In A Race Filled With NCAA Champions, Nuguse Catches Teare At The Wire And Hocker Takes Third

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

EUGENE -- Notre Dame's Yared Nuguse snagged the NCAA lead in the men's 1500 meters on Friday by edging out Oregon's Cooper Teare by .01 seconds and beating Oregon's freshman phenom Cole Hocker. 

Nuguse caught Teare and got slightly in front at the finish line, crossing it in 3:35.96. 

Teare was next in 3:35.97. Hocker, who was sixth at the bell and also with 200 meters left, moved up to third with a personal best 3:36.47. 

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All three bettered the Oregon Twilight Bill McChesney Memorial race, which was held by Andrew Wheating (3:38.70). 

It was the first 1,500 for Nuguse since winning the 2019 NCAA Outdoor title in Austin, Texas. It was a lifetime best by nearly two and a half seconds. 

It what may be a preview of the upcoming NCAA championship race, Nuguse, Teare and Hocker delivered times that assure them of qualifying marks to the NCAA preliminary round. 

“I was hoping to have someone to sit on until the last 200 (meters) but that’s not how it goes," Teare said. "It’s been pretty consistent for me to hammer it and try to win from the front but that’s hard to do especially with this caliber of field. The fields have just been next level and guys are really stepping up. I can’t really complain. I, honestly, thought I had it for a second when my name popped up first and then they revised it and I get beat by .01. I’m happy with the way I ran it and got a new PR out of it. Obviously, you come here to win and run fast times. That’s where you have to get just a little bit better.”

Hocker had won his last seven races and was unbeaten at Hayward Field since finishing second to Teare's NCAA record-setting indoor mile on Feb. 13 in Fayettevile, Ark. 

Nuguse's time broke the Notre Dame school record. 

Teare and Hocker elevated to No. 3 and 4 in Oregon program history with Friday night's results. 

Oregon alum and 2016 Olympian Devon Allen broke his own meet record in the men's 110-meter hurdles, running 13.40 for his fastest race of the year so far in his return to Hayward Field. It's his best since running 13.36 last July in Florida. 

“Today felt pretty good," Allen said. "I ran two days ago so it was a long day of traveling from the East coast yesterday so to jump up and run 13.40 pretty easily, bodes well for the season. It’s still pretty early in my training season. I just started doing full weeks of training right after Drake Relays so it’s been about 10-14 days.”

Allen was impressed with the new stadium that replaced the track where he won the 2016 NCAA and Olympic Trials titles.

“We’re standing here so we get it but you have to come see it to believe it. It’s pretty awesome. I don’t see why anybody in track and field wouldn’t want to come run here,” he said.

Another former Duck, Johnathan Cabral, was second in 13.83.

Whittni Orton-Morgan of BYU, listed as a pacer of the women's 1,500 meters, stayed in it and finished in 4:10.10, her second-best time of the season. 

Cougars teammate Anna Camp-Bennett won the women's 800 meters in a personal best time of 2:03.37, slicing half a second off the time she ran at the Hayward Premiere on April 2. Addy Townsend of Canada was second in 2:04.83.

Oregon's Luis Peralta edged George Mills of Nike in the men's 800, 1:48.82 to 1:48.95.

Garrett Marsing of BYU ran a 10-second best to win the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, running away from teammate Clayson Shumway, to a time of 8:34.40. That takes Marsing to No. 3 on the NCAA list. 

At the outset of the meet, Adams State's Eilish Flanagan broke the NCAA Division 2 record in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase with 9:40.68 -- a performance that would rank fourth this season among Division 1 athletes. 

Flanagan won the race by 35 seconds and lowered her personal best by 12 seconds.

Lindsay McShane of Oregon State broke her own hammer throw school record and won for the third time at Hayward Field, with 211-6 (64.47m).

Oregon's Kiana Phelps matched her career best in the discus with a throw of 183-2 (55.83m).

Jaida Ross of Oregon threw a career-best 16.10m (52-10) to win the shot put. 

Zachary Holland of Umpqua Community College, competing unattached, won the javelin with 228-0 (69.49m).

Alexa Webster of Oregon won the women's 100-meter hurdles in 13.93 seconds. 

Eastern Oregon athletes swept the 100 meters, with Cody Milmine edging out Oregon's Max Vollmer in 10.87 seconds, while Jasmine Devers took the women's race in 12.22. 

Oregon State's Emma Nelson won the women's high jump at 5-7 (1.70m).

Former Duck Jasmine Todd, representing TrackSmith, made her return to Hayward Field and won the women's long jump with 18-7.25 (5.67m) and she was also second in the 100 (12.49).