In the final race of his dominating Cornell track and field career, Damian Hackett ’25 finished less than half a second behind the winner of the National Collegiate Athletics Association 1500m championship race. With his eighth-place finish, Hackett capped off a record-breaking season by earning First Team All-American honors in the 1500m.
“It’s an honor to be selected,” Hackett said. “All-American was my reach goal from the start of the season so there is a sense of accomplishment to reach that goal — especially at the conclusion of my career at Cornell.”
In the first 20 seconds of the race, Hackett ran in the top three spots. After the first half of the race, Hackett had been shuffled back to sixth as the racers bunched closer together.
As the race continued, Hackett’s competitors pushed the pace. Hackett found himself further back than he had hoped. His final lap split was 51.53 seconds, which was 0.07 seconds shy of the race’s winner, Nathan Green from the University of Washington.
“Going into the race I knew it was going to be a stacked field. …That changes the race, because everyone is a great kicker, so you can’t necessarily rely on using your kick,” Hackett said, referring to a runner’s ability to increase their speed during the final stretch of a race. “The goal was to be more towards the front than I have been in the semifinals and use that to be more efficient.”
In the last 30 seconds of the race, Hackett moved to the outside lane in an attempt to make a final kick. This final push landed him in eighth place — a good enough finish to qualify for First Team All-American recognition. Hackett is proud that the program has “received more recognition” on the national stage that the NCAAs offers.
“It’s great to see our team culture come out and the [NCAAs] is an opportunity to showcase us on a bigger stage, which is great to see,” Hackett said. “[The team] is the most important thing to me, and the support from my teammates and people back home really made a difference.”
Cornell’s last track and field All-Americans were Austin Jamerson ’17 and Rudy Winkler ’17 in 2017. Hackett’s historic career at Cornell will also be remembered by his records, as he holds the fastest 1500m time in Cornell history, 3:36.78, which is also ranked No. 26 overall in the United States.
Hackett is number one on the all-time indoor mile list at Cornell, clocking in with a time of 3:56.15. He has the school’s best 800m time at 1:47.40, which he set this year at the Wake Forest Invitational, and the best ever 1000m time at 2:20.42. Hackett is mentioned 11 more times on Cornell’s men’s track and field record book.
“I always knew it would be tough to accomplish [those] goals,” Hackett said. “I am really proud of the strong tradition at Cornell track, and it’s an honor to have continued that.”
In the future, Hackett intends to continue running “in some form” and hopes to compete in the Ivy League’s Izumo Ekiden — an annual long-distance relay race where the Ivy League sends a select team of alumni runners to race in Japan.
He also recognized how important to him the team has been throughout his past four years. Hackett highlighted how proud he was to “be a Cornell runner” and an athlete in the Ivy League, which he says combines “athletic and academic” success for its athletes.
“It’s important to recognize what we have at Cornell, now more than ever, and the Ivy League more broadly — where culture is the key to success,” Hackett said. “I feel really good about leaving the program in a stronger place than it was when I came as a freshman. It's definitely what I am most proud of.”
Zeinab Faraj is the assistant sports editor on the 143rd editorial board and a member of the class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. You can reach her at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.
