Luis Peralta gets back on track with victory at Oregon Twilight

Oregon’s Luis Peralta (left) out-leans Olympian Cole Hocker (right) to win the 2022 Oregon Twilight 800m on Friday. Photo by Logan Hannigan-Downs

By Joe Zochert

At Friday night’s Oregon Twilight, Luis Peralta raced with a different perspective than normal. “It was either race, or my season was over.” 

The Duck was able to rise to the occasion with a thrilling 800m win, clocking a 1:49.12 to barely edge out Cole Hocker in head-to-head battle. Hocker placed second with a 1:49.15.

Despite the big win over the 2020 Olympian, the opportunity for Peralta to even race on Friday night was more important than the victory.

The Twilight meet at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon was a do-or-die situation for his season as an injury threatened to hold him out of his last chance to qualify for regionals.

“I’ve got a little (calf) strain, I’ve been doing a lot of cross training,” Peralta said of his injury he sustained two weeks prior to the meet. 

After being added to the 800m field late on Thursday, Peralta knew that his goal was to get a qualifying time and earn his spot at regionals.

“I was focused on getting 1:50 to go to regionals,” he said.

With that time, his season should continue as it will likely secure him a spot in the West Region’s top 48 in the event. In May, the top athletes will get to compete at the West Preliminary Rounds in Arkansas and fight for their spot in the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field.

Friday’s result will definitely come as a sigh of relief for the Oregon redshirt sophomore. Peralta can now prioritize getting healthy.

“I feel good right now,” he assured after his 800m win.

This race could be a sign of progress for Peralta, who has been bitten twice by the injury bug this season, also straining his hamstring at the end of his indoor season.

His performance at the Twilight was a season’s best time and marked his first sub-1:50 run for the season. Peralta broke that mark eight times in 2021, but he still came up short of his goals in the Olympic year.

“I was less than a second away from the Olympic standard,” said Peralta about his 2021 season. “So I am very motivated to work hard and make it to Worlds.”

Even with last season providing motivation, there is another thing that goes through his mind to help distract him from his injuries when racing.

“Winning. I just focus on winning.”