Schneider, Avila Kick to Victory at the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships Presented by Toyota

USATF Release

DES MOINES, Iowa – Some of America’s finest distance runners took to the roads Wednesday evening in Des Moines, as Rachel Schneider and Eric Avila came away victorious at the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships presented by Toyota, hosted by the Grand Blue Mile.

On a brisk evening of racing in Des Moines, Anna Shields took the women’s race out , pushing the pace early, passing through the first 400 meters in 64 seconds, a second ahead of Schneider, who led the tightly grouped chase pack. 

Coming through the half way mark of 800 meters, Shields continued to lead, but Schneider, Shannon Osika and Sara Sutherland trailed just behind. Trailing another second back was the rest of the field, showing the back half of the race was poised for a big-time finish.

As the women entered the stadium, with the final 600 meters being run on the blue oval at Drake University, Schneider overtook Shields and led the leaders around the first 200 meters. 

As the bell rang for the final 400 meters, Schneider and Osika started to pull away, with Sutherland, 2017 World Championship qualifier Sara Vaughn and four-time USATF 1 Mile Road champion Heather Kampf leading the chase.

With 200 meters to go, Schneider started to push the pace with Osika being the only athlete who could handle the move. As the duo put space on the rest of the field, Osika tried to hang with Schneider, but it was the Under Armour athlete who put in one final surge to cross the line victoriously in 4:30.3.

The Ann Arbor-based Osika built her lead over third place in the final 100 meters of the race, crossing second in 4:31.3 and breaking her fourth-place finish streak from 2017-19.

Kampf continued to show why she’s arguably the savviest road miler in American history, using a furious kick over the final 50 meters to grab third place, giving her an astonishing eight top-three finishes at the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships.

Sutherland wasn’t able to hold off Kampf, but she was able to hold off Vaughn, as the two finished fourth and fifth respectively in 4:33.8 to 4:34.1.

Trail running standout Grayson Murphy picked up some additional points in the USATF Running Circuit by finishing sixth overall in an impressive 4:35.1. She edged Sammy George, who took home seventh in 4:35.3. Shields held on over the final 400 meters to place eighth overall in 4:37.9. Allie Wilson and Alexa Efraimson placed ninth and 10th in 4:38.5 and 4:42.3.

While Shields took the women’s race out quickly, Jeff Thies took it to a whole different level in the men’s race. 

As the gun sounded, Thies charged to the front, quickly surging ahead of the field and building a 2.5 second lead by 400 meters. With a chase pack filled with veteran runners keeping an eye on the Tinman Elite standout, Thies continued to push the pace.

Thies hit the half way mark crossing 800 meters in 1:55, an astonishing five seconds up on the pack. Avila, 2019 USATF 1500m champion Craig Engels, 2016 Olympic 800 bronze medalist Clayton Murphy, and two-time top three USATF 1 Mile Road Championship finisher Pat Casey sat atop of the chase group.

As the runners entered the stadium with 600 meters to go, it seemed as though Thies might just hold on. Thies entered the final 400 meters of the race in first, 2.5 seconds up on the rest, but the gap started to close. 

Thies tried valiantly to hold on, but with 200 meters to go, the field swallowed him up, and it was a race to the finish between Avila and Engels. 

The duo challenged each other with a number of surges, but it was Avila who held on to claim victory, putting in one last push to cross the line, arms raised in 3:59.0.

Engels held off Murphy for second in 3:59.2, while Murphy showed signs of improved fitness by finishing third in 3:59.5.

Abe Alvarado used a big push over the final 300 meters to finish fourth overall in 4:00.4, holding off a late charge from Daniel Herrera, who earned another top five finish with his fifth-place effort of 4:00.5.

Colin Albert grabbed sixth place in 4:00.7, while Brett Meyer edged USATF 15 km champion Clayton Young for seventh in 4:01.1, with Young placing eighth in 4:02.8. Casey hung on for ninth overall in 4:03.2, while Thies crossed 10th in 4:06.7.

Watch both races on demand on USATF.TV with a +PLUS subscription. 

The next stop on the USATF Running Circuit takes place on September 6, as the USATF 20 km Championships heads to New Haven, Connecticut. 

About the USATF Running Circuit

The USATF Running Circuit is a USATF road series featuring USATF championships from one mile through the marathon and consistently attracts the best American distance runners with more than $500,000 to be awarded in total prize money. A total of $15,000 in prize money will be awarded at the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships.

The first 10 U.S. runners earn points at each USATF Running Circuit race. For the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships, scoring is set as 15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1, with those earning the most points receiving prize money at the end of the series.

The mission of the USATF Running Circuit is to showcase, support and promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USATF Running Circuit and its races have provided over $7 million to U.S. distance runners.

Contributed by Scott Bush