Good Sports: Fresno native wins NCAA indoor track and field championship

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The average person can run a mile in about nine-and-a-half minutes, but Georgetown's Abel Teffra can do it in under four.

"The last like 50 meters, I felt like I had another gear in me," he said. "With about like 10 meters to go, I looked to my right, I looked to my left, I see no one coming up and I put my hands out. It was just a great feeling."

The Fresno native is not only fast. He's the fastest in the nation.

Teffra just won the NCAA indoor title with a mile time of 3:53.60.

"This moment meant a lot for me," he said.

He broke the former NCAA indoor record held by Olympic Gold Medalist, Cole Hocker.

"I journal a lot, I write a lot," Teffra said. "I wrote about how I'm built for these moments and it means so much for me to even be here, so the whole day was just awesome."

Teffra went to Central East High School.

"I'm a firm believer that the Central Valley breeds a lot of the world's best athletes," he said. "I don't even know how many people we have from Fresno in the NFL right now."

Five years ago, Action News was at Teffra's signing day.

At the time, the young runner was deciding between the University of Portland, Cal and Georgetown.

"It almost felt impulsive at the time," he said. "I came to Georgetown and I was welcomed in, appreciated and the rest is history."

With a national title in hand, Teffra says he hopes his running journey is only getting started, with a professional career and Olympic dreams on the horizon.

"I don't want to get a job after college," he said. "I want to keep running, so that's just kind of been my driving force."

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