Long-standing Meet Record Shattered in NCAA Men’s 10,000 Meters

**Tulsa’s Patrick Dever makes a crafty inside move over the final 100 meters to take the men’s 10,000-meter national title. Photo by Otto Horiuchi**

By Kate Walkup

EUGENE, Ore. – Meet and personal records fell during night one of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field on Wednesday.

Senior Patrick Dever from the University of Tulsa leaned at the line in a historic 10,000-meter performance. Dever finished with a record-shattering time of 27:41.87. The electricity from the Hayward fans propelled the top 10 finishers under the 28-minute barrier, under the Olympic Trials standard and under the previous meet record of 28:01.30 set by Suleiman Nyambui in 1979.

“I knew I was capable of a big performance, but I wasn’t really sure I was capable of that,” Dever said. “I knew I needed to leave something for the home straight and I just stayed patient and I was able to sneak the win.”

Senior Yared Nuguse of Notre Dame and freshman Cole Hocker of Oregon won their respective heats of the 1,500-meter semifinal, punching their tickets to the finals on Friday. Nuguse holds the top spot in the final with a semifinals time of 3:37.36. Hocker will enter the final seeded fifth with a semifinals time of 3:38.34.

“The prelims are always tricky because that’s the objective — getting through with a minimal amount of effort but like a lot of times, you still have to give it your all in the last 200 (meters) to secure your spot,” Hocker said. “I think I did a really good job of balancing that today. I didn’t want to leave anything up to chance when there’s no reason I should. I’m happy with how it went.”

Oregon senior Charlie Hunter won his heat of the 800-meter dash to secure his eighth-place seed going into the finals on Friday. The 2021 NCAA indoor 800-meter champion ran a time of 1:47.80.

**Oregon’s Charlie Hunter receives a warm welcome from the home crowd as the NCAA Championships return to Hayward Field at the University of Oregon. Photo by Otto Horiuchi**

“I think I’m already there, mentally,” Hunter said about feeling prepared for the finals. “I just need to stay happy, stay relaxed and recover well from today. I think I’m ready to do something special.”

Freshman Yusuf Bizimana of Texas turned in the fastest semifinals time, finishing in 1:46.90.

Sophomore Turner Washington of Arizona State claimed the championship title in the men’s shot put with a personal record of 21.10 meters, while Texas senior Adrian Piperi earned the second-place trophy with a season best of 20.71 meters.

Four other NCAA Champions were crowned on Wednesday night. Sophomore Branson Ellis of Stephen F. Austin won the pole vault, clearing 5.70 meters. Freshman Tzuriel Pedigo of LSU grabbed the championship in the javelin with a throw of 76.98 meters. LSU junior JuVaughn Harrison leapt 8.27 meters to win the long jump. Thomas Mardal, a senior from Florida, threw a massive 76.74 personal record to win the hammer throw.