Oregon teenager wins stunning mile and 3000m double as British runner Finley Mclear goes close in 800m at US collegiate championships in Fayetteville

Britain’s European junior 800m bronze medallist Finley Mclear had the race of his life in the 800m final on Saturday (March 13) at the NCAA Indoor Championships but it wasn’t quite enough as he lost out by just a hundredth of a second to Charlie Hunter in a rough race.

However, his 1:45.91 smashed his PB – his previous fastest outdoors was 1:47.33 – as he added his name to Britain’s world-class 800m roster and he moved to seventh all-time indoors in the UK.

Takieddine Hedeilli led through 200m in 25.85 but at 400m it was Jason Gomez who was narrowly ahead in 52.62. The Briton was well placed through the first two laps in 26.03 and 52.98 though occasionally boxed and he was even closer at 600m as Gomez (79.20) and Hedeilli (79.22) were virtually level just ahead of Mclear (79.32) who covered that section in a very lively 26.35.

Mclear (below right) made his move on the final lap but Hunter (below left), the Australian indoor mile record-holder at 3:53.49, came from fourth at 600m to overhaul him with a well-timed dip just before the line with a 26.40 last 200m to the Briton’s 26.59.

The track star of the championships though was teenager Cole Hocker. The 19-year-old American first easily won the mile from the front in 3:53.71.

The early pace was slow – 409m in 61.44, 809m in 2:01.42 and then he gradually wound the pace up with laps of 29.92 and 28.91 to reach 1209m in 3:00.24. His lead was only a few metres as he ran a 27.61 penultimate lap and Alabama’s Eliud Kipsang held close but the Kenyan had no answer to the blazing last 200m of 25.87 and he opened up a two second plus winning gap as Kipsang followed at a distance in 3:55.93.

Tom Dodd finished a fine seventh in 3:58.65 having run his last 400m in 56.82 and he overhauled fellow Brit Yusuf Bizimana on the final lap. The latter paid for a more aggressive run having been in medal contention until the final 400m and he ran 3:59.55 in eighth.

A month ago Hocker beat Cooper Teare in a stunning indoor collegiate mile record of 3:50.39 to 3:50.55 and the two Oregon athletes resumed battle in the 3000m here with Hocker again edging it 7:46.15 to 7:46.23 and this happened less than a hour after he finished his mile and this time he left his leading as very late as possible taking the lead in the last few metres.

The 1000m mark was reached with Teare ahead in 2:38.75 and the modest pace continued through 2000m in 5:18.30. Teare lost the lead briefly but he was back ahead with two laps to go with the watch showing 6:51.74.

He stretched out out on the penultimate lap with a 28.43 split and on 7:20.16, he had a few metres on Mario Garcia Romo (7:20.49) and Hocker (7:20.66). The latter though might have had already had a fast mile in his legs but he possesses the greater finish and he blasted the last lap in a world class 25.49 to just edge past his team-mate who still run a lively 26.09 but just weakened in the final stride.

The sprints were also fast as Georgia’s promising 20-year-old Matthew Boling won the 200m in a world leading 20.19 a fraction ahead of Terrance Laird’s 20.20. Laird had been the previous world leader with 20.28 and their times moved them into the all-time top 10 indoors.

LSU’s Noah Williams went fourth all-time at 400m with a huge PB in the 400m as he also went top of the world in 2021 as he won in 44.71 with Randolph Ross’s 44.99 in a different race gaining the event silver medal.

Williams went through 200m in 20.94 but was trailing Bryce Deadmon’s 20.91 but the latter faded to run 45.54 with Williams’ 23.77 second circuit giving him a clear win.

The 60m was also quick as Oregon’s Micah Williams equalled his PB with 6.49 to win by half a metre from Raymond Ekevwo’s 6.54.

The 60m hurdles was more competitive with Damion Thomas running a PB 7.51 to edge home from Jamal Britt (7.52) and Trey Cunningham (7.53).

North Carolina won the 4x400m in 3:03.16 with Trevor Stewart’s 44.67 anchor being their fastest leg but even quicker in their heat was Elija Goodwin’s 44.21 contribution which was the fastest indoor 400m or 4×400 leg in history.

KC Lightfoot’s great pole vault form continued as he cleared a championship record 5.93m. After first-time clearances at 5.70m and 5.75m, the Baylor student fell behind Zach McWhorter at 5.80m when he only cleared it third time to his rival’s second.

A first-time 5.85m got him ahead again and sealed gold as his rival bowed out at that height. Lightfoot then cleared the championship best at the second attempt, and having cleared 6.00m last month, he then attempted 6.03m but failed his three attempts.

Oregon’s Italian Emmanuel Ihemeje was an easy winner of the triple jump with a PB 17.26m.

Thanks to a great last day, Oregon thus comfortably won the team competition with 79 points to LSU’s 56.

