Duncan Hamilton 'raised the bar' for Bozeman High, Montana State distance programs

The only high school team in any sport that's more dominant happens to ride the same bus to meets. The Hawks won their 10th consecutive state title in October, staying within one of the girls team's extraordinary run of championships. Their score of 41 was less than one-third of the total for Kalispell Glacier (139) as all five scorers secured all-state status. Duncan Hamilton finished second, Leonard McComas third, Dillon Humberger seventh, Renn Meuwissen 14th and Brooks Peters 15th. "I’m proud of the team and the coaches," said Hamilton, a senior co-captain who finished second for the second straight year and would win the Gatorade Montana Boys Cross Country Athlete of the Year honor. "We did a lot of hard work and put in a lot of miles."

Montana State's Duncan Hamilton competes in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA West Prelims on Friday, May 26 in Sacramento, Calif.

Duncan Hamilton (right) competes in the men's steeplechase final at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on June 11, 2021, in Eugene, Oregon.

Montana State's Duncan Hamilton breaks the school record for a converted mile time during a meet on Feb. 17 at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman.

Montana State's Matthew Richtman, left, and Duncan Hamilton compete at the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Nov. 19, 2022, in Stillwater, Okla.

BOZEMAN — He doesn't know exactly where his tendency to frontrun comes from, but Duncan Hamilton has some theories. It could be regularly training at altitude, or his strength, "so if I take it out hard, I feel like I can endure that pain the most."

"I guess being from Montana, too," he added. "We don't get quite as much competition as others so maybe I’m kind of just more used to being the guy in the front, too."

Hamilton tested the limits of his ability to lead races twice in Eugene, Oregon, last June. The first was at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, where he nearly led the men's steeplechase final wire-to-wire before being passed by Ahmed Jaziri of Eastern Kentucky on the final barrier. Hamilton had to surge and out-lean Georgetown's Parker Stokes at the line to get second.

Hamilton's second-place finish in 8 minutes, 18.878 seconds gained the Montana State standout even more national attention. That’ll happen if you run the third-fastest time in NCAA history and help push five runners under the World Championships standard (8:22).

MSU teammate Ben Perrin said he's "never been more inspired watching a race." MSU Athletics Director Leon Costello remembers receiving a video of the finish from his brother-in-law, Arkansas assistant coach Travis Goepfert, providing a closer look at MSU "forging its name in the track and field world," Costello said.

That set Hamilton up nicely for the next final just a few weeks later back in Eugene. It marked his second trip to the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships — Hamilton ran in the Olympic Trials the year before — and he positioned himself in the front group early. He even took the lead on lap six.

Montana State's Duncan Hamilton competes in the second heat of the men's steeplechase at the USATF Outdoor Championships on June 23, 2022, in Eugene, Oregon.

But the moment was fleeting, with the trio of Evan Jager, Hillary Bor and Benard Keter passing Hamilton on the next lap. He finished fourth — one spot away from making the World Championships team.

Hamilton is still proud of how he ran the race tactically, including the move to go up front against an Olympic silver medalist and American record holder (Jager) and two Olympic/Worlds finalists (Bor and Keter).

He missed his chance at gold twice last season, but Hamilton plans for this summer to be "a different story."

He's built confidence by competing in championship races, earning him All-American honors five times across indoor and outdoor seasons. The Bozeman High product — who plans to turn pro after this outdoor season — will look to go out on top by capturing a national title at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas, later this week.

"I think from failure you can kind of beat yourself up," Hamilton said, "or you can learn from it and turn it into motivation."

Montana State's Duncan Hamilton is all smiles after winning the men's 1,500 meters race at the Tom Gage Invite in Bozeman on May 6.

Hamilton will be one of five MSU distance runners competing at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. His first race will be in heat one of the men's steeplechase semifinals, which is set for 6:02 p.m. Mountain time on Wednesday. Teammates Levi Taylor (heat one) and Rob McManus (heat two) will also be competing in the event. The top five runners from each heat, plus the next two fastest times, will advance to the final at 7:24 p.m. MT on Friday. The meet will be broadcast on ESPNU Wednesday and on ESPN2 Thursday through Saturday.

