Cole Hocker's final race in Budapest results in a PR but out of medal contention
Cole Hocker ran the fastest time of his life on Wednesday.
It still wasn’t enough to get the former Oregon star and U.S. champion on the medal stand.
Hocker placed seventh in the final of the men’s 1,500 meters at the World Athletics Championships Budapest23 in the National Athletics Centre.
Hocker set a personal record with his time of 3 minutes, 30.70 seconds, finishing more than a second behind winner Josh Kerr of Great Britain, who crossed in 3:29.38 to upset prohibitive favorite Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
The Norwegian won the silver medal in 3:29.65, narrowly edging countryman Narve Nordås, who took bronze in 3:29.89.
U.S. champion Yared Nuguse, who was also expected to challenge Ingebrigtsen for gold, placed fifth in 3:30.25.
Hocker quickly found himself near the back of the 12-man race and was still in 10th place on the rail as the tight pack headed into the final lap.
It wasn’t the worst position to be in for Hocker, who typically relies on his strong finishing kick to move into contention.
But this time, he was unable to maneuver his way off of the rail until the final 100 meters and he couldn't track down the leaders.
Still, it was an impressive race for Hocker, who got a late start to the 2023 season due to his recovery from Achilles tendon injuries. Hocker's first 1,500 came on June 4 and he placed third at the U.S. championship meet in July to qualify for Budapest.
Hocker's previous PR was 3:31.40 from his sixth-place finish at the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021.
Raevyn Rogers moving on in the 800
The former Oregon star will compete in the semifinals of a global championship meet for the fourth straight time.
Friday she’ll get a shot at making her fourth straight final.
Rogers finished second in her 800-meter qualifying heat Wednesday morning in 2:00.06 to automatically advance to the semifinals.
Rogers won world championships silver in 2019, Olympic bronze in 2021 and was sixth at the world championships last season in Eugene.
Team USA’s Athing Mu — the reigning world champion — and U.S. champion Nia Akins, also advanced.
Elise Cranny will get medal chance in the 5,000
The Eugene resident, who is coached by Oregon’s Jerry Schumacher as a member of the Bowerman Track Club, finished fifth in her 5,000-meter semifinal Wednesday to automatically qualify for Saturday’s final.
The three-time U.S. champ finished ninth last year at Oregon22 and 13th at the Tokyo Summer Games in 2021.
She was also 12th in the 10,000 final last Saturday.
In the women’s 3,000 steeplechase semifinal, former Duck Aneta Konieczek ran 9:45.61 to finish 11th in her heat and did not qualify for Sunday’s final.
Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. For more sports coverage, visit registerguard.com. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Former Oregon Duck Cole Hocker gets a PR but no medal at Budapest23
