Hocker Strikes Once More With Big Kick, Seals Foot Locker Title

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

SAN DIEGO – Cole Hocker began the season thinking he could win an Indiana state title and place high at a national championship race.

“Going into the season, I thought a top-10 finish in either of these meets would have been a big accomplishment,” the Indianapolis Cathedral senior said.

Hocker proved to be much more than that at the 40th Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.

BOYS RACE VIDEO | COLE HOCKER INTERVIEW | JAKE RENFREE INTERVIEW

On Saturday at Balboa Park’s Morley Field in San Diego, he used a late burst on the 5-kilometer course to get away from Knoxville Catholic TN senior Jake Renfree and won the Foot Locker title in 15:13.7. He extended a legacy of Midwest dominance in the meet, becoming the seventh winner in 11 years from the region and 20th overall.

He is the second Hoosier to win the boys title, following Michael Fout in 2007.

Hocker proved to be durable and unflappable during a month that saw him win two regional titles and finish runner-up to Larkspur Redwood CA senior Liam Anderson at Nike Cross Nationals a week ago in Portland.

“Getting second at Nike was a massive boost of confidence that I could run with the best in the nation, and I was ready to win (Foot Locker),” he said.

That still meant two more long airplane flights and summoning one more big effort.

But Hocker had it. He was at the front of a large pack of 15 that clung together through two miles. He had the confidence to move away from the lead group and then the kick to dispatch Renfree, the final challenger.

As Hocker stormed up the final straightaway to the finish, he turned to look around and see if there were any more threats. There were none.

Hocker also took an emotional boost before the race when seven friends and teammates showed up from Indianapolis to cheer for him.

“It really shocked me,” Hocker said. “They are more supportive than anyone I know, so it was nice having something like that.”

The guys from Cathedral knew better than anyone that they were flying west to see a coronation.

“We could see all year, all summer, that he was a different type of runner. He was on a new level,” teammate Nick Hruskoci said.

Hocker’s NXN finish made him the logical favorite in the race, but he still had to go out and execute just like he had in three previous high-profile and national-caliber races.

Hocker had no bad days on his march to the Foot Locker title.

“He doesn’t want anything but to win,” teammate Grant Ferguson said.

Hocker joins Futsum Zienasellassie as one of the best NXN/Foot Locker doublers in history, with a combined placing of three. Zienasellassie of North Central in Indianapolis won NXN and finished second to Edward Cheserek in 2011.

“Futsum’s a legend in Indiana and to even be in the same conversation with him is an honor,” Hocker said.

Renfree, somewhat unheralded despite finishing fifth in last year’s final, fought to stay with Hocker in the last half mile but didn’t have the wheels to close with the Indiana champ. Renfree ran 15:19.5 for second.

Graydon Morris, a junior making his third consecutive appearance at Foot Locker, ran one of his best races of the season in order to grab third place in 15:25.1. That gives him two top-three finishes in back-to-back years, the only Texas male athlete in meet history to achieve that feat, and he still has another year to go.

Carter Solomon of Plymouth MI was a surprise in fourth place (15:25.3), just a tenth of a second ahead of Northern Arizona-bound senior Drew Bosley of Homestead WI, who rebounded after placing 23rd at NXN to improve on last year’s seventh-place Foot Locker finish.

Solomon was second in the Michigan Division 1 state final and fourth at Foot Locker Midwest.

Hersey IL junior Joshua Methner (15:27.4) was sixth and West Morris Mendham NJ senior Jack Stanley (15:30.1) joined Hocker in earning All-America honors at both NXN and Foot Locker, along with East Grand Rapids MI junior Evan Bishop, who took ninth in 15:31.5.