The start lists for the upcoming U.S. Championships are starting to become more clear.

Treniere Moser of the Nike Oregon Project announced that she will be running the 1,500m at the U.S. Championships in Des Moines, IA in one week.

Moser's decision comes  two days after fellow miler, Brenda Martinez of Team New Balance, announced that she'll run the 800m at U.S. Champs. 

After speaking it over with my coaches.Decided to compete in the 800 meters @usatrack_field nationals! #sub1:58 @nbrunning @iconmanagement

— Brenda Martinez (@bmartrun) June 10, 2013

Could Martinez' decision have had any influence on Moser? Since Jenny Simpson won the IAAF World Championships in the 1,500m two years ago in Daegu, she's automatically granted entry in that event for the upcoming championship in Moscow.



That means the United States can qualify four (as opposed to the usual three) women in the 1,500m for Worlds.  If Simpson decides to join Moser in the metric mile at U.S. Champs and makes the final, then one less woman will have a chance to make the World team.

Why the call for concern for just one person? Well, we've seen a few instances where someone who just barely qualified for a final went on to place top three in the championship round.

For example, at NCAAs last week, Oklahoma's Pat Casey got 7^th in his 1500m semi-final heat, making him the last qualifier by time for the 1500m final.  He got third in the final. Then there's Texas' Craig Lutz, who placed ninth in the 10k at the NCAA West Regional and then went on to place third in Eugene, OR. As long as you get out of the semi-final, you're on a level playing field as much as the person who won the same race.

Anything can happen in the final.

Will Simpson run the 1500m as a brush up for Worlds and take a shot at being crowned U.S. Champ?  Or will she not race the 1,500m at USAs, thus allowing another woman to make the finals and then potentially qualify for Worlds?