On Monday, we previewed the men’s track at events for the 2023 USATF Championships. Today, we will run through the women’s events with an eye on what to watch for over the four-day meet at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

For full projections ahead of the meet, check out the FloTrack rankings, which provide a top 15 in every event. During the meet, check out FloTrack for athlete interviews and a daily recap podcast after each day of action. 

Women’s 100m: Sha’Carri Richardson and Aleia Hobbs have separated themselves from the rest of the U.S. 100m field this season. Richardson is undefeated in the 100m, running a wind-aided 10.57 and a wind-legal 10.76. Hobbs, meanwhile, ran 10.86 at the end of April and has run under 11 seconds on six different occasions. Outside of a semifinal heat at the LA Grand Prix, Hobbs also has not lost in the 100m, or the 60m, this year. 

The third spot is difficult to figure out. Morolake Akinson won the LA Grand Prix. Tamari Davis has run 10.89. Melissa Jefferson and Twanisha Terry finished 1-3 at last year’s USATF Championships. 

Women’s 200m: Depending on what happens in the 100m, this could be the most compelling race of the meet. Gabby Thomas and Abby Steiner are only running the 200m, making this their main focus in Eugene. Thomas has also run some 100s and 400s this year, but looked great her last time out in her best event, a 200m win at the Paris Diamond League. 

Steiner won at the NYC Grand Prix in impressive fashion. She’s only lost one 200m this year, a runner-up to Thomas in Paris.

If Sha’Carri Richardson doubles back from the 100m, then this becomes a very hard team to make. Richardson ran 22.07 in the beginning of May, while celebrating way before the finish line.  A Thomas-Steiner-Richardson trio will be hard to crack if all are near their best. 

Jenna Prandini performs well in high-pressure situations and has a victory from the LA Grand Prix. Also keep an eye on Tamara Clark, Latasha Smith, Tamari Davis and McKenzie Long.

Women’s 400m: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is getting more acquainted with the 400m and this will be the first time she tackles the quarter in a championship-style setting. The increased reps should help her, as she was always really good at national (and global) championships with the hurdles. 

It doesn’t look like she will need to run a personal best (49.51) to make the team, but we know from her latest video feature that she wants to run under 49 seconds. 

Britton Wilson decided to drop the 400m hurdles in favor of the open quarter and comes in with a faster personal best, 49.13, than McLaughlin-Levrone.  With every college athlete competing at these championships, fatigue is a question. 

USAs kick off tomorrow and so does the star-studded women's 4️⃣0️⃣0️⃣

What type of time will it take to win this one?

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It’s particularly important for Wilson, who pulled off several historic 400m/400m hurdle doubles throughout the outdoor season. She wasn’t able to do it at the NCAA Championships and she has been dealing with shin issues this season. With only one event on the docket, and a few weeks rest, how fast can Wilson go?  Like McLaughlin-Levrone, she won’t need to run a personal best to qualify. Wilson also showed she doesn’t like to back off in races, even when she’s got it wrapped up. 

Those two are the main storylines. If they run to form, there will be an interesting battle for the third, and final spot on the team (assuming McLaughlin-Levrone runs the 400m in Budapest). 

Women’s 800m: Athing Mu has the bye and is not scheduled to race this event. Aside from an off-race in New York, Ajee Wilson has looked the best this season outside of Mu. A last-place finish shouldn’t outweigh her years of experience in these types of races. 

Raevyn Rogers is also great in these settings, though she ran 2:00.00 for 10th place in her biggest race of the season, the Paris Diamond League. Sage Hurta-Klecker was seventh in the same race and has turned in solid races all of 2023. Allie Wilson, Olivia Baker and Nia Akins should also make the final and have the ability to run a top-three performance. Collegians Michaela Rose and Roisin Willis will be battling the long NCAA season, but both have run under two minutes in 2023.

