First Thoughts: Hocker's Legendary Double, Miller's All-Out Title Victory & Wayment's Narrow Win

With Sam Tanner out of the mile finals, this was Hocker's race to lose and he clearly understood that. Even in his post-race interview, he mentioned how he did not want this race to come down to the last 500 meters, so he made it an honest effort and simply ran away from the field over the latter-half of the race, posting a wicked fast time of 3:53 for the title.

I'd like to say that there were a ton of tactics involved in this race, but it was pretty much the Cole Hocker show featuring Alabama's Eliud Kipsang. The Oregon sophomore went to the front and stayed in that position for most of the race. Relatively early on, we saw Kipsang make a move to sit on Hocker's shoulder. The Crimson Tide rookie was actually able to stick with Hocker for most of the race as the tempo quickened, but despite running a new personal best of 3:55.93, Kipsang had no response for the finishing speed that the Oregon ace had and ended up finishing in 2nd place.

When it come to the rest of the field, you really have to give a ton of credit to Ole Miss' Waleed Suliman and Drake's Adam Fogg.

Suliman has historically struggled at national meets on the track, failing to earn All-American honors or even make it out of the preliminary rounds in some cases. However, the Ole Miss superstar finally delivered on expectations, placing 3rd overall and getting out of his national meet rough patch.

As for Fogg, I can't but think that he is one of the best tactical runners in the NCAA now, regardless of how fast or slow a race is. After beautifully navigating through a very tricky prelim race, the Drake ace made one substantial move to reposition himself in the middle of the pack and let the race unfold in front of him. He was rewarded for his perfectly timed move (and his patience) with a 4th place result and a new personal best of 3:57.

Now for the rest of this field. Oregon's Reed Brown finishes his weekend with a 5th place All-American finish, a result that is easily the best individual performance of his career, especially since he raced twice during Friday afternoon. Villanova's Sean Dolan (6th) and Michigan's Tom Dodd (7th), also had respectable races and didn't get too crazy with their tactics, although they may have been able to finish as high as 3rd or 4th place if they decided to reposition earlier in the race.

Yusuf Bizimana fell to 8th place overall despite leading early-on. He simply got dropped with the increased pace established by Hocker and his middle distance speed became less potent in a contest that was as fast as this.

As for Bons (9th) and Kusche (10th), it just wasn't their best days. Bons may have run 3:55 earlier in the year, but he's only a freshman and his inexperience caught up with him. As for Kusche, he has simply struggled this postseason. He faltered at the BIG Indoor Championships and didn't look great in the prelims on Friday. Unlike a few men in this field, the Nebraska star just didn't have a ton of momentum coming into this meet.

An absolute THRILLER. That is the only way to talk about this men's 800 meter race.

Truthfully, this was a fairly messy battle, especially in the second-half of the contest.

Texas Tech's Takieddine Hedeilli went to the front and acted as the early leader while Miami (Ohio)'s Finley McLear and Notre Dame's Samuel Voelz were also in that initial lead group. Pre-race favorites Charlie Hunter and Jason Gomez opted to sit behind that pack and let the race unfold in front of them. After the first lap, they both made a move to be with the leaders.

The race continued to unfold in the third lap as Gomez was now at the front while Hunter positioned himself for a big final move on the last lap. Sure enough, once they came to the final lap, Hunter tried to make a move on the outside. However, McLear had other plans and made a move of his own, which involved some contact, interrupting Hunter's surge.

With those two attempting to get around Gomez and Hedeilli, their momentum was stalled until McLear found an opening on the back straightaway and was able to get a jump start on Hunter who also made a move to the front, but not until McLear had a small gap on the Australian standout.

With McLear in front and Hunter trying to cover ground over the final 100 meters, it looked the ace from Miami (Ohio) was actually going to pull off one of the biggest upset victories of the entire meet. However, slowly but surely, Hunter covered the gap and pounced at the line with McLear, leaving the athletes, fans and commentators unsure of who took home NCAA gold.

After what seemed like ages, the results finally flashed across the board.

Hunter ran 1:45.90.

McLear ran 1:45.91.

This was an absolutely incredible race by Hunter. He has been largely unchallenged this year in the 800 meters and has been able to dictate how his races have unfolded throughout most of the season. However, when Hunter finally got his first challenge and was unable to seamlessly make a move in the final portion of the race, he readjusted, found another gear and still came home with a victory.

As for McLear, it's probably frustrating to come so close to the national title and not win it, but he had an incredible season that blew away expectations. In our meet preview, I even mentioned how McLear was the one most likely to pull off the upset.

I was only 0.01 seconds away from that being true, but at least he has an elite level personal best to match a resume which shows plenty of consistency, ongoing improvements and the ability to take down top-tier talents.