Hamilton is still reckoning with how he got to this position. The pattern of success began long before enrolling at MSU, when Hamilton was growing up in Bozeman.

His love for running started in the fourth grade, when one of his soccer teammates invited him to join the Bozeman Track Club. The group convened at East Gallatin Park and was led by then-head coach Dave Skelton, who was "great at keeping it fun," Hamilton said. Moms would bring orange slices afterwards and kids would have water balloon fights.

"I think that was really helpful for me to kind of keep it fun for a while and not really get super competitive until high school," Hamilton said.

Hamilton's parents, Ryan and Jill, were big cyclists, and he "grew up outside," whether it be hiking or biking. He later added running to the mix, which helped him find his own passion for aerobic sports.

That continued into middle school and at Bozeman High. When Hamilton was in eighth grade, Bozeman's varsity cross country team consisted of seniors, providing a clean slate once he became a Hawk. Bozeman had also won the previous six state titles under then-head coach Clint May.

"The big goal of that year was like, ‘Oh, we’ve got to win state and keep the streak alive. We just lost our entire varsity squad, but we can still do it,’" Hamilton said. "I think that part really hooked me as well."

The early buy-in led to state titles in Hamilton's freshman and sophomore seasons in 2014 and 2015. He continued to gain strength and improve as a junior. Casey Jermyn, who became Bozeman's head coach that season, said Hamilton had the "winning combination" of drive and natural ability.

"He really had that extremely diligent work ethic where, as a coach, you never had to call Duncan Hamilton at six in the morning and be like, ‘Hey, make sure you’re up for that run,’" Jermyn said. "He was the guy that showed up all the time."

The Bozeman boys cross country team stands on the podium after winning the Class AA title on Oct. 21, 2017, in Helena.

Hamilton and senior Chase Equall served as team captains. Jermyn distinctly remembers the duo living up to that title, like during the infamous marker workout at Peets Hill.

It's a workout where "you’re designed to fail," Jermyn said. Each runner starts with one flag, or marker, at the start line and carries a second up a hill for three minutes. After the time elapsed, each runner drops their marker and jogs back down for recovery. The cycle repeats as each runner looks to beat their previous distance. If they can't surpass it twice in a row, they fail.

"And I remember those two really pushing that guys team to get one more rep in, not to give up," Jermyn said. "It's one of those ones where you really have to kind of push through. So I think those two were really a big part of the glue of that team."

Bozeman captured another state title that season. The Hawks also started getting national attention after winning the Nike Northwest Regional in 2016. But Bozeman still felt like an underdog going into Nike Cross Nationals, Hamilton said, laughing off any notions of winning a national title.

The heavy favorite was American Fork (Utah), led by defending NXN individual champion Casey Clinger, McKay Johns and Patrick Parker, each of whom later ran for BYU.

About a week before nationals, though, some doubt was cast on American Fork. A preview story on Letsrun.com noted how the gap had widened in recent meets between the first and fifth runners. Jermyn knew his runners had heard about a potential "dent in the armor" of American Fork.

He asked Hamilton at one of the last workouts before the meet if the Hawks had a real shot. The junior swiftly agreed, and Bozeman carried on its business.

"That team was really cool that way, where we didn't say anything, we didn't want to come and even really bring it up or jinx it," Jermyn said. "It was just like, do our thing and let the chips fall where they will."

The Hawks traveled to Portland, Oregon, for NXN, relying on the pack attack that had worked wonders all season. The return of senior Orrin Clark, who had missed several weeks due to a knee injury, helped build some confidence, too.

Clinger took first once again, with Johns in ninth and Parker in 20th. But the intrigue came outside the top 20. Equall was Bozeman's top finisher in 26th, followed by Hamilton (52nd), senior Riley Collins (56th), Clark (58th) and junior Leonard McComas (68th).

After the championship race was complete, meet officials corralled the top three teams for a ceremony to unveil the winners. The Hawks initially started to leave, thinking they missed the cut. Jermyn quickly ushered them back in.

When the results were announced — with Brentwood (Tennessee) in third and American Fork second — disbelief and overwhelming joy started to set in for Bozeman. Standing on that stage was "one of the most amazing moments of my career," Hamilton said.

