Courtesy of UC Irvine Media Relations

UC Irvine's Charles Jock earned a berth on the United States team for the IAAF World Championships following his performance in the 800 meters at the USA Track & Field Championships Sunday.
 
In the final at Hayward Field in Eugene Sunday, Jock led for the first 700 meters and held on to finish third with a school-record time of 1:44.67, breaking his own school mark of 1:44.75 he set at the NCAA Championships earlier this month.
 
Nicholas Symmonds of Oregon TC Elite, and a 2008 Olympian, won the race in 1:44.17 and Khadevis Robinson of Nike was second in 1:44.49.
 
Those three earned the spots on the American squad for the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea Aug. 27-Sept. 4.
 
Jock, at 21 years old, is the youngest of the trio as Symmonds is 27 and Robinson 34.  Symmonds has now won four straight USA 800-meter titles while Robinson had won the previous three (and also in 1999).
 
Jock had splits Sunday of 24.92 for 200 meters, 50.83 for 400 and 1:17.94 at 600.  He recently completed his junior season at UCI.
 
Charles Jock, Following Sunday's Race (from USA Track & Field):
On making the team:
“I'm still in shock. I looked up and saw that I got third and I was so emotional, it's crazy. I’m so excited, I can't even put the emotion into words.”
 
On his race:
“I felt in control and felt great today. I got my personal record and I’m happy with that. I made the team and I can't be mad.”
 
On the season:
"I've been racing hard for the last two months. I'm just going to take a break and recover for a little bit. It's been a long season and it's going to be even longer now."