Alameda native Cooper Teare finished second in the 3,000-meter race at the 114th annual Millrose Games on Saturday, Jan. 29 in New York City.

Teare, a 2017 St. Joseph Notre Dame (SJND) graduate, took the lead from Fairfield native Luis Grijalva at the beginning of the final lap — there were 11 laps total in the race. He maintained the lead well into the final stretch, but New Zealand native George Beamish was able to outrun the Olympic hopeful. Beamish began the final turn in fifth place. He ran on the outside edge to pass by two runners then was able to get the inside position from Teare with about 100 meters left. Teare took a quick glance at Beamish. He tried to hold Beamish off, but with about 20 meters left Beamish took the lead and the eventual victory.

Beamish finished the race at 7:39.50. Teare came in second at 7:39.61. His former University of Oregon (UO) track-and-field and cross-country teammate Cole Hocker came in third with a time of 7:39.83. Teare and Hocker were teammate during the 2021 NCAA track-and-field season. Grijalva, who was Beamish’s track-and-field and cross-country teammate at Northern Arizona University, finished fourth with a time of 7:41.21. Conner Mantz rounded out the top five with a time of 7:41.43. Mantz competed collegiately at Brigham Young University. He won the 2020 and 2021 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. Fifteen runners competed in the race.

Teare, 22, spent most of the race in the middle of the pack. He was in ninth place at lap 4, seventh at lap 6 and fifth at lap 8. Teare made his big push at lap 10 where he went from fifth place to second. Teare’s time was his personal best in the 3,000-meter distance.

The Millrose Games was Teare’s first racing competition as a professional athlete. He announced he signed a professional contract with Nike on Dec. 1, 2021.

Teare graduated from UO in spring 2021. He competed in the 2021 NCAA cross-country season last fall as a redshirt senior. He chose to forego his remaining eligibility and participation in the 2022 NCAA track-and-field season to turn pro.

Last June, Teare missed out on qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo by less than a second (“Teare Misses Olympics” July 8). Teare competed in the 5,000-meter (3.1 miles) race at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus on June 27, 2021. The top three in the competition advanced to the Olympics, which was delayed a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Teare finished fourth, however, with a time of 13:28.08, less than a second behind the third-place finisher. Teare was one of the youngest competitors in the field. He will try to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics in France.

The Millrose Games event serves as the first U.S. stop on the World Athletics World Indoor Tour for 2022.

Dozens of competitions took place at the event with participants ranging from professional, college and high school athletes. The event took place at the New Balance Track and Field Center in the Fort Washington Avenue Armory in New York City.