Hoare, Hull and Little all pursuing back-to-back titles in Austin, with McDonald seeking first outdoor crown following national championships in cross country and indoor track

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

For Oregon’s Jessica Hull and Wisconsin’s Morgan McDonald, it was an introduction to historic Hayward Field, but also a glimpse into the future of what it would be like competing in front of passionate track and field fans on a regular basis in the United States.

Hayward Field has since undergone renovations, the reason the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships have been moved this year from Eugene, Ore., to Austin, Texas.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS | TV/WEBCAST INFO

But for Australian standouts Hull and McDonald, their American debuts in 2014 at the IAAF World U-20 Championships were just the beginning of their impact on the sport in the U.S. competing in the American collegiate system.

They had already been inspired by fellow Australians Linden Hall placing third for Florida State in the women’s 1,500 meters and Patrick Tiernan finishing sixth for Villanova in the men’s 5,000 on the same Hayward Field track a month earlier at the NCAA outdoor final.

Five years later, Hull and McDonald have elevated not only their own performances to become Division 1 champions, but also the competition throughout the NCAA. And they’re not alone, as Stanford’s Mackenzie Little and Wisconsin’s Oliver Hoare have also made history by capturing Division 1 titles as well.

All four athletes have reunited this week at Mike A. Myers Stadium – part of an impressive contingent of 16 Australians competing at the meet – with more championships in their sights and another opportunity to add to their country’s legacy when it comes to collegiate track and field.

HOARE, McDONALD AND HULL DISCUSS MAKING HISTORY, INFLUENCING YOUNGER AUSTRALIAN ATHLETES

“It means a lot because I think people just weren’t aware before of the whole collegiate system and everything going on here,” said Little, the reigning women’s javelin champion.

“It’s now more in the media and people are understanding what’s going on and understanding that these are really high-quality meets and that there’s some really incredible people here and that it’s a really valuable thing for us to be doing.

“We hopefully have to get a couple of Aussie flags out there. That would be incredible. I’m so excited to watch them, and I also want to compete and I want to do well. I want people to know that Australia is an amazing place and that I’m so proud to be from there.”

Medal of honor

Although McDonald was the first of the championship quartet to make the leap to competing in college in the U.S. in the fall of 2014, placing 75th for Wisconsin as a freshman at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, it was Little who achieved the first international success among the group a year earlier.

Perhaps lost in the shuffle among several talented sprinters, hurdlers and distance runners who excelled at the 2013 IAAF U-18 World Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine, and would go on to find more success competing for Division 1 programs in the future, was a 16-year-old javelin thrower from Roseville in New South Wales.

Little produced a lifetime-best throw with the 500-gram javelin of 201 feet, 8 inches (61.47m) to not only capture the World U-18 gold medal, but also establish a new meet record, one that was eventually eclipsed in 2017 by Cuban gold medalist Marisleisys Duarthe with an effort of 206-5 (62.92m).

Little joined Kim Mickle, who secured the gold in 2001 in Hungary, as World U-18 javelin champions representing Australia. Monique Cilione also captured a bronze medal for Australia in the event in France in 2011.

“Australia is really quite strong in the javelin throw,” said Little, who now throws the 600-gram javelin and boasts a personal-best 198 feet (60.36m) with her winning throw from last year’s NCAA finals.

“We’ve had some really strong people and I have a bunch of people who I look up to in Australia who are throwing really well at the moment, so I hope it’s not surprising.”

Perhaps none stronger than Kathryn Mitchell, who placed ninth in the 2012 Olympics and sixth at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, before capturing a Commonwealth Games gold medal last year in Gold Coast, producing a national-record 226-1 (68.92m) that concluded 2018 as the world leader.

“The transition from the junior ranks and teams to the senior ones is really hard, but I think I’ve been incredibly lucky and I think you can get really lucky and have good opportunities here,” Little said. “They do that really well and I feel so supported, and I feel like I’ve changed as an athlete in the last four years, and I’ve seen that with all of those other people too. I’ve been really lucky and I’m so happy that they’ve also had a lot of success.”

Little also became the first Australian female athlete to win an NCAA javelin title, achieving even more recognition when she and Stanford two-sport star Jenna Gray became the first women’s teammates in Division 1 history to take the top two spots at the championship meet.

