The road to the Paris Summer Games for America's best runners, jumpers and throwers will go through Eugene, Oregon as the U.S Olympic Track & Field Trials return to historic Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon from Friday, June 21-Sunday, June 30.
There will be eight days of competition spread across 10 days, with many of the best athletes in the world fighting for the right to be inside the Stade de France in northern Paris when the track and field portion of the Summer Games begins Aug. 2. Only the top 35 in the country in the running events and top 24 in the field events are invited to compete.
Brahmir Vick (110-meter hurdles) and Braden Presser (javelin), both 2024 graduates of the Naval Academy, as well as rising senior Jacques Guillaume (400-meter hurdles) and rising junior Nathan Kent (400 meters) will represent the Naval Academy at the Olympic Trials, a meet that is expected to include five individual gold medalists from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and seven individual gold medalists from the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
"Having four guys going out there to compete in the Olympic Trials has already brought a heightened state to our program," said Naval Academy Director of Track & Field Jamie Cook. "Our guys have earned a lot of accolades and a lot of notice has been given to our program so it's an exciting time for us to keep building on. The brand is getting bigger and more and more people are getting interested in Navy Track & Field."
Vick received Second-Team All-America laurels for his performance at the NCAA Track & Field Championship held last week in Eugene. He took 16th place in the 110m hurdles by posting the third-fastest time in school history at 13.66. Navy's outdoor captain is just the second Midshipmen to claim All-America distinction in a hurdle event and the first since Robert Banks in 1946.
"The focus is to just execute and compete and make sure you are being clean and efficient," said Vick. "I meditate at night and think about the race over and over again and get my mind in tune with my body. I've been running 13.6 for awhile now, so I feel like a breakthrough is near."
Vick will run in the first round at 8:05 PM (ET) on Monday, June 24 on NBC and Peacock. The semifinals will take place at 8:01 PM (ET) on Thursday, June 27 on NBC and Peacock, while the finals are at 10:50 PM (ET) on Friday, June 28 on NBC and Peacock.
Presser became the second athlete in team history to be named an All-American three times. He received Second-Team All-America honors in the javelin thanks to a throw of 69.15m (226' 10") at the NCAA Championship. His distance helped him place 16th overall in the event. Only Leo Williams had been named an All-American three times before Presser. He garnered All-America accolades in the high jump in 1981, '82 and '83 during both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
"I'm really excited for this opportunity and it's great to get to experience this with three of my teammates," said Presser. "I think I'm more excited about being able to watch and cheer on my teammates than I am about competing myself. For the Naval Academy to have four athletes competing in this is really cool."
Presser will compete on Friday at 6:30 PM (ET) in the first round on USA and Peacock, while the finals are at 9:40 PM (ET) on Sunday, June 23 on NBC and Peacock.
Guillaume is coming off a school record performance in the 400-meter hurdles where he ran a 50.79 at the NCAA East Preliminaries. Guillaume beat the previous school record by 0.16, which was set by Clayton Thompson in 2019.
Guillaume will run on Thursday, June 27 in the first round at either 9:20 or 9:49 PM (ET) on USA and Peacock. The semifinals are on Friday, June 28 at 9:21 PM (ET) on Peacock, while the finals are at 8:20 PM (ET) on Sunday, June 30 on NBC and Peacock.
Kent, who is also a member of the football team, led the Mids at the NCAA Championship with a 13th-place finish in the 400 meters. He earned Second-Team All-America accolades by clocking in a time of 45.85, which was the third fastest time in school history (Kent also owns the second fastest time in school history). Additionally, Kent is the first midshipman to be named an All-American in the 400m.
Kent will run on Friday at 6:20 PM (ET) on Peacock. The 400-meter semifinals will take place at 9:35 PM on Sunday, June 23 (NBC and Peacock), while the finals will be run at 9:59 PM (ET) on Monday, June 24 (NBC or Peacock).
The Olympic Trials caps off a special year for the track & field program at the Naval Academy as the Mids ran their streak to 20-consecutive wins over Army in the men's and women's indoor and outdoor Star meets and won both the men's and women's titles at the last nine Patriot League Championships between the indoor and outdoor meets.
17 июн 2024
