Oregon Milers Rewrite Collegiate Record Book
Remember when the collegiate record in the indoor mile used to be 3:52.01?
That feels like forever ago.
Well, now if you run 3:51.XX, that athlete will sit third on the all-time chart after what Oregon standouts Cooper Teare and Cole Hocker did on Friday afternoon at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Teare and Hocker turned in performances for the ages inside the Randal Tyson Track Center, going 3:50.39 and 3:50.55, respectively, for what are the seventh and eighth fastest marks in world history.
Needless to say, Teare and Hocker are now No. 1 and No. 2 on the all-time collegiate chart, each more than one full second faster than former collegiate record holder Edward Cheserek.
Charlie Hunter, who previously clocked the fourth fastest performance in collegiate history late last month at the Razorback Invitational, finished third in a new PR of 3:53.49. That is now the sixth fastest performance in collegiate history, pushing his former best down to seventh.
The trio had their eyes on various qualifying standards coming into the race – Olympic qualifier for Hunter; U.S. Olympic Trial marks for Hocker and Teare – and through expert pacing by teammates Angus Folmli and Reed Brown, they were well on their way. Once Teare hit the bell at 3:23.21 with Hocker and Hunter right behind him, the only question that remained was “How fast would they go?”
P.S. – Charlie Hunter doubled back the following day in the 800 and went 1:45.59 in the 800 to become the fifth best performer in collegiate history. Hunter covered the first 400 meters in 53.28, then hit 25.83 and 26.49 to negative split in 52.31.
