EUGENE — Friday got off to an inauspicious start for the former Oregon Ducks competing in the U.S. Olympic trials for track and field, as Matthew Centrowitz was a late scratch from the men’s 1,500 meters due to injury.

But in the end, all but one of the remaining current and former Ducks qualified for the next round in the middle-distance event, including a strong performance from Oregon junior Elliott Cook fresh off the NCAA championships.

“I think the pros know that the NCAA guys are the sharpest right now,” Cook said. “It’s something they need to worry about. A lot of them are gearing up for way later in the season. You have to expect the NCAA guys will show up in a meet like this. We have a little bit less pressure on us.”

Cole Hocker led the way in the first round, posting the fastest time of the day at 3 minutes, 34.54 seconds — a season best for the 23-year-old sixth-place finisher at the Tokyo Olympics. Sam Prakel also had a season best, finishing third in 3:35.37.

• WATCH: To see every event of the Olympic Trials for under $6, sign up for Peacock Premium ($5.99/month), NBC’s low-cost streaming service, which will broadcast every event through the final day. Top events will also be broadcast live on NBC and USA Network. If you don’t have cable, you can still watch some of those events live for free with Fubo (free trial) or with DirecTV Stream (free trial).

Following his second-place finish at the NCAAs earlier this month, Cook finished fifth in his heat and 13th overall with a time of 3:37.78. Cooper Teare was fifth in his heat in 3:38.74 and Matt Wisner took sixth in that same heat in 3:38.85.

The top five runners in Teare and Wisner’s heat finished within 0.07 seconds of one another.

“I almost just shut it down, and then I looked over and saw there was five guys coming out the side,” Teare said. “The main goal was to just keep advancing. Never take any day for granted. Get ready to get back out here in 24 hours.”

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Johnny Gregorek was the lone former Duck competing in the event not to qualify for the next round, placing 31st overall with a time of 3:39.24.

Cook is raring to go for the next day of competition.

“Eyes are on the final,” Cook said. “Get in the final and just see what happens. I’m sharp right now. I’ve got more confidence than I ever have with the way my NCAA season played out. I just want to show out for Hayward, man. I want the Eugene locals to remember my name and really do something fun in the final.”

Hocker, Prakel, Cook, Teare and Wisner will hit the track again in the 1,500 semifinal heats, scheduled for 6:56 p.m. Saturday at Hayward Field.

-- Ryan Clarke covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten Conference for The Oregonian and co-hosts the Soccer Made in Portland and Ducks Confidential podcasts. He can be reached at rclarke@oregonian.com or @RyanTClarke.

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