Andrew Hauser pulls off dramatic finish to win Missouri Class 5 1600 title

Rock Bridge junior repeats as Missouri Class 5 1600 champion

Author:
Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports
Publish date:
May 27, 2023 12:29 AM EDT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Andrew Hauser was hurting, but he wasn’t going to give up or give in.

Trailing late in the Missouri Class 5 1600 on Friday afternoon at Jefferson City High School’s Adkins Stadium, the Rock Bridge junior standout kept pushing until he found himself within steps of the leader – as well as the finish line.

“As soon as you’re close, you kind of have to give it all you’ve got,” Hauser said. “My mom always preaches you have to leave it all out there. She usually wants me to end up on the ground afterwards, but I was a little bit too excited.”

Hauser pulled off the most dramatic finish of the day to beat Joplin’s Hobbs Campbell to the line – finishing in 4:12.79 just ahead of Campbell’s 4:13.01 – and then turned around and took off back down the track to greet his cheering section of family, friends and former teammates.

“That’s probably something I’ll remember for a really long time,” Hauser said. “... It really kind of fired me up.”

Hauser, who won the 1600 and finished third in the 3200 a year ago as a sophomore, has found motivation recently by watching some basketball.

“I’ve been watching a lot of like the NBA Finals, I’m rewatching The Last Dance because I knew that would get me motivated with Michael Jordan,” he said. “Just always been really intense and that was something where it kind of felt like there was a weight off my shoulders and being able to celebrate that with friends and family but also ex-teammates, people that have also pushed me to be here. So it was really special.”

Andrew Hauser Missouri track and field championships 5-26-23 Nate Latsch 22111

Hauser, who will compete in the 3200 final on Saturday afternoon, revealed after winning the 1600 that he has been dealing with a strain that has limited his training in recent weeks.

“I’ve been dealing with a ton of like stuff recently. I have like a strain in my hip flexor. I’ve ran like six miles in the past two weeks. I’ve been biking a lot. … It was pretty emotional. I told my coach yesterday that if I won this one it would probably mean the most to me, just because of how much I’ve had to do recently.”

“I know the last couple weeks haven’t gone my way, but I still am me and that was enough to keep me motivated and have a lot of hope,” Hauser added. “I kind of just told myself that if I won this one it wasn’t going to be because of what I ate or how much I slept – that all plays a big part of it – but if I won I knew I’d win it with a lot of heart and a lot of time with my teammates.”