Below is the men's distance preview for the 2019 USATF Outdoor Championships.

Check out the other previews here: Women's Distance, Men's Sprints, Women's Sprints

Men’s 800m

Favorite: Donavan Brazier

Challengers: Clayton Murphy, Bryce Hoppel, Brannon Kidder, Erik Sowinski

Breakdown: Any disruption of a top three, in some order, of Donavan Brazier, Clayton Murphy and Bryce Hoppel would be a big upset in the men’s 800m. Murphy and Brazier are the last two U.S. champions and the Oregon Project teammates have been rock solid in 2019: Brazier beat Nijel Amos in Rome in June and owns a 1:43.63 season’s best. The 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, Murphy has raced a mixture of 800s and 1500s/miles so far, compiling bests of 1:44.4/3:52.

Even so, Hoppel is the most intriguing man in the field. The 21-year-old Kansas senior-to-be has not lost an 800m in 2019 and he sports a 20 race win streak entering Des Moines. The double 2019 NCAA champion has run 1:44 in back-to-back races, most recently his victory at the Sunset Tour on July 9 where he beat Craig Engels, Brannon Kidder and Erik Sowinski. Hoppel is inexperienced at this level, but he’s running so red hot right now that a top three spots seems well on its way. Beating Brazier and Murphy will be tough, but his incredible run suggests we haven’t yet seen the best of Bryce Hoppel.

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Beyond the top trio, Brannon Kidder, Erik Sowinski and Isaiah Harris are the other names to watch. Kidder just ran his 1:45 PB three weeks ago, while Sowinski is a proven entity-- he’s finished top five at USAs for five years running. Then there’s the 22-year-old Harris, who made the World Championship team in 2017 and has run 1:44.42. If entirely healthy, the former NCAA champ would be a good pick to make another team, but his fitness has been slow coming in his return from injury. A top three finish would be a surprise for Harris, who, like Sowinski does not have the 1:45.80 standard.

Complicating Factors: Although most assume he will pick the 800m, Clayton Murphy has not officially declared if he will run the 8 or the 1500m in Des Moines. If you remember, Murphy tried to do both two years ago but the plan backfired as he missed the team in both events.

Men’s 1500m

Favorite: Matthew Centrowitz

Challengers: Craig Engels, Ben Blankenship, Johnny Gregorek, Henry Wynne, Izaic Yorks, Sam Prakel

Breakdown: Aside from a loss to Robby Andrews in 2017, Matthew Centrowitz has won every 1500m U.S. title in which he has competed since 2013. This weekend he'll go for his sixth such crown. The Olympic champion has raced sparingly in 2019, but he’s been satisfactorily solid-- a 3:52 mile at Pre and a 1:46 800m on July 9-- to where he’s the clear favorite in Des Moines. This won’t be a cakewalk, however. 

Centro’s former training partner at NOP, Craig Engels, is running better than ever this outdoor season and has beaten Centrowitz in back-to-back races. The 25-year-old set 1:44/3:51 PBs in the span of 10 days and looks like a lock for his first outdoor World Championship team.

2016 Olympic finalist Ben Blankenship has the strongest case for the third and final spot-- he’s highly experienced and he won a competitive Sunset Tour 1500m on July 9. The 30-year-old also finished just a spot behind Centro at Pre. But plenty of other men have credentials worthy of the final ticket to Doha, too. Johnny Gregorek was the lone American to make the Worlds final in 2017 and in March, he became just the second American ever to break 3:50 in the indoor mile. But Gregorek has had a couple meh U.S. Championships performances in his last two outings, so he’s less of a sure thing than his mile PB would indicate.

Complicating Factors: Brooks Beast Henry Wynne is the sleeper to watch. He’s been sneaky good this outdoor season— with 1:47/3:35 PBs this summer-- and he beat Gregorek to place second in the U.S. indoor mile back in February.

