By David Fleet

Editor

Cooper Teare is now just two races from making the U.S Olympic team.

 On June 11, Teare, a senior distance runner for the University of Oregon, won the 5,000 meter NCAA Track and Field championship with the time of 13:12.24 besting  the needed  Olympic Standard time of 13:13.50.

Teare is the son of Dave and Charlene Teare of Alameda, Calif. Dave is a former resident of Ortonville and a 1980 graduate of Brandon High School.

After a year shutdowns due to the pandemic, the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials will now determine the team headed to the Tokyo Games this summer. Starting on June 18, the best athletes from around the country have been going head-to-head at the newly renovated Hayward Field located in Eugene, Or.

The race, at Teare’s home track at the University of Oregon finals will be at 1:30 p.m., (EST), June 27. The events will be on NBCSN and NBC.

Cooper Teare was unavailable for comment prior to Thursday’s preliminary race, however his father David reflected on his son’s  career.

“Ever since seventh grade Cooper has been singularly focused on running,” said David. “He was an awesome skateboarder, he played basketball, soccer, lacrosse, etc. but one by one he gave them all up to focus on running.”

Teare’s road to a possible Olympic team includes a stellar career at the University of Oregon as ab All-American in both track and Cross Country.

On Feb. 12, Teare ran the fastest collegiate indoor mile ever with a time of 3:50.39 at the Tyson Invitational at the University of Arkansas. That effort easily broke the old record by 1.62 seconds.
“By the end of high school he had been to Peru, Finland and all over the United States competing, but when he got the offer to attend the university of Oregon, home to his idol, Steve Prefontaine, we thought it couldn’t get any better than that,” he said. “Now he is standing at the door to track and field’s greatest honor, competing for team USA in the Olympics”
On Jan. 29, also at the University of Arkansas, the Oregon Ducks ran to a world indoor record as well as an NCAA Indoor record in the Distance Medley Relay with a time of 9:19.42. The Distance Medley Relay consists of legs of 1,200, 400, 800 and 1,600 meters. Teare anchored the relay with a 1,600 meter split of 3:53. The Oregon relay team, with Teare running the anchor, also had broken a 12 year old NCAA record in the DMR in the winter of 2020.
“Whether or not he can walk through that door, we could not be more proud of him and how hard he has worked just for the honor of competing in the Olympic trials,” said David.
“Cooper feels the support from friends, family and acquaintances from around the country and the world, including those in my hometown of Ortonville. Thanks for the support, and go Cooper.”