Jesse Squire | On 23, Jun 2013

The highlight events to watch today are all of them! Nine running event finals and six field event finals, all of which offer the highest levels of the human drama of athletic competition.

For everything you need to know about the USATF Championships, go to our National Championships coverage page. Previews, schedules, results — it’s all there and more.

A minute-by-minute guide of what to watch and how (all times Eastern)…

2:00pm: Universal Sports begins a one-hour broadcast, apparently a highlight reel of the weekend so far.

2:30pm: The women’s pole vault begins. You can watch this and all the other field events at USATF.tv. If the wind and the heat don’t get in the way, there is a very real chance that Jenn Suhr could break the world record today. See our preview here.

2:45pm: The men’s high jump begins. Your favorites are Erik Kynard, Jesse Williams, and Dusty Jonas. See our preview here.

3:00pm: NBC Sports Network begins a one-hour broadcast.

3:05pm: The men’s 200 meter semifinals begin. Tyson Gay is going for the double and hoping to stay healthy (pleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease). See our preview here.

3:10pm: The men’s shot put begins, which looks like a battle between Ryan Whiting and Reese Hoffa, the world’s two dominant putters in 2013. See our preview here.

3:20pm: The women’s discus throw begins. Your favorites are Gia Lewis-Smallwood and Aretha Thurmond. See our preview here.

3:22pm: The women’s 200 meter semifinals begin. By sheer coincidence, Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh are in adjacent lanes in heat one. See our preview here.

3:30pm: The men’s long jump final begins. The guys to watch are Marquis Dendy, Will Claye, Christian Taylor and Dwight Phillips. See our preview here.

3:40pm: The men’s 110 hurdles semifinals begin. This event may not be quite as fast as the women’s hurdles were yesterday, but the difficulty in merely getting to the finals is nearly as great. Somebody is going to run under 13.40 and not get there. See our preview here.

4:00pm: Now the broadcast switches over to NBC.

4:05pm: The first running event final of the day, the women’s 800 meters. This looks like a classic clash between two running styles, the long sprinter’s dash-from-the-gun style of Alysia Montano against the miler’s come-from-behind style of Brenda Martinez. Ajee Wilson could be the second teenager on the US middle-distance team for Moscow. See our preview here.

4:13pm: The men’s 800 meters, arguably the most exciting two minutes in track. Someday Nick Symmonds will get beaten at the US Championships, and this is the deepest pool of talent he’s ever faced at the nationals. Given the quality of the field and the inherent unpredictability of the event, every one of the finalists has a realistic chance of finishing in the top three. See our preview here.

4:22pm: The women’s 5000 meters includes Jenny Simpson, the defending 1500 meter world champion. Many athletes who have already made the team in other events are likely to bow out, but the battle to make the team for the Worlds should be keen. See our preview here.

4:44pm: The women’s 400 hurdles is defined almost as much by who is not in the final as much as who is, and the finalists include Olympic 5th-place hurdler Georgeanne Moline. Such is the depth of US hurdling. See our preview here.

4:55pm: The men’s steeplechase is all about new star Evan Jager. See our preview here.

5:10pm: The men’s 200 meter final. How fast will Tyson Gay go? How fast will his body let him go?

5:20pm: The women’s 200 meter final. Felix, then who?

5:30pm: The men’s 5000 meters will have many non-starters who ran in other events, but two who definitely will be toeing the line are Bernard Lagat and Lopez Lomong. See our preview here.

5:52pm: The meet ends with my personal favorite race, the men’s high hurdle finals.