“I think Australians can continue to do well and there’s more and more people looking at the states and more people realizing this is such an incredible opportunity to come to a university in the states, with the phenomenal coaching and accessibility to training and school and everything combined, it’s pretty unique and unparalleled,” Little said. “I’ve had a wonderful experience and I hope that other people do look into it, because it’s really special.”

Special would be one of many words Little uses to describe what it meant to watch Hoare and Hull also win titles at last year’s NCAA outdoor finals, both 1,500 athletes also becoming the first Australians in Division 1 history to win their respective championships.

LITTLE ON UNPARALLELED NCAA SUCCESS FOR AUSTRALIAN ATHLETES IN RECENT YEARS 

“I love that the sport has kind of come into the spotlight a little bit with those others doing so phenomenally well and so I’m not alone out here because there’s so many other people and it feels like home,” Little said. “It’s so exciting. I love seeing them. I love hearing the Australian accents, that’s huge. I’m so proud of them and they’ve done so well. They’ve proven that we’ve made good choices and we can come out here and compete really well and this is a place where we’re all thriving. I’m so happy for them and I’m happy to be in it with them.”

In it for the long haul

Not only has McDonald been in the NCAA system the longest among his championship peers, but he has also represented Australia the most internationally among the quartet, both at the U-20 and senior levels.

From a pair of appearances at the World U-20 Cross Country Championships, in addition to the 10th-place finish he achieved in the 5,000 meters in 2014 at Hayward Field, McDonald had several opportunities as a teenager to represent his country.

But the opportunity to not only compete for Wisconsin, but be part of an elite group of distance runners contributing to lofty team goals each year has been an experience like no other for the Sydney native.

“In Australia, we have nothing like this collegiate system, where people are like Badger fans, we don’t have that,” said McDonald, who captured the NCAA cross country title in November in front of his home crowd at the Thomas Zimmer Championship course in Madison.

“So when you come over here, at first it’s kind of weird, but then you get to be a part of it and you realize how special it is and how amazing it is to work for each other and to work for this thing that is kind of greater than yourself, and how that does bring out the best performance of you as an individual.”

Those performances helped McDonald follow in the footsteps of Tiernan, the 2016 NCAA cross country champion, by winning his first national title.

Following indoor championships in both the 3,000 and 5,000 meters in March in Birmingham, Ala., McDonald is now aiming to become the first Australian to win the outdoor 5,000 crown since Northern Arizona’s David McNeill in 2010.

“Just seeing them have those performances does inspire me a lot and really did make me want to go out there and do the same. It is very special to me to be able to feel like I am adding to that and then seeing all these other Aussies come through, it’s crazy right now the depth that we have,” McDonald said. “It’s definitely that sense of group, that kind of what explains a lot of what you see right now. Definitely as I was coming through, I did have guys who were older than me to look up to and they definitely paved the way. It’s guys who I have known for a long time and who I’ve always looked up to and I’ve even been able to train with them and I learned a lot from them.”

That knowledge and experience gained, along with the wisdom shared from veteran Wisconsin coach Mick Byrne, helped prepare McDonald to tackle a pair of high-profile international meets while still in college.

McDonald finished 20th in the 5,000 at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London, running a personal-best 13:15.83 during his buildup that summer in Belgium. He followed that result by placing eighth last year in the 5,000 at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.

“It’s all about just continuing to gradually improve year after year, and the situation that I have right now with this setup that I have in Wisconsin with Mick, it’s all being aimed at kind of that long-term development. I couldn’t be happier with how it’s been going and I’m really excited to see where I do stack up,” McDonald said. “I’m still very far from where I want to end up in this sport, I have so much still to achieve. Competing at World Champs in London really showed me there’s still a big gap from where I’m at and where some of these other guys are.

“I think I am in a good spot, better than I was a couple of years ago. And when the time comes, I should be ready to take on that competition.”

A positive influence

Although Hoare had little international experience compared to Hull, Little and McDonald when he decided to leave Sydney to join the Wisconsin program in 2016, there was plenty of reassurance in knowing he had a friend and countryman waiting for him in Madison.

