EUGENE, Ore. -- Senior Damian Hackett qualified for the championship final in the 1500 meters and will earn All-America status following a fifth-place finish in his heat on day one of the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships on Wednesday evening at Hayward Field. The 12-person final will be run on Friday, June 13 at 5:12 p.m. PT. with the top eight finishers earning first-team All-America honors and the next four capturing second-team accolades.

Unlike the days first semifinal, the runners went out fast with Hackett hanging out in eighth after the first lap. He ran with the pack in the middle third, getting to fourth at 700 meters before falling back to ninth for a short time. He turned it on in the home stretch, answering the bell on the final lap to move all the way back up to fifth after making his move to the outside to automatically qualify for the finals with a 3:42.17. His 52.81 0ver the final 400 meters was the fastest of the heat and guaranteed him All-America honors. 

Though Hackett's time was the fifth-fastest of the heat, it was also fifth-fastest at the meet - his time was more than nine seconds faster than heat one winner Jack Krull of Bradley (3:51.96) - Krull's time would have placed him last in heat two.