Women’s 1500m: Forecasting a top three is hard, never mind trying to choose a winner. Nikki Hiltz is the top seed in the FloTrack rankings and is coming off running 4:18.38 for the mile at the Bislett Games in Oslo. Sinclaire Johnson, last year’s champion at this event, just ran 4:00.77 in the 1500m at the Stumptown High Performance meet in Portland. 

Elise Cranny is entered in the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m for this meet. It’s likely Cranny will make a decision on her racing schedule after the 10,000m final on Thursday. Heather Maclean hasn’t run a 1500m race since February, but did just post a 2:01.66 800m at the New York City Grand Prix. 

Cory McGee finished ahead of Hiltz in Oslo and has been a fixture on the Diamond League circuit with appearances in Doha, Rabat and Florence. 

It is a 1500m so there are plenty of others who are capable of pulling off a top-three finish including Addy Wiley, Emily Mackay and Helen Schlachtenhaufen.

Women’s 5000/10,000m: Like the men, we are grouping these together since they feature many of the same athletes. The 10,000m is more straightforward with only three women–Alicia Monson, Elise Cranny and Karissa Schweizer–holding the World Championships standard. Beyond those three, there are a couple of others who could contend for a top-three finish in Weini Kelati, Natosha Rogers and Ednah Kurgat. 

Alicia Monson also leads the way in the 5000m, where Cranny and Schweizer don’t hold the standard. Josette Norris ran 14:43.36 this year and is a safe bet for top three. Rogers, Kelati, Emily Infeld and Elly Henes have also hit the time standard, while at least four others are expected to qualify via world rankings (Katelyn Tuohy, Fiona O’Keeffe, Bethany Hasz and Katie Izzo).

With how well Monson and Norris have been running this year, this looks like a race for the one remaining qualifying spot. 

Women’s 100m Hurdles: Seven women have qualifying times under 12.50, making this one of the deeper events in the whole meet. 

Keni Harrison has run a wind-aided 12.29 and a legal 12.35 this year. Alaysha Johnson was just .01 behind Harrison when she ran that 12.29 in New York. Alia Armstrong and Masai Russell have been through the gauntlet of the NCAA season and have shown remarkable consistency. Tia Jones has run between 12.44 and 12.51 six times this season. Tonea Marshall and Nia Ali also have the ability to make some noise in the final. 

Women’s 400m Hurdles: This race has a different dynamic without Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Britton Wilson. Shamier Little, fourth at the World Championships last year, has run two good 400m hurdle races on the Diamond League circuit, a runner-up to Femke Bol in Florence (53.38) and a victory in Rabat. 

The next fastest 2023 entrant for this meet is Cassandra Tate, who ran 54.68 in the Bahamas. 

But there’s also a group of very experienced hurdlers in this event, including Dalilah Muhammad, Ashley Spencer and Anna Cockrell. 

Muhammad was the bronze medalist last year and while she’s only run 55.72 this season, nobody is going to count out the former world record holder and Olympic/world champion.

Women’s Steeplechase: Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs have been a consistent force in this event. Coburn made her first US team in 2011, and Frerichs in 2016. The duo went 1-2 at the 2017 World Championships. But this season has been an uphill climb for both. Frerichs has only finished one race, a 1500m at the beginning of May and hasn’t competed in a steeplechase since last September. Coburn has completed two steeples in the Diamond League and has placed 10th and 12th. 

Coburn is certainly still in a good position to qualify for the World Championships and her wealth of experience will certainly help her navigate both rounds at USAs. Courtney Wayment has the fastest time by an American this year, 9:11.41 from the Florence Diamond League where she finished more than six seconds ahead Coburn. Wayment finished second at USAs last year and 12th at Worlds. 

Madie Boreman, Krissy Gear and Olivia Markezich are the next three seeds based on time. Boreman won the USATF LA Grand Prix meet, Gear took the Track Festival at Mt. SAC, while Markezich won the NCAA title while competing for Notre Dame.