“Morgan was a big reason for me to come to the NCAA,” Hoare said. “His performances and his breakout in the NCAA kind of put me in the position to want to come over. Having that person to look up to and to train with the past few years is a big reason why I’ve been able to compete as well as I have.”

With McDonald not competing during the 2018 outdoor season, Hoare was thrust into the spotlight as Wisconsin’s top performer and potential national championship contender, albeit having to knock off 1,500-meter collegiate record holder Josh Kerr of New Mexico in order to capture the title.

He achieved that dream by winning in 3:44.77 on a rain-soaked Hayward Field track, not only becoming the first Australian male athlete in Division 1 history to capture the 1,500 championship, but securing the first national crown for Wisconsin since Don Gehrmann won three in a row in the mile from 1948-50.

“To be able to dip into that legacy and history of the NCAA, and how strong and powerful it’s been, to kind of have a bit of a footprint from an Australian standpoint is pretty cool. It was pretty awesome to see Jess and Mackenzie win a national championship, as well as myself,” Hoare said. “It kind of brings you to this point to get over here and be able to compete in such a fantastic competition to be able to go to college in the states is a really cool thing and to be able to develop over here and to get those rewards and to represent kind of our little part of the world is a special feeling.”

Hoare and McDonald also got to bring that Australian spirit to the 125th Penn Relays in April, helping Wisconsin end a 103-year drought by leading the Badgers to Championship of America titles over Big Ten rival Indiana in the distance medley relay – teaming with Corbin Ellis and Eric Brown – and 4xmile relay, joining forces with Zack Benning and Olin Hacker.

“That whole experience is something we’re always going to treasure. It’s going to be one of my favorite college experiences. To be able to win those titles and to hold those wheels up and for it being more than a century for Wisconsin not to win one, it was an incredible experience,” Hoare said. “We’ve been wanting Mick to push that button for a while. It was an exciting experience. To be able to embrace something with that legacy, for Morgan and I, it was really special to bring that with Benny and Olin, two Americans who grew up doing track and then seeing these Penn Relays and a lot of high school meets.”

Whether it’s been the memorable final stretch of his run to the 1,500 title last year or anchoring a Penn Relays DMR victory in a rainstorm over Indiana and reigning NCAA indoor champion Notre Dame at Franklin Field, the magnitude of Hoare’s achievements, along with his Australian peers, have been profound back home.

“The reaction I get when I get a chance to go home is pretty incredible, and it’s something you don’t fully take into consideration unless you see actually these kids coming up and wanting to come to the NCAA and wanting to do the SATs, and all the hassle to get over here because it is a bit of a system,” Hoare said. “It’s kind of cool to have that impact and to get kids to challenge themselves and push themselves to come over to this environment and take that next step because it has been, for me, a big next step in my athletic career and Morgan’s performances and Jess’ performances have definitely opened the gateway for a lot of Australians to try to come over here and take that step and see what they can achieve.”

As one of four Australians in the 1,500 final, along with Illinois State’s Jack Anstey, Arkansas’ Cameron Griffith and Washington’s Mick Stanovsek, Hoare knows his pursuit of becoming the first back-to-back champion in the event since Oregon’s Mac Fleet in 2013-14 will be another significant challenge.

“Mick’s training has always been a rollercoaster ride. It’s been a lot of fun, but I trust him completely and I know Morgan feels the same when it comes to taking it to that next step in the world class and by representing Australia, so I’m just excited to give it a crack and see what we can do,” said Hoare, noting there are 15 athletes who have run under 3:40 this season, the most in any year in NCAA history.

“The competition I’m getting is world class. I’m in great position to go through and try to chase a qualifier (for the World Championships or Olympics) and be able to compete for my country. To have these races is just a privilege to run against these caliber of athletes. It definitely helps me and Mick knows that.”

Back to where it all started

Hull, an Albion Park native, admits she didn’t fully comprehend, at the time in 2014, how powerful it was competing at Hayward Field when she finished seventh in the 3,000 meters at the World U-20 final.

But upon her arrival in Eugene in 2015, she quickly learned the value of having the prestigious facility as her home track, which she learned to appreciate with each opportunity to race there during the past three years.