"I don't think anyone even really gave us a shot," Jermyn said. "I think they kind of thought, ‘Oh yeah, that’d be a top 10 team.’ But when that was announced, just the elation among that team, seeing that come to fruition — that's something I’ll never forget."

Hamilton raced at the Arcadia Invitational and the state meet the following track season, and began seriously considering his future. Colleges hadn't shown much interest in him to that point — even as the No. 2 runner on a national title team — with Hamilton making visits to a handful of schools that included Northern Arizona and MSU.

He said there was certainly a financial component, but Hamilton also realized that several of his high school rivals — including Great Falls CMR's Cooper West, Great Falls’ Teagan Olson and Missoula Hellgate's Isaac Schmidt — were headed to MSU. The thought of combining forces was "super appealing," he said, along with continuing to train in Bozeman.

Future Montana State runners Duncan Hamilton (right, then at Bozeman), Ben Perrin (then at Kalispell Flathead) and Isaac Schmidt (then at Missoula Hellgate) run during the Class AA state 3,200 meters on May 26, 2018, in Great Falls.

Hamilton committed to the Bobcats after the state cross country meet that fall in 2017. The Hawks once again captured a state title, led by Hamilton in second place.

Hamilton, who was later named the Gatorade Montana Boys Cross Country Player of the Year, also earned second at NXR and 11th at NXN, which finally caught the attention of college coaches. But by that point, it was too late.

That spring, Hamilton continued building momentum on the track with a state title in the 1,600 meters and a second-place finish in the 3,200 meters. Later, as a freshman at MSU, he placed 15th at the Big Sky Cross Country Championships and 52nd at the NCAA Mountain Regional.

He redshirted his first indoor season, when the idea of running the steeplechase was brought to him by MSU head coach Lyle Weese. Hamilton was caught off guard when Weese told him he could potentially win the conference meet that spring after only doing a few hurdle drills.

Weese, a four-time All-American steeplechase runner at MSU, said Hamilton possessed the "basic skill set" for the event and also picked up hurdle techniques rather quickly. Jermyn, who ran with Weese at MSU, figured Hamilton would at least try the event in college.

"(Weese has) great drills and great technique tips," Hamilton said. "So to be able to work on that all of my freshman year was very helpful."

When he got to the men's steeplechase final at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships in May 2019 in Missoula, Hamilton said he didn't really know what he was doing. But he relied on the newly formed technique and Weese's confidence in him to take first in 9:10.17. Hamilton became the first Big Sky men's steeplechase champion from MSU since Weese in 2003.

Montana State's Duncan Hamilton competes in the Big Sky Conference men's steeplechase final on May 10, 2019, in Missoula.

Weese said it was evident Hamilton brought high expectations to MSU. The win at the conference meet raised them even further.

"The steeplechase, obviously, there's a little more technique to it than the flat events," Weese said. "The more years you can do it, obviously the better you’re going to be at it. So to win as a freshman was something that was quite spectacular. And then he kind of just took to that event right away."

It was also "a little unusual," Weese said, for Hamilton to immediately establish himself as a team leader. Hamilton attributes his leadership ability to participating in Boy Scouts growing up and being on teams throughout high school and college.

Teammates immediately point to that character trait. Perrin said Hamilton entered the program and "immediately raised the bar for everybody."

"Since I’ve gotten here, he's been the one who's been leading workouts, who's been keeping track of our rest time in between sets and reps," McManus added. "He's always pretty supportive during that time, just keeping us motivated, keeping us going."

After that freshman season, Hamilton continued to excel at MSU. He won three more Big Sky steeplechase titles and consistently qualified for national meets, most notably in 2020-21 when he made all three of the cross country, indoor and outdoor meets. He also competed in the 2021 Olympic Trials, which gave him the first indication he could run professionally.

But entering that level of competition was challenging.

"My first time getting to a new level was usually really hard for me," Hamilton said. "And that definitely can be (a struggle) to see all these people who are probably better than you and be like, ‘Oh, do I belong here?’"

