FAST TIME FOR HOEY, SECOND VICTORIES FOR HILTZ & KESSLER AT USATF INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
By David Monti, @d9monti.bsky.social
(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
STATEN ISLAND (23-Feb) — Josh Hoey (adidas) ran the second-fastest indoor 800m in history, while Nikki Hiltz (lululemon) and Hobbs Kessler (adidas) rallied back from their 3000m wins yesterday to also take the 1500m titles on the second and final day of the USATF Indoor Championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex.
Hoey, 25, came into these championships as the favorite to win after setting national indoor records at both 800m (1:43.90) and 1000m (2:14.48) earlier this season. He took charge of today’s final like a champion, moving immediately to the front and stringing out the field. He was followed closely by 2024 Olympian Brandon Miller (Brooks Beasts TC) and Jonah Koech (Under Armour). Hoey hadn’t planned to lead so early, but felt good.
“I was thinking maybe I would kind of go out behind someone, and I wanted to get out in at least 50.5,” Hoey told reporters. “So, I was feeling good today and that just kind of put me in the front.”
Hoey hit halfway in 50.36, right at his goal pace. Miller was just a step behind (50.47), and Koech was in third (50.74). Miller, who was told by his Beasts teammate Isaiah Harris to stay patient, knew his best play was to stay in Hoey’s slipstream.
“Just stay attached and let him do the work,” said Miller when asked by a reporter to explain his tactics today. “I mean, his last lap was incredible.”
Indeed, Hoey blasted a 26.54 split for his final circuit and broke the tape in a sizzling 1:43.24, the second fastest indoor time in history behind only Wilson Kipketer’s vaunted world record of 1:42.67 from Paris in 1997. Miller did his best to stay close, and scored an indoor personal best of 1:44.26. That made him the #4 American in history.
“I knew I was going to have to run through the line; I knew there was always going to be someone behind me,” Hoey said of his last lap. “This is a really strong field, especially with some of the other events, I would say the deepest. I was like, if you go to the front you have to stay to the end.”
Miller was excited about his personal best and the fact that he had made another national team. Still, he had hoped to win.
“Obviously the competitor in me is a little mad, but when you PR by over a second indoors you can’t be mad at that,” Miller said.
Wes Ferguson ran his second personal best in two…
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