Eric Hamer Advances to NCAA Championships in 10,000 Meters

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Everybody knows, when you fall, you get back up, but for Eric Hamer you also still qualify for the NCAA Championships.

In the most inopportune time – 3,000 meters to go in the 10,000-meter NCAA West Prelim semifinal – Hamer, cruising in seventh place, got pushed down in close quarters by another runner and dropped to 17th. Anything but a quick recovery might have spelled the end of the graduate student's collegiate career [aside from Friday's 5K]. However, it was a swift back on the feet and a stalwart push to make up the lost ground, which he did like clockwork to finish eighth and within the top-12 qualifying cut off for Nationals.

"The 10K is always very tactical, which causes stress in the field," Hamer starts to explain. "The issue is 44 bodies can't fit into 12 places. Something has to give. The tension builds and builds, and I knew the switch was coming and the pace was going to change. It is either you are going to flip it yourself and control when you go, or you are going to have it flipped for you. This switch was flipped for me and in the most dramatic way possible. I mean I've been clipped before, but this was pretty hard and I went down. I remember getting up and just feeling pretty devastated. I had a vision of falling apart that I have come this far, and this has happened. My parents who make it to few races were here. However, I had a choice of how I wanted this to go. I would not choose to fall for me to turn on the next level, but if falling is what it took then I was going to respond to it as hard as I could. I remember watching the 2016 Rio Olympics in which Mo Farah fell in the 10K and got back up and won the whole thing. I channeled that energy. It was incredibly hard and the most taxing thing I've every done, but I was given an awareness of how to turn my brain off and respond. I had a job to do and with all intents and purposes that job was accomplished. Even in my sixth year, I continue to learn things."

Wesley Kiptoo, fresh off winning the 5K, 10K and 3K steeplechase at the Big 12 Championships, separated himself from the 44-runner field immediately after the gun went off. He preceded to take first with the facility record of 28:50.11, putting a show on for the cameras that did not leave him. Away from the camera lots were going on as the 2^nd thru 12^th spots had a final margin of five seconds compared to Kiptoo who was 20 seconds ahead of the runner-up.

Hamer made his first move around the 3000-meter mark, going from mid-to-back all the way up to seventh. He lived there for a bit even moving to fifth at 5200, but between 6800 and 7600 splits the fall occurred. After regaining his footing, he rose to 14^th at 8000m and by 8400 he was back in 11^th – qualifying but on the fence. With 400 meters to go, he pushed to eighth which he held until he safely crossed in the qualifying group with a time of 29:13.29.

Eric Hamer marks the third Ram to compete at the national stage in the 10K in the past five years and really the past four NCAAs due to the lost COVID season. Grant Fischer was the last appearance with his 11^th-place finish in 2018, while he also placed 12^th in 2017 after Jerrell Mock finished 10^th.

Three Rams competed earlier in the day in the 1500 and 400. Senior Jacob Brueckman was two spots away from qualifying for the quarterfinals in the 1500 after crossing at 3:46.39. In a different heat but still 1500, Dawson LaRance finished 40^th overall. About an hour later, freshman Tom Willems took 39^th in the 400, representing the first Ram in the event at Regionals since 2011. All three were making their Ram debuts in the West Prelims.

The first day for the women inside E.B. Cushing Stadium starts Wednesday with the first action for CSU at 12:30 p.m. MT in the hammer throw.

Coach's Corner
Head distance coach Art Siemers
"We knew Kiptoo was going to go out hard and then coast. The scary thing was when Eric got pushed down. The West Region is so competitive in the distance that mistakes and things like that can be hard to rebound from. However, he got back up quickly and worked really, hard to catch back up. It shows just what a tremendous competitor he is. After all that, he still qualified smooth."

How to Follow
Headquarters – https://csura.ms/2TbufJy
Live Results - https://csura.ms/2RKZpqT
Live Stream (ESPN) Day 2 - https://csura.ms/2QRWoVp
Live Stream (ESPN) Day 3 - https://csura.ms/3umfkZS
Live Stream (ESPN) Day 4 - https://csura.ms/3vmElpi

NCAA WEST PRELIMINARY DAY 1 FINAL RESULTS
For complete results see link at top of recap
(PR)- Personal Best

Men's 10,000m Semifinal
8. Eric Hamer, 29:13.29

Men's 1,500m First Round
26. Jacob Brueckman, 3:46.39 (8^th, Heat 3)
40. Dawson LaRance, 3:51.28 (10^th, Heat 2)

Men's 400m First Round
39. Tom Willems, 47.88 (8^th, Heat 1)

NCAA West Preliminary
Day-by-Day Schedule for the Rams

Thursday, May 27th (WOMEN)
12:30 p.m. MT | Hammer Throw First Round: Tarynn Sieg, Ashton Hallsted, Haley Showalter

Three seeded flights. Single round. 3 attempts. Advance top 12 placers to finals in Eugene.

