In a war of attrition on a hot morning at Hayward Field, Molly Huddle won her second straight U.S. 10K title and qualified for her second straight Olympics. Huddle led nearly every single lap of the race. The heat and tempo shed an athlete or two at a time from the pack until Huddle, Emily Infeld, and Marielle Hall were the last ones standing with just over a mile to go.

Huddle won in 31:41, Infeld was second in 31:46, and Hall was third in 31:54.

Three lovely ladies heading to Rio for USA!! #TrackTown16 pic.twitter.com/RBY1vsclna

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) July 2, 2016

Those three are headed to Rio. Infeld infamously won a world championship bronze medal in the 10K last year by outleaning Huddle at the line. And Hall made the U.S. team in the 5K last year. This is the fourth USATF outdoor title for Huddle, who won the 10K last year and the 5K in 2011 and 2014.

Huddle was grinding 75- to 77-second laps from the gun, and led a pack that included Jordan Hasay, Kim Conley, Aliphine Tuliamuk, Tara Welling, Laura Thweatt, Kellyn Taylor, Infeld, and Hall.

Tuliamuk grabbed water in the shade on the backstretch nearly every lap. The first major casualty was Kim Conley, who seemed to have an issue with her shoe 12 minutes into the race. Conley gamely worked back up, but was never able to resume contact with the pack.

In the second half of the race, Huddle tried to make others lead by swinging wide near the water stop. Eventually, 2:28 marathoner Laura Thweatt took over, but it was short-lived. She, Hasay, and Conley petered out in the fourth mile of the race.

With only a 10-minute grind remaining, it was down to Huddle, Hall, Tuliamuk, Taylor, and Infeld.

Tiliamuk was running untrammeled, all elbows, and jostling with the similarly sloppy Infeld at the back of the lead back.

Right before 8K, Taylor fell off; right after, Tiliamuk did. The Olympic team was set. Huddle dropped the hammer on the bell lap and the order was set: Huddle, Infeld, Hall. Northern Arizona Elite’s Kellyn Taylor finished fourth in 32:11, which gave her team two fourth-place finishers after Scott Fauble’s fourth in last night’s 10K.

More to come.