The 1978 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships took place between June 8–9 at Drake Stadium on the campus of University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, California. This was its fourth time hosting in the previous five years. The decathlon took place on June 24–25 in Richmond, Virginia. This meet was organized by the AAU.

Results

Men track events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 meters	Clancy Edwards	10.14w	Donald Quarrie  Jamaica Guy Abrahams  Panama Steve Riddick	10.15w 10.17w 10.19w	Steve Williams	10.21w
200 meters	Clancy Edwards	20.25	James Gilkes  Guyana Tony Darden	20.46 20.48	Frederick Taylor	20.63
400 meters	Maxie Parks	45.15	Maurice Peoples	45.22	Adrian Rodgers	45.41
800 meters	James Robinson	1:45.47	Michael Boit  Kenya Mark Belger	1:46.03 1:46.21	Rayfield Beaton  Guyana Conrad Suhr	1:46.47 1:46.84
1500 meters	Steve Scott	3.38.8	Sydney Maree  South Africa Steve Lacy	3.38.9 3.39.0	Tom Duits	3.39.4
5000 meters	Martin Liquori	13.40.2	Gregory Fredericks	13.41.0	Matt Centrowitz	13.41.0
10000 meters	Craig Virgin	28.15.0	Garry Bjorklund	28.35.0	Jeff Wells	28.45.6
110 meters hurdles	Renaldo Nehemiah	13.28 MRam	Greg Foster	13.43	Kerry Bethel	13.60
400 meters hurdles	James Walker	49.03	Tom Andrews	49.63	Sam Turner	49.82
3000 meters steeplechase	Henry Marsh	8.27.3	Douglas Brown	8.30.1	George Malley	8.30.5

Men field events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
High Jump	Dwight Stones	2.30 m (7 ft 6+1⁄2 in) MR	Ben Fields	2.24 m (7 ft 4 in)	Franklin Jacobs	2.24 m (7 ft 4 in)
Pole Vault	Dan Ripley	5.56 m (18 ft 2+3⁄4 in) MR	Mike Tully	5.48 m (17 ft 11+1⁄2 in)	Jeff Taylor	5.33 m (17 ft 5+3⁄4 in)
Long Jump	Arnie Robinson	8.33 m (27 ft 3+3⁄4 in)w	James Lofton	8.23 m (27 ft 0 in)	Charlton Ehizuelen  Nigeria Bob Calhoun	7.94 m (26 ft 1⁄2 in) 7.82 m (25 ft 7+3⁄4 in)
Triple Jump	James Butts	16.90 m (55 ft 5+1⁄4 in)	Rayfield Dupree	16.46 m (54 ft 0 in)	Paul Jordan	16.46 m (54 ft 0 in)
Shot Put	Al Feuerbach	20.46 m (67 ft 1+1⁄2 in)	Colin Anderson	20.29 m (66 ft 6+3⁄4 in)	Doug Price	19.96 m (65 ft 5+3⁄4 in)
Discus Throw	Mac Wilkins	66.98 m (219 ft 9 in)	Ken Stadel	63.85 m (209 ft 5 in)	David Voorhees	61.77 m (202 ft 7 in)
Hammer Throw	Boris Djerassi	68.35 m (224 ft 2 in)	Emmitt Berry	65.63 m (215 ft 3 in)	Peter Galle	65.50 m (214 ft 10 in)
Javelin Throw	Bill Schmidt	84.35 m (276 ft 8 in)	Bob Roggy	82.93 m (272 ft 0 in)	Rod Ewaliko	81.28 m (266 ft 8 in)
Decathlon	Mike Hill	8004	Allen Hamlin	7776	Jim Howell	7679

Women track events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 meters	Lilieth Hodges  Jamaica Brenda Morehead	11.23 11.25	Evelyn Ashford	11.30	Chandra Cheeseborough	11.61
200 meters	Evelyn Ashford	22.66	Brenda Morehead	22.88	Chandra Cheeseborough	23.55
400 meters	Lorna Forde  Barbados Patricia Jackson	51.04 MR 51.11	Sharon Dabney	51.31	June Griffith  Guyana Rosalyn Bryant	51.50 51.99
800 meters	Ruth Caldwell	2.02.0	Essie Kelley	2.03.0	Mary Decker	2.03.1
1500 meters	Janice Merrill	4.09.4	Debbie Heald	4.10.9	Cindy Bremser	4.11.1
3000 meters	Janice Merrill	8.56.4 MR	Kathy Mills	9.03.3	Cindy Bremser	9.11.8
10000 meters	Ellison Goodall	33.40.2	Sue Kinsey	33.42.7	Karen Bridges	34.17.3
Marathon New York	Marta Cooksey	2.41.48	Sue Peterson	2.44.43	Doreen Ennis	2.46.38
100 meters hurdles	Patricia Van Wolvelaere	13.19 MR	Debbie LaPlante	13.22	Mary Smith	13.50
400 meters hurdles	Debbie Esser	57.85	Eleanor Mahal  Canada June Smith  Trinidad and Tobago Debra Melrose	58.60 58.62 59.17	Stephanie Vega  Puerto Rico Sandra Souza	59.36 59.36

Women field events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
High Jump	Louise Ritter	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	Pam Spencer	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	Deborah Brill  Canada Coleen Reinstra	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Long Jump	Jodi Anderson	6.89 m (22 ft 7+1⁄4 in) AR	Kathy McMillan	6.72 m (22 ft 1⁄2 in)	June Griffith  Guyana Sherron Walker	6.30 m (20 ft 8 in) 6.28 m (20 ft 7 in)
Shot Put	Maren Seidler	18.18 m (59 ft 7+1⁄2 in) MR	Ann Turbyne	15.96 m (52 ft 4+1⁄4 in)	Kathy Devine	15.49 m (50 ft 9+3⁄4 in)
Discus Throw	Lynne Winbigler	54.40 m (178 ft 5 in)	Lorna Griffin	53.69 m (176 ft 1 in)	Helene Connell	52.12 m (170 ft 11 in)
Javelin Throw	Sherry Calvert	62.05 m (203 ft 6 in)	Kathy Schmidt	60.48 m (198 ft 5 in)	Lynn Cannon	55.29 m (181 ft 4 in)
Pentathlon	Modupe Oshikoya  Nigeria Themis Zambrzycki  Brazil Jodi Anderson	4379 4352 4179	Judy Fontaine	4112	Denise Cornell	4088