Ducks All Over The Bowerman Watch List

EUGENE, Ore. – Thursday's release of The Bowerman Post-Indoor Watch List features three Oregon men on the list itself with Cole Hocker, Charlie Hunter and Cooper Teare maintaining their respective spots from previous updates. Additionally, fellow NCAA indoor champions Emmanuel Ihemeje and Micah Williams are also mentioned as receiving votes.

Hocker first appeared on the list March 4 and solidified his spot with a pair of national titles at the NCAA Indoor Championships. With his performance, the UO sophomore recorded the first mile-3K sweep since 2013, and broke the meet record in the mile with his time of 3:53.71 that was more than two seconds clear of the field. Hocker also established a new personal best of 7:46.15 to win the 3,000-meter title.

For his standout efforts, Hocker was named the USTFCCCA National Indoor Men's Track Athlete of the Year. He became the fourth UO man to win the award along with Galen Rupp (2009), Edward Cheserek (2014-16) and Eric Jenkins (2015).

Hunter was another double winner at the national indoor meet. He secured his first NCAA title as the 800-meter leg of the Ducks' distance-medley relay that combined for a time of 9:19.98, a meet record and second fastest in collegiate history only trailing the team's 9:19.42 from earlier in the season. Hunter was back on the track on day two to win an individual title in the 800 meters, posting a time of 1:45.90 in the victory.

Teare, making his third appearance on the watch list, anchored Oregon's DMR to a national title. He posted a split of 3:52.99 on the final leg to lift the Men of Oregon to their first NCAA win in the event since 2016. The following day, Teare helped the Ducks clinch the team title with his runner-up showing (7:46.23) at 3,000 meters. Both he and Hocker finished the race more than two second clear of the next runner.

Ihemeje and Williams are two of six men receiving votes in the latest watch-list update.

Ihemeje put on a show in winning the triple jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships, posting an Oregon school record of 17.26m/56-7.5 to become the program's first national champion in the event. He also moved into a tie for the No. 6 performer on the all-time collegiate list.

Williams completed an undefeated—in finals—indoor campaign with his NCAA title in the 60 meters. He matched his own school record of 6.49 on his way to becoming Oregon's first national champion in the event. Williams sits at No. 7 on the all-time collegiate list, and his time is tied for the third fastest in the world this year.

In Wednesday's announcement of the women's watch list, Kemba Nelson earned a spot on the heels of winning the NCAA indoor title at 60 meters and breaking the collegiate record in 7.05 along the way.

Named for legendary Oregon head coach Bill Bowerman and first awarded in 2009, The Bowerman is presented annually to the year's most outstanding male and female performers in collegiate track and field.

Five past Oregon standouts have won The Bowerman, a list featuring Rupp (2009), Ashton Eaton (2010), Laura Roesler (2014), Jenna Prandini (2015) and Raevyn Rogers (2017). Bowerman, Eaton and Rogers are three of the five UO icons depicted on the tower at Hayward Field.

The next updates of the watch list are set for April 14 (women) and April 15 (men).

For more news and information about Oregon Track and Field, follow @OregonTF on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

University of Oregon Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Cole Hocker

Charlie Hunter

Emmanuel Ihemeje

Cooper Teare

Micah Williams

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