As for everyone else, it was all about positing as Hunter and McLear essentially worked around the entire field. Hedeilli (3rd), Voelz (4th) and Gomez (5th) capped off excellent seasons with top All-American positions, but that trio felt like the sacrificial pacing lambs in this race. Ultimately, Hunter and McLear made their moves based on how those men at the front were running.

As for the rest of the field, they just couldn't respond to the multiple lead changes, wacky tactics and random surges. If you weren't in that lead group by the third lap, then it was going to be tough to find a spot near the front with 200 meters to go.

We could break down exactly what happened in this race, but it was truthfully super straightforward. Oregon's Cooper Teare went to the front and established a somewhat honest pace. He was closely followed by Hocker who was coming back from the mile just an hour earlier.

With other guys like Mario Garcia Romo, Baldvin Magnusson, Amon Kemboi and Antonio Lopez Segura hugging the inside lane for most of the race, we truthfully didn't see much happen. Yes, Lopez Segura did briefly take the lead and Garcia Romo did make a hard move with 400 meters to go, but that didn't really change anything.

Despite those efforts, Teare eventually went back to the front and unleashed a kick with 200 meters to go that no one else was going to be able to cover...except for Hocker. The Oregon sophomore opted to delay his kick and showed off impressive leg turnover in that final 100 meters. With Teare possibly feeling the earlier pacing duties, it was Hocker who swung off the curve and surged past his teammate for his second national title in the span of 60 minutes.

This was one of the more impressive national meet doubles that I can remember. Neither the mile nor the 3000 meters were slow efforts. Hocker getting a meet record of 3:53 and then taking down a superstar teammate in Cooper Teare just one hour later with a time of 7:46 is absolutely insane. I'm not sure I can really say more than that.

I've asked this question once and I can't help but ask it again...but could Teare, Hocker and Hunter all turn pro after this year? Hocker is still young, he's only 19-years old, but it's not totally out of the question when you consider how crazy fast this trio has been running this year.

As for the rest of the field, you've got to give Garcia Romo some credit for at least trying to change things up in the final moments of this race. In a world where the Oregon men don't exist, the Ole Miss ace would have been viewed as the pre-race favorite. He's had an excellent breakout year and a bronze medal seems appropriate given the season that he had.

Also, really nice rebound race from Amon Kemboi. He finished 4th overall in his second hard effort of the weekend. After a brutal ending to an ultra-fast 5k race last night, there was no guarantee that the Arkansas ace was going to come back and effectively battle in this 3k. However, Kemboi held his own and even made a brief appearance near the front of this race.

A few other quick notes...

Anyone who was hoping to see an upset in the women's mile is probably disappointed.

Colorado's Sage Hurta waited until the second-half of the race to make her move to the front after positing herself just behind the leaders for the first few laps. Her biggest competitor, Krissy Gear, opted to take a different approach. Instead of going with the leaders, she sat in the back of the pack for the early portion of the race and slowly worked her way up the field.

Gear's tactical decision could have been an issue if the leaders made a big surge and pulled away from the back of the pack, but the move was a smart one as Gear was eventually able to make contact with Hurta in the final few laps.

However, the Arkansas ace likely spent a lot of energy working her way up the field, leaving her with not enough energy to go with Hurta when the Colorado veteran made her move over the final 400 meters. Hurta simply opened up too big of a gap and although Gear made a valiant effort, she just wasn't able to cover the distance.

Also, how about Arkansas' Kennedy Thomson? I really liked the progress that we saw from her throughout this season and her ability to double was promising. However, she struggled at both the Tyson Invitational and the SEC Championships and she didn't look great in the prelims. Naturally, we were a little concerned about how she was going to handle a high-caliber field.

Those late-season performances, however, weren't an issue this weekend. Thomson perfectly positioned herself at the front of this mile final and wasn't phased when she was passed by Hurta or Gear. She followed the momentum of those two women in the latter-half of the race and secured herself a huge 3rd place finish.

Kaley Richards (4th) of UMass Lowell ended her season on a high note. She was gaining some serious momentum coming into this race and despite not having much national meet experience, she handled the tactics incredibly well.

And how about Allie Guagenti? The Ohio State runner finished 5th overall despite coming into this meet with a modest personal best of 4:40.89. Even after an excellent performance at the BIG 10 XC Championships, we weren't sure if she had enough speed or mile prowess to contend with this group.

That, however, wasn't an issue as Guagenti peaked at the perfect time and secured a new PR of 4:36. Kudos to her for handling a field of experienced veterans with poise.

As for the rest of this field, the overall results were a bit mixed. BYU's Kate Hunter (6th) didn't have a poor race, but teammate Heather Hanson finished 10th. Their inexperience was slightly evident in this final. The same can be said for Aneta Konieczek (who took early lead duties and then faltered) as well as Arkansas' Gracie Hyde.

