COLE MF HOCKER!!!!!!

This has to be the most sh!t take of all time. Didn’t deliver on his promise, what? The kid just turned 20 and just beat centro for a national title.

Just turned twenty, and, from a strategic perspective, just ran about as ineptly as a baby deer, and yet, just beat centro for a national title

I’m sure they’re was a massive conspiracy against Engels. Good thing I’ve never heard of tactical racing….

That race was awesome. You're all dicks.

Correct take. Hocker is easily in 3:33 shape or faster. And that honestly might be enough to medal in Tokyo let alone win. People forget that championship races are almost always tactical. Jakob will also have to run prelims especially if he doubles 5k/1500 he will be that less fresh and surely won’t take out the 1500m at a sub 3:30 pace. Tokyo can also get extremely hot in the summer.

Hocker is the next big talent but tons of posters are already writing him off and I don’t understand it.

I would say he could run 3:32 right now in a fast, non tactical diamond league meet.

MFE wrote:

I would say he could run 3:32 right now in a fast, non tactical diamond league meet.

3:30.75

te5n1k wrote:

agip wrote:

You can say hard faces don't happen in 1500 finals but winning times:

1999: 3:27

1991: 3:32

2017: 3:33

2015: 3:34

2019: 3:29

So I'm not sure you are correct.

how about the olympic final? people can say worlds are just as competitive and they absolutely are, but casuals only watch the olympics and that def plays into the heads of the athletes. to your peers a gold at worlds is probably on par with a gold at the olympics, but to a casual (99% of people that only watch T&F during an olympic year) the latter is all that matters. imagine jakob going alone at 328 pace, blowing up and everyone in the world thinking hes a scrub because they never heard of him before and that is the only impression they will have of him.

I imagine your first language isn't English. But clean it the f%ck up.

Runnerofruns wrote:

Well the sum-b*tch did it!!! He ran his best race when it mattered and took down the champ!

!

But he didn't run his best race. Nowhere near it. Those (plural) best races will becoming soon enough, and will continue for years.

Allowing yourself to be boxed until 1400m is unacceptable. The problem with kickers is that its easy for them to be beaten by other kickers.

Is Cole going to make the team though? He doesn't have the standard.. (First time watching your trials, so I don't know how you (USA) usually does it).

Also, wtf is up with Centro saying "it could have been me" about the Stereoid abuse re Shelby-burrito. Lost a little for him there.

You sure about that? wrote:

bhuhgg wrote:

Another Oregon dooosh who will flame out at the games. He won’t get out of the first round

How many of the 39 'Auto' qualifiers in the 1500 ran that last year and haven't touched it since? And how many of them only did it once barely, and typically aren't near it? Hocker is consistently able to close HARD to 3:35-3:38... Anyone who can run 3:35-3:38 closing in 52 seconds every time is going to make it to the semis... Really it's hard to believe he won't make the final, 3:35 closing in 52 multiple times this year, you'd think if the pace was a little hotter early on like 1:55 at 800 and 2:38 with a lap to go that he could still close in 55 and run 3:33 to make the final.

Though I agree with why Hocker could make the Olympic final (his kick), I'm unsure he will be able to draw deep from that well this summer. This was a 3:58 miler last year. Has he ever raced this long into the season? Trained specifically for a series of late summer 1500m races? Everything (indoors/outdoors) was focused for June 26th in Eugene. That's come and gone.

He could absoutely make it. Will his body follow the mind?

raging clue wrote:People forget that championship races are almost always tactical. Jakob will also have to run prelims especially if he doubles 5k/1500 he will be that less fresh.

Slightly off topic, but the first rounds of the men's 5k and 1500 meters are both on the same day. I doubt that anybody will double.

Dirty Hooligan wrote:

Though I agree with why Hocker could make the Olympic final (his kick), I'm unsure he will be able to draw deep from that well this summer. This was a 3:58 miler last year. Has he ever raced this long into the season? Trained specifically for a series of late summer 1500m races? Everything (indoors/outdoors) was focused for June 26th in Eugene. That's come and gone.

He could absoutely make it. Will his body follow the mind?

In this Pre-Trials article Hocker asserts he did NOT taper for NCAAs. Yes, he definitely did for USA's and look at his margin vs. Nuguse in those 2 races. That being said, tapering for Trials is not unusual even for Pros. He's had a longer, more race-heavy season absolutely. On the positive side, we saw Hoppel do a far more extreme version of this in 2019 with success. Hocker is also just turning 20 without crazy mileage in his legs. We'll see if he races between now and the Olympics, but I don't think he'll be a shell of himself in May which you sometimes see with collegiates. His coach Ben Thomas seems too smart.

Sorry I meant in August in the 1500m rounds

Pretty sure Centro’s Rio gold was 3:40 and change.

Sorry, 3:50.

nbc333 wrote:

Pretty sure Centro’s Rio gold was 3:40 and change.

3:50