EUGENE – Hobbs Kessler opened some eyes Friday at the U.S. Olympic Trials with a super-charged 800 meters at Hayward Field.

Kessler won his semifinal qualifying heat in 1 minute, 43.71 seconds. Not only was it the day’s fastest time and a personal record, it marked the first time Kessler had dipped under 1:45. And this after he already had run three races in the 1,500 earlier in the meet, concluding with a third-place finish on Monday.

“I’m relieved,” Kessler said. “I was feeling really tired going into that. I’m relieved to make it through. I wasn’t sure how that was going to go. It was hard. The whole second lap was really hard.”

Perhaps because he toured the final 400 in 52.41. He was second off the turn, then overhauled Brandon Miller on the home straight. Miller finished second in 1:43.73.

“I just wanted to run Brandon down,” Kessler said. “We’ve really been working on going through the gears in that last 150. That was a great opportunity to do it.”

Reigning U.S. champion Bryce Hoppel remains the man to beat on Sunday. Hoppel won Friday’s third heat in 1:44.01. He said he left plenty in the tank.

If it takes a time of 1:42 to win the final, Hoppel said in the mixed zone, he is prepared to do it.

Two-time reigning Olympic Trials champion Clayton Murphy should be a factor in Sunday’s final too. Murphy was near the back of the pack in the first heat with 200 to go, then hit the accelerator round the curve and down the home straight.

Josh Hoey won the heat in 1:45.73. Murphy crossed in 1:45.76

“I was probably three spots further back than I wanted to be,” Murphy said. “I made all the moves I needed to, and I had it over the last 200. I just kind of ran with Josh, ran through the line with him.”

Only the top two finishers in each heat advanced automatically, so Murphy had some motivation to kick to the finish line.

“There is no running to get through,” Murphy said. “It’s run to win the heat.”

The usual suspects advanced to the final of the women’s 1,500 in two fast semifinal heats.

Reigning U.S. champion Nikki Hiltz won the first heat in 4:01.40, just in front of 2022 U.S. champ Sinclaire Johnson of the Portland-based Union Athletics Club, second in 4:01.68.

Emily Mackay, silver medalist in the 2024 U.S. Indoor Championships, won the second heat in 4:02.46. Two-time Olympian Elise Cranny crossed second in 4:02.56.

Among the others getting through were reigning Olympic Trials champion Elle St. Pierre and Christina Aragon of the Eugene-based Bowerman Track Club.

“I just knew how deep the field was,” Hiltz said. “If you go into it like, ‘OK, I’m trying to win this race,’ I think worst case scenario is you get third.”

It’s the way Johnson, the 2022 U.S. champion approached, it too. Johnson swung wide on the home straight and pushed hard to guarantee she qualified.

“The rounds are nerve-wracking,” she said. “I’m glad we’re onto the final.”

There was a lot of firepower in Hiltz and Sinclaire’s heat. It almost looked like a final.

“I was treating it like that,” Johnson said. “Top five is what mattered today, but I was really trying to get top three to make the final. ... We have a day off. We get a day of rest. I might as well bring it home, work on finding extra gears and open up my stride a little bit.”

St. Pierre and Cranny are coming off a 1-2 finish in the 5,000 in this year’s trials, but neither looked the worse for wear while running their second 1,500 heat in as many days.

St. Pierre didn’t do any more than necessary, nabbing the fifth – and final – automatic qualifying spot in the first heat.

“It was pretty chill,” she said. “I counted one, two, three, four, five and rolled through the finish line.”

Given how fast the semifinals were, Sunday’s final could be a test of speed. Only the top three finishers will make the U.S. Olympic team.

“To make the team I think you’re definitely going to need to run sub-four,” Johnson said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the top three are sub-3:59.”

Here are the results from the Olympic Trials: https://results.usatf.org/2024trials/

-- Ken Goe for The Oregonian/OregonLive