Tokyo Teare? Gold Medal Cole? Ducks in the Olympic Trials Day 7

Everything to watch for in tonight's qualifying and final races. But especially all the Ducks to watch for.

After two days off, the Olympic Trials are back tonight, with the biggest races of the night starting at 6 PM pst on NBC/NBC Sports Network.

We’re basically in the bell lap of the road to Tokyo, so here’s your trusty viewing guide.

First up, we have the 1st Round of the Men’s 1500M. Everyone loves the mile. It’s sexy, it’s simple, and it also happens to inexplicably not actually be a full mile when it is run at the Olympic level.

But who wants to run that extra 100 or so meters anyway?

Current Ducks in these prelims are Jack Yearian, and the freshman phenom Cole Hocker. Hocker is fresh off the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Title at this distance, but he’ll be up against the world’s best in back-to-back qualifying rounds on his hopeful road to the Final on Sunday evening.

Naturally, we have to talk about former Duck, and current GOAT, Matt Centrowitz. He’s the Gold Medal winner from Rio, and he still seems to have the juice, but he also kind of can’t take any social media jokes at his expense.

I don’t dislike the guy. After all, he’s the current King. But he’s the KD of the running world in more ways than one..

Johnny Gregorek is the undisputed King of the Blue Jeans Mile, and he was a transfer Duck, but that’s still a Duck in my book.

The big battle of the day in the 1500 will be in Heat 2. Centro will take on the young, mulleted, outspoken Craig Engels.

Engels is sort of a wild card of the sport in his own right. But that makes him the perfect foil for Centro. It’s just a qualifying heat, so there’s no need to look into which one wins/loses, but it’s one of the first times we’ve gotten to see both of them at top health, and it’s still going to be dynamic to watch as they advance from Round to Round.

Another notable competitor is high schooler, Hobbs Kessler. He just crushed Jim Ryun’s zillion year-old 1500M HS American record with a 3:34.36. That means he already has the Olympic standard, but he’ll have to take his fresh adidas contract—and his young Peter Thiel blood—and test himself up against the best of the best on his biggest stage yet.

Then we’ll have the 1st Round of the Women’s 800M, where Raevyn Rogers will take her first steps on New Hayward’s track as a competitor. Rogers has the second best PB in the field, right behind adidas’ Ajee’ Wilson. She’s the Queen of the 800, and her face is literally on the Bowerman Tower, so it’ll be awesome to watch her lean on the Eugene crowd as she works her way into the final.

Then it’s on to Round 1 of the Men’s 5K.

Grant Fisher and Woody Kincaid have already punched their tickets to Tokyo in the 10K, but they’re still slotted to test their chops at half the distance.

But judging by the heat tonight—and the recent rescheduling of the 5K’s Final to 10 AM on Sunday due to a literal heat dome in Eugene—I wouldn’t be surprised if one or both men decided not to push themselves and risk anything with Tokyo already booked.

Nike’s Paul Chelimo will be the favorite here in the first round, and then assuredly in the Final on Sunday with his 12:57.55 PB. Unless he pulls a Lopez Lamong and cramps up big time, he’s the man to chase.

And then there’s Cooper Teare. 

The 2021 NCAA 5K Champ. In New Hayward. Running Pre’s Race. He’s my number one rooting interest in this whole thing. In terms of the stage of his career, I’d say that making it to the Final is the safe goal here, but Teare—just like Pre—isn’t looking for safe.

I am #TokyoTeare or bust.

Cole Hocker is currently listed to double here in the 5K along with his earlier 1500M—just as he did in the NCAA Championships. But those were on different days. And it was raining on those days. Not the temperature of hellfire.

But this could also be the last day of racing for the young freshman until indoors next winter. I could see a scenario where—if he doesn’t make the 1500M final at 6 PM—he could very well make one last push at a Final by staying in the 5K.

HOWEVER, if Hocker makes it to the final in the 1500—arguably his better of the two races—I would assume that he’d withdraw from the 5K and just rest up for Sunday.

The night will end on the Women’s 3000M Steeple, where the Top 3 will almost surely belong to Emma Coburn, Courtney Frerichs, and whoever else comes in third.

Let’s go racing. Let’s Go Ducks.