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Josh McAdams was NCAA champion in 2006, but he didn't expect to make the transition to USA champion quite as quickly. On a drizzly Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis, McAdams challenged and then ran away from American record holder Daniel Lincoln to win the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championship in 8:24.46, winning his first senior national title and punching his ticket for the World Championships in Osaka.
Lincoln opened a gap on the field with a lap and a half remaining in the race, and McAdams was the only one to cover it. McAdams challenged once on the curve just after the bell, then again on the backstretch, and the second time he opened a lead on Lincoln. Lincoln, the three-time defending champion, faded to fifth (8:28.32) in the homestretch, and recent Arizona State grad Aaron Aguayo stormed by to take second in 8:27.01, with Thomas Brooks of the Oregon Track Club third in 8:27.34; Anthony Famiglietti was fourth in 8:27.64.
"The last 200 was all guts," said Aguayo. "Coming in, I thought anything in the top seven would be good. I was in fifth coming over the final barrier, and I just ran right through the tape."
Aguayo and Brooks only have the "B" qualifying standard, so Famiglietti, the current alternate, will take Brooks' place if neither can run under 8:24.60 before August 1st.
McAdams admits disregarding his coach's advice: "Coach Eyestone said if the pace was slower than 70 or 71 [per lap] to go ahead and take it, but we were a lot slower and I sat back. If we'd had to close in 2:00 [for the last two laps] I would've been ready."
Posted by Parker Morse at 1:22 p.m. | Tags: Race Reports, 2007 USA Outdoor T&F Champs