Results

Men:

60
1 Micah Williams Oregon 6.49
2 Raymond Ekevwo NGR Florida 6.54
3 Rikkoi Brathwaite IVB Indiana 6.56
4 Tavarius Wright NC A&T 6.64
5 Gaston Bouchereau Oregon 6.65
6 Marcellus Moore Purdue 6.65
7 Sterling Warner Louisville 6.67
8 Brendon Stewart USC 6.69

200
r1
1 Joe Fahnbulleh Florida 20.38
2 Micaiah Harris Texas 20.43
3 Terryon Conwell Clemson 21.09
4 Tyler Davis Florida 21.44
r2
1 Matthew Boling Georgia 20.19
2 Terrance Laird LSU 20.20
3 Javonte Harding NC A&T 20.39
4 Lance Lang Kentucky 20.88

400
r1
1 Randolph Ross NC A&T 44.99
2 Jacory Patterson VATech 45.14
3 Champion Allison Alabama 45.79
4 Trevor Stewart NC A&T 45.83
r2
1 Noah Williams LSU 44.71
2 Ryan Willie Florida 45.40
3 Bryce Deadmon TexasA&M 45.54
4 Dwight St. Hillare TTO Kentucky 45.89

800
1 Charles Hunter AUS Oregon 1:45.90
2 Finley Mclear GBR Miami/OH 1:45.91
3 Takieddine Hedeilli ALG TxTech 1:46.84
4 Samuel Voelz NotreDame 1:47.62
5 Jason Gomez IowaSt 1:48.06
6 Ackeen Colley JAM WIllinois 1:49.01
7 Kieran Taylor Arkansas 1:50.79
8 Bashi Mosavel-Lo VATech 1:51.83

Mile
1 Cole Hocker Oregon 3:53.71
2 Eliud Kipsang KEN Alabama 3:55.93
3 Waleed Suliman OleMiss 3:57.26
4 Adam Fogg AUS Drake 3:57.32
5 Reed Brown Oregon 3:57.62
6 Sean Dolan Villanova 3:57.91
7 Tom Dodd GBR Michigan 3:58.65
8 Yusuf Bizimana GBR Texas 3:59.55
9 Lucas Bons BYU 4:01.97
10 George Kusche RSA Nebraska 4:03.23

3000
1 Cole Hocker Oregon 7:46.15
2 Cooper Teare Oregon 7:46.23
3 Mario García ESP OleMiss 7:48.59
4 Amon Kemboi KEN Arkansas 7:50.54
5 Alec Basten Minnesota 7:52.05
6 Ahmed Jaziri TUN EKentucky 7:53.19
7 Baldvin Thór Magnússon ISL EMichigan 7:53.72
8 Cameron Ponder Furman 7:54.56
9 Antonio Lopez ESP VATech 7:55.87
10 Colt Johnson WashingtonSt 7:57.38
11 Gilbert Boit KEN Arkansas 7:57.90
12 Tom Brady Michigan 7:57.92
13 Andrew Kent GATech 7:58.34
14 Benjamin Nibbelink VATech 7:59.74
15 Waleed Suliman OleMiss 8:02.31
16 Ben Fleming VATech 8:08.12

60H
1 Damion Thomas JAM LSU 7.51
2 Jamal Britt Iowa 7.52
3 Trey Cunningham FloridaSt 7.53
4 Phillip Lemonious JAM Arkansas 7.54
5 Eric Edwards Jr. LSU 7.58
6 Filip Jakob Demšar SLO SCarolina 7.74
7 Jesse Henderson MissSt 7.77
8 Tre’Bien Gilbert Arkansas 7.79

4×400
r1
1 Texas 3:07.71
2 LSU 3:08.49
3 OhioSt 3:08.83
r2
1 Florida 3:06.31
2 Arkansas 3:06.35
3 TexasA&M 3:06.77
4 Alabama 3:08.25
r3
1 NC A&T 3:03.16
2 Kentucky 3:03.61
3 Tennessee 3:04.10
4 Georgia 3:04.84

PV
1 KC Lightfoot Baylor 5.93
2 Zach McWhorter BYU 5.80
3 Zach Bradford Kansas 5.70
4 Eerik Haamer EST SDakota 5.60
5 Ethan Bray SDakota 5.50
6 Caleb Witsken BYU 5.50
7 Clayton Fritsch SamHouston 5.50
8 Hunter Garretson Akron 5.40
9 Nathan Stone Indiana 5.40
10 Trent Francom SDakotaSt 5.30
11 Kyle Rademeyer RSA SAlabama 5.30
12= Itamar Basteker ISR Arkansas 5.30
12= Greg Skage AirForce 5.30
– James Courson Auburn nh
– Branson Ellis SFAustin nh
– Mitch Lipe AirForce nh

TJ
1 Chiebuka Emmanuel Ihemeje ITA Oregon 17.26
2 Chengetayi David Mapaya ZIM TCU 16.95
3 Carey McLeod JAM Tennessee 16.93
4 Chris Edwards Alabama 16.61
5 Sean Dixon-Bodie LSU 16.59
6 Owayne Owens JAM Virginia 16.53
7 Tamar Greene BAH Purdue 16.28
8 Georgi Nachev BUL Missouri 16.20
9 Clarence Foote-Talley OhioSt 16.18
10 Jalen Seals TxTech 16.06
11 Tejaswin Shankar IND KansasSt 15.97
12 Welch Chris HouBaptist 15.90
13 Jalen Tate Tennessee 15.13
14 Jonathan Miller BAR Florida 15.11
– Malcolm Clemons Florida dns
– Papay Glaywulu Nebraska dns