answer is a lot.
Oh, yeah.
Well, I think for some athletes, World Ultimates is a bigger stake than winning the national title here today.
And so I think we'll see even better performances in just a couple weeks whenever they fully de-load off.
But gave us, she gave us a show today that's honestly all we care about.
We love entertainment.
That's what we're That's what it's all about, honestly.
Oh, yeah.
Sports is all about entertainment.
It is.
And we were entertained.
Great race.
She took down Dalilah Muhammad, actually, who actually, unfortunately, hit up on a hurdle toward the end of the race.
And know that's her training partner, so I'm sure they'll talk that out.
That'll be nice.
And co- what's the word?
I'm so sorry.
Console each other.
Yeah, for sure.
And I mean, Dalilah was well aware of the race she ran.
She clipped the sixth hurdle pretty badly and ended up actually getting disqualified.
So I think they're just gonna go back to the drawing board and see what they can do there.
Dalilah.
But obviously we know Dalilah has a lot more left in the tank.
She's amazing.
To, to, to retire and then unretire and perform as well as she's doing this year, kudos to her, man.
Kudos to her.
100%.
Devonte, I think we should shift focus to the 800.
Let's go to the 8 The 800s were exceptional.
They just- Hello.
Listen, I'm so tired of seeing Cooper already.
He's scaring me, all right?
You know how insane he is.
We're in the same hotel, right?
Mm-hmm.
So this morning I'm grabbing breakfast and I hear him talking about, a science class.
He's like I think it was health or something.
He's like, "It doesn't count as a science class."
I'm like, man, this kid's really talking about a high school schedule right now.
He's probably gonna go out there and win.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah, which he did.
And, and the fact that it was just so effortless and this is a great way to close out his season.
You know, greedy me wishes he can go to World Ultimates, but it's fine.
I get it.
School does come first.
School does come first.
School comes first.
But what a way to close out your season with a national title.
He's just Man, the way he looked during that whole race.
Every move looked so- Effortless yeah, so effortless and so calculated.
Like, "Hey, I'm gonna do this.
I'm gonna go here."
We seen him get out and around 200 meters in he made that move to get into that third place spot, and it just looked so calculated.
"Hey, all right, now do this.
I make my move here."
And every- you can see every single thing he does on the track every time he speeds up, every time he wants to get behind someone.
Even coming down about 350 in, you know, you see the move with trying to make sure he maintains his space away from the two front leaders.
And kid's just exceptional.
Absolutely.
And you say it looks calculated.
It is calculated.
We've watched Cooper run from indoor season, and we see how he is.
If he comes through the first 400 in a certain time, it will dictate the way the rest of his race goes.
And so said, so done.
He knows how to run.
His IQ is very high for his age, and he knows how to win.
And he also knows how to bounce back, right?
Yes.
'Cause he also did suffer his first professional 800 loss not too long ago, and it didn't phase him.
First and only.
It feels like he just learned from it.
First and only.
First and only.
And, and you know, it's crazy because he has to calculate it so fast.
You know, they came through the 200 around 52, and it's like just right there in that split second moment, "All right.
I know what is gonna come.
I know how I'm gonna handle the rest of the race."
And it's also ironic, too.
We're talking about 800s, how the youngest, one of the youngest in the field won.
The youngest in the field, actually- Youngest won the 800 on the men's side, and then a vet won the women's 800.
Is Wow, that 28 is a vet.
But as we talk about young, the average age of - That's what I'm saying.
She's the vet in the field the women's eight was around 22 years old.
Yes.
But yes, Nia Akins did pull out the win, and she is a national champion.
Her story is so interesting.
She talked about this season being extremely different for her.
She says this is the most sedentary she's ever been at the beginning of the season.
She did get into a car accident- Wow and it did derail her training a bit.
So she had no expectations coming in here.
Yes.
She didn't know what she can do.
She didn't know where her strength was.
She wasn't even expecting a win.
So she was extremely emotional afterwards, and I think surprised at herself.
But I always say when a athlete shocks themself in that way, figures out what they're made of, figures out what they're capable of, it's scary moving forward.
But what's also You gotta think about it is, right, whenever that pressure is removed, whenever you come to a meet and you don't burden yourself with the pressure of, "Hey, I have to win.
I have to run this time.
I have to do this good", a lot of times that's when we tend to see athletes perform better because now you're a lot more relaxed.
Now you're just going out there to execute your race.
Your, your mind is a lot clearer.
You're not distracted by the thoughts and the, the passion of wanting to win.
It's just like, "Hey, I'm gonna go out here, do what I need to do, handle my business.
The results are the result."
Absolutely.
And obviously that, that's what works.
That's who gets the title.
That's a Nia thing.
So said, so done.
It's a Nia thing.
