Blacksburg’s dynamic duo outruns Olympic competition

Behind this extraordinary race and Hocker’s success lies the strong bond between Hocker and Thomas, a connection that began from the moment they met.  

Thomas ’92, a Lynchburg native who was a distance runner at Virginia Tech, recruited Hocker during his first year in 2019 as the associate men’s head coach at the University of Oregon. Hocker had won every track competition and set numerous records during his senior year at Cathedral High School. 

What also impressed Thomas about his recruit was Hocker’s willingness to run relays with his teammates rather than just focusing on individual events. This demonstrated Cole’s team-oriented mindset, which aligned perfectly with Thomas’ approach of building a strong team environment at Oregon. 

When Hocker began his freshman season, he was not the top athlete, which was exactly what he wanted – the opportunity to chase and learn from more experienced runners. This mentality of embracing the challenge of improvement rather than expecting immediate success proved to be a key factor in Hocker’s development under Coach Thomas’ guidance. 

“That’s another example of why Cole was such a great recruit,” Thomas said. “He never made a fuss about losing. He always went right back to work and didn’t change what he did, but he was able to see the value in his failures and use that and take it as a challenge, while having the patience to see it through.” 

Hocker’s rise was meteoric. In 2021, the 20-year-old University of Oregon sophomore upset Matthew Centrowitz for the win in the U.S. Olympic Trials, followed by a sixth-place finish in the Tokyo Olympic Games. Turning pro shortly thereafter, Hocker remained under Thomas as he continued to establish himself as a world-class runner by lowering his personal best times and competing at an international level.