Cole Hocker (Cathedral), Lynna Irby (Pike) run to USA indoor titles in successive races

In back-to-back races, Indianapolis ruled track and field.

Cole Hocker completed a historic distance double, and Lynna Irby won the 400 meters to close out the USA Indoor Championships on Sunday at Spokane, Wash.

Top two in each event qualify for the World Indoor Championships at Belgrade, Serbia. Hocker has already declined his spot, focusing instead on July’s outdoor worlds at Eugene, Ore. Irby is undecided.

More: Cole Hocker comes up half a second short in bid to break American mile record

The senior national titles were the second and third for Hocker, 20, a Cathedral graduate. It was the first for Irby, 23, a 12-time state champion for Pike.

Hocker set a meet record of 3:39.09 in the 1,500 meters, breaking the mark of 3:40.80 set by Rob Myers in 2004. He won Saturday’s 3,000 in 7:47.50.

Hocker counted on his withering kick, and it did not fail him. He was in 10th place through 700 meters and fourth through 1,300, then sprinted the last lap in 26.89. He overtook Josh Thompson, second in 3:39.24.

“I prefer the 1,500 over the ‘3,’" Hocker said in a CNBC interview. “Coming back after yesterday, having to close hard, I knew it was going to be a tight one. These guys made me work for it.”

As he crossed the finish, Hocker held up two fingers, signaling his double triumph. He ran in the absence of Oregon training partner Cooper Teare, who tested positive for COVID-19.

Only men in the 2000s to win such an indoor double were Paul Chelimo (2018) and Will Leer (2013). Hocker became the first native Hoosier to win the indoor 3,000 since Terry Brahm (Heritage Hills) in 1991 and first in the 1,500 or mile since Pendleton’s Fred Wilt in 1951.

It is rare to win an indoor 400 coming from behind, and Irby almost never comes from behind.

She did so Sunday.

Irby finished first in 51.88, followed by 33-year-old Jessica Beard in 52.05 and Naasha Robinson in 52.50. Quanera Hayes, the 2021 Olympic Trials winner, was fifth in 53.17.

At 200, Robinson was first in 23.93, Hayes second in 24.03, Irby third in 24.11.

“When you get in those moments, you just have to make a move and be confident in it,” Irby said. “And that’s what happened today. I just made a move that had to be made.”

It was Irby’s fastest indoor time since 50.87 in the 2018 NCAAs. She is an Olympic gold medalist in the 1,600 relay, as is Indy sprinter Maicel Malone, the USA indoor champion in 1996 and 1994.

In the women’s 20-pound weight, Indiana State graduate Erin Reese was second with a throw of 77 feet, 10 inches. The weight is not contested at indoor worlds.

Mt. Vernon's Noble runs 3:56 mile

Elsewhere in indoor track and field:

>> At Boston: Lee University’s Christian Noble set an NCAA Division II record of 3:56.10 in the mile Sunday and later broke his own record with a time of 7:50.98 in the 3,000. Noble, a Mt. Vernon graduate, became the fourth-fastest miler ever out of an Indiana high school. Previous Div. II mile record was 3:56.74 by Kip Cheruiyot of Mt. St. Mary’s in 1986.

>> Big East: Butler came less than three-tenths of a second from second place in men’s team standings at Chicago. Connecticut scored 227 points, DePaul 99, Villanova 96, Butler 95. The Bulldogs were third in the closing 1,600 relay, just behind DePaul. Simon Bedard (13:43.04) and Barry Keane (13:43.81) were both under the meet record in the 5,000. Niki Ezeh won the women’s 60 hurdles in 8.46 and was second in the pentathlon with 3,829 points.

>> ACC men: Notre Dame’s Samuel Voelz, of New Palestine, was second in the 800 in 1:48.68 at Blacksburg, Va. Notre Dame champions were Dylan Jacobs, 7:49.79 in the 3,000, and Mathew Carmody, 13:47.85 in the 5,000. The Irish were second in the distance medley relay after Yared Nuguse fell on the anchor leg.

Contact IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Cole Hocker, Lynna Irby run to USA indoor titles in successive races