5:00 p.m. MT | Shot Put Throw First Round: Tarynn Sieg, Gabi McDonald, Maria Muzzio

Four seeded flights. Single round. 3 attempts. Advance top 12 placers to finals in Eugene.

5:30 p.m. MT | 1500m First Round: Megan Mooney

4 Heats. Advance top 5 from each heat plus next 4 times to Saturday's quarterfinals.

6:25 p.m. MT | 400m First Round: Lauren Gale

6 Heats. Advance top 3 from each heat plus next 6 times to Saturday's quarterfinals.

6:50 p.m. MT | 800m First Round: Bailee Carr

6 Heats. Advance top 3 from each heat plus next 6 times to Saturday's quarterfinals.

7:20 p.m. MT | 400m Hurdles First Round: Yolonda Johnson

6 Heats. Advance top 3 from each heat plus next 6 times to Saturday's quarterfinals.

8:10 p.m. MT | 10,000m Semifinal: Lily Tomasula-Martin

One round. One heat. Advance top 12 to finals in Eugene.

Friday, May 28th (MEN)
12:30 p.m. MT | Discus First Round: Adam Dawson

Single round. 3 attempts. Advance top 12 placers to finals in Eugene.

2:15 p.m. MT | Triple Jump First Round: Allam Bushara

Single round. 3 attempts. Advance top 12 placers to finals in Eugene.

5:10 p.m. MT | 3,000m Steeplechase Semifinals: Thomas Chaston, Lars Mitchell

One round. 3 heats. Advance top 3 from each heat plus next best 3 times to finals in Eugene.

7:30 p.m. MT | 5,000m Semifinal: Eric Hamer

One round. Two heats. Advance top 5 from each heat plus next best 2 times to finals in Eugene.

Saturday, May 29th (WOMEN)
12:00 p.m. MT | High Jump First Round: Jordan Lanning

Progression: 167, 172, 177, 182, 185 then 3cm. Advance top 12 placers to finals in Eugene.

12:30 p.m. MT | Discus Throw First Round: Gabi McDonald, Maria Muzzio

Three seeded flights. Single round. 3 attempts. Advance top 12 placers to finals in Eugene.

4:45 p.m. MT | 1500 Quarterfinals: IF Mooney advanced on Thursday.

Advance top 5 from each quarterfinal plus next best 2 times to finals in Eugene.

5:10 p.m. MT | 3,000m Steeplechase Semifinals: Emily Chaston

One round. 3 heats. Advance top 3 from each heat plus next best 3 times to finals in Eugene.

6:20 p.m. MT | 400m Quarterfinals: IF Lauren Gale advanced on Thursday.

Advance top 3 from each quarterfinal plus next best 3 times to finals in Eugene.

6:35 p.m. MT | 800m Quarterfinals: IF Bailee Carr advanced on Thursday.

Advance top 3 from each quarterfinal plus next best 3 times to finals in Eugene.

6:55 p.m. MT | 400m Hurdles Quarterfinals: IF Yolonda Johnson advanced on Thursday.

Advance top 3 from each quarterfinal plus next best 3 times to finals in Eugene.

7:30 p.m. MT | 5,000m Semifinal: Lauren Offerman

One round. Two heats. Advance top 5 from each heat plus next best 2 times to finals in Eugene.

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Colorado State University Athletics

Eric Hamer Advances to NCAA Championships in 10,000 Meters

Related News

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jacob Brueckman

Allam Bushara

Bailee Carr

Emily Chaston

Thomas Chaston

Adam Dawson

Lauren Gale

Ashton Hallsted

Eric Hamer

Yolonda Johnson

Jordan Lanning

Dawson LaRance

Lars Mitchel

Megan Mooney

Gabi Morris

Maria Muzzio

Lauren Offerman

Haley Showalter

Tarynn Sieg

Lily Tomasula-Martin

Tom Willems