A FRONTRUNNING STRATEGY had served Yared Nuguse well in other USATF 1500 finals. He tried it again. It didn’t wreck the kickers this time. Instead, the last lap was a free-for-all that upended the formchart and ended with Jonah Koech celebrating victory.
The heats showed that the landscape of the 1500 has changed, with more depth than ever. In the first, Hobbs Kessler ensured a quick pace, easing up at the end; Ethan Strand took it in 3:34.12 to Kessler’s 3:34.44, with Koech at 3:34.49. The second was even faster, Olympic champion Cole Hocker running 3:32.57 and three others also under 3:34. Nuguse took the third in 3:32.66, as the top 3 were under 3:34. The slowest qualifier to the final? Washington alum Luke Houser at 3:34.64.
In the final Nuguse went straight to the front, with Kessler staying close. Vincent Ciattei hovered in 3rd, just ahead of Hocker. The first lap took 56.23. By any conventional wisdom, that meant fans would not be seeing a kicker’s race. Turns out these are not conventional days.
The order stayed much the same as Nuguse ran a 58.36 for a 1:54.59 split at 800. He applied more pressure for the third lap, a 55.94 for a 2:50.53. Behind him, Hocker moved up to 3rd. Koech had the fastest third lap of all (55.09) and passed four others. With 300 to go he sat in 5th.
Strand made his bid on the backstretch, moving from 8th to 4th. Nuguse, Kessler and Hocker still led, but 8 were still in contention with 200 left, all within 0.56 of Nuguse. Strand continued his push to the front. Hocker slipped back, searching for a way out of a box; Koech passed Kessler. With 100 left, the top 5 were within 0.28 of each other.
Who could kick best? This day, it was Koech, who represented UTEP, then Texas Tech collegiately. He covered his last 100 in 12.48, closing a stunning 52.91 final lap, much of it spent in lane 2. He caught Strand with 10m left and won in a PR 3:30.17 that moved him to No. 7 on the all-time U.S. list.
Strand, with a 12.68 and a 53.06, took 2nd with his PR 3:30.25. Hocker got out of his box and finished in 12.53 (and 53.49) for a 3:30.37. A disappointed Kessler crossed 4th in 3:31.12, with Nuguse at 3:31.34. Martin would be 6th, getting a PR, 3:32.03.
“Today was my day,” said Koech, who had been primarily an 800 runner prior to this season. He placed 2nd in the ’22…
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