Hamilton said that's steadily improved with getting more races under his belt and calming his nerves before meets. One strategy he's used before is imagining his competition as pacers.

Over the past year, Hamilton has also developed a holistic approach to training in hopes of making the transition to professional running easier.

Hamilton's routine consists of getting at least nine hours of sleep each night, plus a nap on most days. He focuses on eating "clean proteins," eliminating most sugar or processed foods and staying hydrated. He's picked up yoga, journaling and meditation to help "keep my confidence up."

He also emphasizes recovery. That means eating some protein within 30 minutes post-workout, a "good, clean meal" after that, stretching and putting on compression pants. Hamilton wants to continue adding elements once he goes pro, including a sport psychologist and working even more on nutrition.

"Having him as an example for all of that has been really nice because he just does everything at the highest level," Perrin said. "And that's why he's always going to all the national meets and winning all these awards."

Added Taylor: "He pretty much does exactly what any good runner should do. So it's easy to just kind of follow him and mimic what he does and hopefully it leads to your own success."

Getting his body and mind right is only part of the equation. Hamilton has met with agents and shoe companies to figure out where he’ll sign professionally. He's been using various people as a sounding board throughout the process, including Jermyn, Weese and MSU volunteer assistant Makena Morley, who is a pro runner for Asics.

"I still don't really believe that so many companies are interested in me," Hamilton said. "I think I’ve gotten more interest in running professionally than I did running in college, which is crazy to see this dream that I had finally coming true."

Hamilton will end his time at MSU with program records in the men's indoor mile (3:52.99), 3,000 (7:43.28), 5,000 (13:34.45) and the outdoor 1,500 (3:37.51) and 5,000 (13:30.5). He helped lead the men's cross country team to nationals last season, and brought himself, Perrin and Taylor below four minutes in the indoor mile (converted for altitude) in February.

He also broke his program and conference record in the steeplechase at the NCAA West Prelims on May 26 (8:16.23). It's the second-fastest time in NCAA history and was briefly the world-leading time, before being surpassed by eight runners at the Rabat Diamond League meet on May 28. On Monday, Hamilton became the first Bobcat ever named to the Pre-NCAAs watch list for The Bowerman, track and field's equivalent to the Heisman Trophy.

Costello called Hamilton's talent elite and said he's "in a class where there's nobody better."

"And if you look across the board, we’ve had some (elite talent at MSU) in a variety of different sports, but he's right up there with them," Costello added.

Montana State's Duncan Hamilton finished 14th in the men's steeplechase final in 8:45.67 at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in track and field June 25, 2021.

Jermyn hopes Montana residents can "understand how special this is" for Hamilton to compete at this level for his hometown program. It also reminds him of how much pride he had competing at MSU against bigger schools.

"I think that's really special and I hope he looks back — I mean, he will look back — and remember that for the rest of his life," Jermyn said. "And all of us fans, what a treat just to get to watch that and see that unfold."

It would be "icing on the cake," Jermyn added, for Hamilton to end his college career as a national champion — essentially the only thing missing from Hamilton's résumé.

To correct that, Hamilton said he hasn't changed much in his training, instead implementing a "gradual increase in everything." That's meant doubling tempo, doubling workouts (morning and evening sessions) and tweaking lifts in the weight room.

"Nothing crazy, nothing special, nothing new," Hamilton said. "But just more work and another year."

Hamilton is especially thankful for his MSU teammates who have "become a family" and Weese, who introduced him to the steeplechase and "potentially changed my running career forever."

"It takes a village for one person to succeed and for this whole team to succeed," Hamilton said. "There's so many people by my side, by our sides. Coaches, lift coaches, photographers, media, families. The amount of support that Bozeman has given is just amazing."

He’ll get even more support during and after the NCAA men's steeplechase final Friday night in Austin. Hamilton said he might tweak his race plan from last year slightly, but the confidence is high and he's expecting a different result than the narrow misses in Eugene.

"I have thought about those races (from last season) a lot," Hamilton said. "I don't want to feel that way again."

Montana State runner Duncan Hamilton is photographed Friday at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman.

Braden Shaw can be reached at [email protected] or 406-582-2690. Follow him on Twitter @ByBradenShaw

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