Right.
But I think before we finish off on the 800, we gotta talk about Paycheck for a little bit, right?
Man.
She has U20s coming up, and I think this is the perfect race to sharpen her.
I'm sure it's not the result that she wanted, but this type of experience, this level of experience, is not normal.
Yeah.
Not at her age.
You don't get to just jump in at USA Nationals in the final and, you know, compete here and have this type of experience as you go into U20s.
Yeah, she really needs to hold her head up high because to be that young in the field looking that well, it's not normal at all, like you mentioned before.
And I think U20s is gonna be really- Interesting eye-opening for her because athletes like that tend to hold their self to such a high standard.
Whenever they do not as good as they want in meets like this, you know, 'cause I'm sure she came out there with the intention of winning.
Correct.
Which it's very well, it very was possible for her.
Mm-hmm.
She, she's capable of running 159 too.
Absolutely.
And so for an athlete like that, you hold yourself to such a high standard, right?
And you're running with these high level athletes.
Whenever you get back to the U20 stage, whenever none of These athletes aren't like you.
They're, they're not these pros that you've been racing.
You dabbled on the pro circuit- And I think it- before you got to college.
Exactly, and I think it'll be fresh reminder at U20s of, "Oh, wait.
I am that girl.
I am elite.
I'm amazing" And- The confidence boost she'll get going into that meet could possibly give her the edge she needs to win that record.
Speaking, speaking of breaking records, actually I seen a few records broken, actually.
Personal, personal best, season best, Kordel Tench and Bradley Franklin in the 110 hurdles today, actually 13.00- Right for both of them actually.
A lot of people thought Kordel was gonna lose.
I, I honestly thought Kordel was gonna lose.
I'll, I'll say that on here.
Listen- Who did you have winning?
I'm, I'm not afraid to speak my thoughts and even if it's against what people say or what they think, I thought Kordel Tench was going to lose the 110 hurdles today.
I thought Kendrick Smallwood, or after Bradley Franklin's prelim, I didn't think anyone was gonna take him down.
I think it was, it's hard to gauge, right?
Because it's so easy to get caught up in the moment.
Yes.
But Kordel has been slowly but surely progressing.
He is the world champ, but- He is the world champ he was distracted.
You know, hurdles, like we I, I don't know if that was us that ta- we talked about on the show the other day.
100%.
Hurdles is about rhythm, all right?
Mm-hmm.
You get consistent, you do the same thing.
It's repetition as well.
Rhythm and repetition.
Whenever you start doing something that's outside of hurdles, it can be very beneficial or very detrimental.
So whenever you're running flat 100s, 200, that can be very beneficial because now your body's moving without the limitations of the hurdles.
But whenever you go to something like long jump that requires the same pacing, like not same pace, but it requires rhythm as well, but entirely different rhythm than hurdles, that could be very detrimental.
So I did not know if he'd be able to handle doing so much long jump work this year, but competing in the long jump and then winning the hurdle title.
So I'm glad that I was wrong.
Okay?
I'm man enough to say I was wrong.
All right?
My takes aren't always right.
They are like 99% of the time, but today I was wrong.
It felt like a finally moment for him.
He said it feels like the pieces were finally coming together from- Yes what he had been seeing in training.
So now they're progressing and trending in the right direction.
13 flat season's best for Kordel Tench, and I'm pretty sure his next meet in Poland, I think that's, he said where he's, competing next, we could see a sub-13.
How spoiled are we with so many 13.0 and sub-13 athletes?
Kendrick Smallwood, Bradley Franklin, Kordel Tench, Jacoby Thorpe, Jamal Britt, Trey Cunningham, just a whole list of USA hurdlers that all are so fast.
100%.
And before we get off the 110s, Freddie Crittenden did run his final professional race.
His career is over, but what an illustrious one it was.
Very.
So congratulations and happy retirement, Freddie, from all of us here at FloTrack.
From all of us.
Man, what a meet it was though.
What a meet it was.
Thank God I wasn't out there.
Oh my God.
But yes, you like my city?
It's not, I'm not gonna lie, it's a little funky out here.
He lying.
He love it here.
It, it's been funky.
I've been- He loves it here.
He loves it here I've been smelling doo doo and pee pee the whole time I've been out here.
He loves it here.
It's fine.
But yes, no, first time since 1991 that the National Championships was in New York, so I'm very happy it was here.
Very happy that you're here with me to recap this show.
Of course.
And once again, my name is Nia.
This is Devonte, and this was FloTrack's official USA National Outdoor Championship show presented by Hoka and Fleet Feet.
We'll see you guys next time.
All right.
So, where can I watch the meet again?
I'm so glad you asked.
Thank you.
If you wanna watch the full replay and highlights, you can catch it on NBC and Peacock.
