By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
EUGENE, Ore. – Former Tiger Track and Field standout Brett Meyer, the 2019 NCAA Division II outdoor national champion in the 1,500 meters and now an assistant coach for FHSU, placed seventh in the finals of the 1,500-meter run at the USA Track and Field Championships on Saturday (June 25).
Meyer was seeking a top-four finish in an attempt to qualify for the World Athletics Championships next month, but came up just a bit short in his late surge in the race to the seventh-place finish. He crossed the line in a time of 3:46.38, just .23 seconds behind the fourth-place finisher. He was only .52 seconds behind the winner Cooper Teare, who ran a time of 3:45.86. Teare, a two-time NCAA champion at the University of Oregon (DMR and 5,000m), was the only runner in the field under 3:46 as Meyer was among a cluster of runners from second through ninth place that finished all less than a second behind Teare.
The overall pace of the race was a bit slow to start, but Meyer covered the last 300 meters in 38.02 seconds. He had the third-fastest final 300 meters only behind the champion Teare (37.98) and third-place finisher Josh Thompson (37.84). Thompson was the fastest over the final 300m to gain six positions for his third-place finish. Meyer moved up four spots from 11th to seventh with his final surge.
Meyer began his professional career in the summer of 2019, immediately following his NCAA Division II national title in the 1,500m. He was a six-time All-America performer and eight-time MIAA champion during his collegiate days at FHSU. He was the only runner in the finals field that competed at an NCAA Division II school as all of the other runners were either former or current runners at NCAA Division I institutions.
2022 USATF Championship 1,500m run results
- Cooper Teare – 3:45.86
- Jonathan Davis – 3:46.01
- Josh Thompson – 3:46.07
- Eric Holt – 3:46.15
- Reed Brown – 3:46.28
- Johnny Gregorek – 3:46.36
- Brett Meyer – 3:46.38
- Sam Prakel – 3:46.49
- Paul Ryan – 3:46.60
- Isaac Basten – 3:47.19
- Yared Naguse – 3:47.46
- Henry Wynne – 3:48.03
MANCHESTER, England – Current Tiger pole vaulter Jacob
Clark had the opportunity to also compete for a national
championship on Saturday (June 25) in his home country of England at the UK
Athletics Championships. Clark finished seventh out of the nine competitors in
the pole vault field.
Clark took seventh by clearing a height of 16’0.75″ on his first attempt
of the day. He was able to claim seventh by passing on the first competitive
height of the day that the eighth and ninth-place finishers chose to start at.
Clark unfortunately could not get over the next height of 16’6.75″.
Clark had a breakout spring for the Tigers in 2022, finishing sixth nationally
at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships with a height clearance of
16’10.75″ for All-America honors. Clark then went on to set a new FHSU
outdoor record in the pole vault during the spring with his win at the Emporia
State Midwest Classic at a height of 17’3″. It was one of three meets
Clark won during the 2022 outdoor season and he went on to a ninth-place finish
at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships with a height clearance of
16’8.75″.
Harry Coppell, the owner of the British national record, cleared an astounding
18’10.25″ to win on Saturday. He tried to break his national record of
19’2.25″ with the title already in hand, but missed all three of his
attempts trying to up his record.
2022 UK Athletics
Championship Pole Vault results
- Harry Coppell – 5.75m (18’10.25″)
- Adam Hague – 5.40m (17’8.5″)
- Lazarus Benjamin – 5.30m (17’4.5″)
- Owen Heard – 5.20m (17’0.75″)
- Thomas Walley – 5.05m (16’6.75″)
- George Turner – 5.05m (16’6.75″)
- Jacob Clark – 4.90m (16’0.75″)
- Glen Quayle – 4.90m (16’0.75″)
- Jack Phipps – 4.90m (16’0.75″)