How Indy native Cole Hocker set the U.S. indoor Mile record
“I think the sky’s the limit. Like it’s fast, indoors, 3:45, no doubt. But we’re talking big picture, I gotta be able to go 3:42 hopefully somewhere in my career.”
By David Woods, Special to IndyStar
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Nothing ever will compare to the Olympic Games, but Cole Hocker was feeling vibes similar to those from Stade de France.
The JDL Track was bulging with fans beyond listed capacity of 3,000 Saturday night. The ASICS Sound Invite featured lights, sound, camera.
Hocker supplied the action.
“Obviously, it’s a fraction of the people in Paris, but in a much tighter area. It was deafening,” he said. “Every lap felt like it was the last lap of the race. Eight hundred meters into it, I had to rein it in. It’s easy to get excited amid all the chaos.”
Hocker made a bid for an indoor world record and settled for an American record, running the Mile in 3:45.94, #2 all-time indoors and #2 absolute U.S. Mile time.
The 24-year-old Indianapolis native was surrounded afterward by fans wanting autographs and photos. And if anyone wondered whether this banked, 200 meter oval is indeed a fast track, he stated:
“Take it from me. The track feels amazing.”
Hocker was so close to the pacemaker that he was clipping his heels. The finish was so fast – 27.34 for last 200 meters, 54.82 for 400, 1:51.70 for 800 – that there was evidence Hocker did not expend everything.
The Cathedral High graduate broke the U.S. record of 3:46.63 set by Notre Dame grad Yared Nuguse at New York’s Millrose Games famed Wanamaker Mile in February 2025. Hocker’s 1500 meter time en route, 3:30.80, also broke Nuguse’s record of 3:31.74.
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Full race video below.