Men’s 5,000m

Favorite: Paul Chelimo

Challengers: Ben True, Hassan Mead, Kirubel Erassa, Drew Hunter, Lopez Lomong

Breakdown: Two-time defending U.S. champion Paul Chelimo has owned the 5,000m in the U.S. ever since he took silver at the 2016 Olympic Games, and that’s not changing anytime soon as the 28-year-old can finish better than anyone in the country— and it’s not particularly close. Chelimo’s best performance so far this season, his runner-up finish in the Pre two-mile, exemplified why he’s so tough to beat domestically: there, he closed in 56.12 and ran his final 1600m in under four minutes.

Ben True and Hassan Mead, two veterans with global championship experience, have the inside lane to grab the final two spots. The 33-year-old True has had several bitter U.S. finishes throughout his career-- including two fourth place showings and a fifth in 2016. His last made team was in 2015, but a strong season so far points to him cracking the top three.

Like True, Mead has the standard and the 27-year-old should feel confident having made three teams in a row entering Des Moines. He’s also not running the 10k this year, an advantage he’ll have over another contender, 34-year-old Lopez Lomong. Lomong beat Mead when they matched up on July 9, but he has two significant roadblocks impeding him from the 5k team: he does not have the standard and he’s in the 10k on Thursday night.

Beyond those men, Kirubel Erassa and Drew Hunter are the other guys with the 2019 standard that could factor into the podium fight. Erassa is a fast closer, while Hunter is a converted miler who will run his first U.S. 5k this weekend.

Complicating Factors: If Paul Chelimo hammers up front like he did two years ago in Sacramento, he could drag several under the 13:22.50 standard. As it stands now, only eight guys have it, but certainly it’s not out of the question that the race could turn fast with Chelimo at the helm. 

Men’s 10,000m

Favorite: Lopez Lomong

Challengers: Shadrack Kipchirchir, Leonard Korir, Kirubel Erassa

Breakdown: The men’s 10,000m is straightforward: only four men have the standard, meaning that, barring the highly unlikely scenario that someone else runs sub-27:40 on Thursday, the team to Doha will be made up of three of Lopez Lomong, Shadrack Kipchirchir, Leonard Korir and Kirubel Erassa.

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Lomong is the defending champion and he still has the wheels for which he was known for in his 20s. But he’s inexperienced in the 10k relative to Olympians Korir and Kipchirchir, and Lomong hasn’t made a team in six years. The pressure is on him Thursday night.

The wildcard is Erassa, who ran 27:32 and beat Korir just over a month ago. The 26-year-old has improved dramatically since joining Korir and Kipchirchir’s training group in Colorado Springs in the last year, and he’s a threat to qualify in both the 5k and 10k. But Erassa has never been in this position before: his best finish at U.S. Outdoors is his 13th place showing two years ago in the 5,000m.

Complicating Factors: This isn’t complicated, guys.

Men’s 3,000m Steeplechase

Favorite: Hillary Bor

Challengers: Stanley Kebenei, Andy Bayer, Jordan Mann, Mason Ferlic, Obsa Ali, Travis Mahoney

Breakdown: With Evan Jager out with an injury, the next man up in the steeplechase is Hillary Bor, who has run 8:12 or faster on three occasions this season. All three of his steeples this season are faster than the next best time in the country, Stanley Kebenei’s 8:15.94.

Kebenei is a major threat to his teammate Bor, if he’s on form. That’s a big “if,” however, as the 29-year-old has not broken 8:15 in over two years. Still, Kebenei was fifth at Worlds in 2017 and should at the very least make the team in this watered-down event.

With Jager out, the time is nigh for Andy Bayer to finally make his first team after brutally finishing fourth in three consecutive championships from 2015-2017. Bayer has run sub-8:20 twice this season.

Complicating Factors: Jordan Mann was the revelation in the men’s steeplechase in 2018 when the former Brown/Providence athlete came out of nowhere to place fifth at USAs. His 8:26 PB is still well off from the three in front of him, but if one of Bor, Kebenei or Bayer slips up, Mann could be the Cinderella Story there to take their place.