Katie Rainsberger was able to sneak into this final, but she didn't have a great indoor season and didn't have a ton of momentum coming into this race. Her experience gave her an edge, but she just wasn't able to go with the rest of the pack when the surges began.

With Athing Mu not in this race, we felt like the women's 800 meter national title was wide-open for the taking. Despite a few key women being more heavily favored than others, the times, tactics, experience and progress amongst all of the women in this field put them on a somewhat equal playing field.

Baylor's Aaliyah Miller went straight to the front and opened up a fairly significant lead almost immediately. Arkansas' Shafiqua Maloney and BYU's Claire Seymour attempted to go with the aggressive pace, but Miller continued to hit the gas and didn't relent.

After the first lap, she led by a considerable margin. After the second lap, she still led by quite a bit. And after the third lap? Yep, she still had a big lead. Maloney and Seymour were maintaining their position, but Clemson's Laurie Barton smartly moved up with each and every lap, eventually going into the final 200 meters with a real chance to catch Miller.

After the first curve, the gap had closed.

After the back straightaway, the gap had closed a little bit more.

After the final curve, the gap continued to get tighter.

However, Miller's lead was still too much and she was able to hold off the charges from both Barton and Maloney in the final straightaway. In the end, the Baylor runner crossed the line in a time of 2:00.69, a mark that would have tied the former collegiate record held by Jazmine Fray (which was recently broken by Athing Mu a weeks ago).

It's hard not to be happy for Miller. She is super experienced and has been to multiple national meets. She has even run a handful of national-caliber times throughout her career. However, Miller never seemed to have the necessary spark to get her to the next level...until this season. This was a gutsy performance for someone who earned every bit of her NCAA gold medal.

As for Barton (2nd), her tactics and smart racing skills became valuable in this contest while Maloney (3rd), in retrospect, was smart to not completely ignores Miller's aggressive pacing. The Arkansas runner held on to the pace and was rewarded with a new 2:01 personal best. Once again, the Razorback star earned yet ANOTHER personal best in this event.

And how about Lindsey Butler? The Virginia Tech runner also moved up in this field behind Barton and was rewarded with a 4th place finish. She doesn't have a ton of national meet experience, so this could have been a tricky race to navigate. No, she didn't secure a top-three finish, but the Virginia Tech runner salvaged a great result in a race that could have gone downhill fairly quickly if she didn't properly respond to the moves made around her.

As for Seymour (5th), I have to raise my hand and say that I was wrong. I really began to question if her 2:02 from earlier in the season was legit. It was such a massive breakout performance and I wasn't sure if her lack of experience would allow her to be successful in this field. However, she didn't shy away from any challenges, both in the prelims and the finals, and instead earned a strong All-American finish.

We then come to Wilkinson, Keegan and Hendrick. Truthfully, it's hard to say what happened with them in this race as the camera was largely focused on the top runners in this field. I imagine that they just weren't expecting (or able to handle) the blistering fast pace and were instead left to play catch-up.

This was your classic 3k showdown. Slightly tactical, fairly honest and featuring a handful of title contenders. We could give you a full breakdown of every move, but it was essentially the same seven to nine women in the lead pack for most of the race with a few lead changes.

Arkansas' Lauren Gregory took the early pacing duties, but was eventually overtaken by Auburn's Joyce Kimeli. Last night's 5k national champion dictated the pace and kept things honest while Wayment closely hugged her shoulder.

Just before three laps to go, the pack began to quicken with Wayment taking the overall lead, working to give herself enough of a cushion so that the other kickers in this race were taken out of contention.

Both Gregory and Kimeli made moves to go with the BYU star, but Gregory was the only one who was actually able to stay in contact with Wayment as Kimeli seemed too tired to go with them.

With one lap to go, it was Wayment putting in every effort to fend off a hard-charging Lauren Gregory who was looking surprisingly strong despite her early leading. The two women battled neck-and-neck down the final straightaway, but Wayment had one more gear and was just able to edge the Arkansas standout for the 3k national title.

I have been so impressed with Wayment this year. If Athing Mu wasn't part of our indoor track rankings, then Wayment would be our clear TSR #1 runner. She knows how to win fast races, tactical races and everything in between. Right now, she can do no wrong.

As for Gregory, she has had so many struggles and underwhelming performances on the national stage throughout her career. However, after rebounding last fall and this winter, she emerged as the elite distance runner that we knew she could be. The Razorback standout had an incredible season and showed off her true potential this winter.

We then come to Joyce Kimeli. She may have not have won the title, but her postseason was wildly impressive. She secured a 3rd place result in her second race of the weekend, proving that she peaked at the absolutely perfect time this winter. The Auburn Tiger wasn't incredible in the early-portion of the season, but stepped up when it mattered the most and clearly delivered on the nation's biggest stage.

Those were the main three women that we were watching throughout the entirety of this 3k race, but let's quickly highlight the rest of the All-Americans...