“It’s been incredibly special,” Hull said. “When Morgan and I were together at World Juniors and Linden had just gotten third in the 1,500, I don’t think I realized how significant that was then.”

In addition to her victory last year in the 1,500 in a personal-best 4:08.75, Hull has also been part of additional history at Oregon, with the Ducks capturing the first triple crown of national titles in the same school year in 2016-17 in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track.

In addition to being the sixth runner on Oregon’s 2016 cross country championship team, Hull has also contributed to a pair of indoor DMR national titles the past two years.

“It goes back to cross country relays at our (Australian) national championships, where you would have your individual race on Saturday, and then a (relay) on a Monday. You would always want to be on that relay team,” Hull said. “That was developed at home for the school system and then you come over here and the team camaraderie is on another level again. It makes you rise up and it brings others with you and it’s pretty special to be part of something as a team and to always be working toward a team victory and team progress, rather than just being out there as an individual.”

The success of Hull and her fellow Australians at the Division 1 outdoor championship meet – including Washington’s Isobel Batt-Doyle, Florida’s Imogen Barrett and Jessica Pascoe, Providence’s Brianna Ilarda, Akron’s Mackenzie Andrews, UCLA’s Riley Kelly, Texas-San Antonio’s Gary Haasbroek, Princeton’s Ed Trippas, Virginia’s Brenton Foster and the aforementioned Anstey, Griffith and Stanovsek – has not only provided inspiration for the next wave of talented teenagers looking to challenge themselves by potentially competing in the U.S., but also a reminder of how meaningful it is to share such significant experiences with peers and longtime friends.

“When you see each other at meets, it’s not like we see each other every day, but it’s pretty special when you go to a track meet and have fellow countrymen out there in the same event as you,” Hull said. “I know it’s something we all appreciate and it’s always like a little bit of home when you see people you’ve gone through Juniors with and here we are again now working hard in the NCAAs.

“So now, if we’re inspiring younger Aussies to come across over here and give the NCAAs a crack and see how much that can help their development, I couldn’t be happier about that and hopefully they’ll make the jump. It’s exciting and also very humbling.”

Hull wants to provide even more motivation by becoming the first Division 1 female athlete to repeat in the 1,500 since Mississippi State’s Tiffany McWilliams in 2003-04 before taking on the professional ranks, an opportunity created first through her experiences with former Oregon coach Maurica Powell – who left Eugene with husband Andy Powell to take over the Washington program in the fall – and now with first-year mentor Helen Lehman-Winters, who enjoyed an impressive 15-year run in San Francisco before joining the Ducks.

“It’s been a process and a very detailed process with Maurica and with Helen, and we haven’t skipped any steps and we’ve worked on development as gradually as possible and I hope I can springboard forward off of this,” Hull said. “I recognize what Morgan said, that once you’re out there, you probably do realize there is still a big jump to be made, so you’ve just got to respect that process and wait until your time is ready.”

Although the event is still more than two years away, Hull can’t already help but be excited about the prospect of potentially reuniting with several of her fellow Australian athletes when the new Hayward Field is the host venue for the 2021 IAAF World Championships.

HOARE, McDONALD AND HULL ON GOALS TO MAKE AUSTRALIAN SENIOR NATIONAL TEAMS

“There would be nothing like it. It would honestly be the dream to seamlessly transition from the NCAA together into a senior team together, especially 2021 would be pretty special to go back to Eugene after 2014,” Hull said. “That would be extremely meaningful and that’s the goal. I’m pretty confident in these guys and hopefully I’ll be sitting alongside them again.”

Until then, there is more work to be done and additional history to achieve for all the Australian NCAA champions, whether it’s potential repeat victories for Hoare, Hull and Little, or McDonald possibly adding his first outdoor 5,000 crown to his titles in cross country and indoor track.

“It feels really special, because we’re a small country, but as a sporting nation we do so well and there is that bond that we have with each other and so you do have that sense of pride when you see your countrymen just do so well and the impact that we’re having right now on the NCAA is really cool to see,” McDonald said. “It is a pleasure to be part of that and I always want to keep adding to that and helping out the future Aussies that want to come over and want to be better runners. That’s very important to me.”