Past, Present Wolverines Ready for US Olympic Trials
6/17/2021 1:22:00 PM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
U.S TRACK AND FIELD OLYMPIC TEAM TRAILS (Meet Central)
Fri-Sun., June 18-27 -- at U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials (Eugene, Ore.)
TV: NBC / NBC Sports Network | Live Results | Live Video | Events Schedule
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan track and field stars past and present will battle for berths to the Tokyo Olympics as the U.S. Olympic Trials begin Friday (June 18) at the same Hayward Field that hosted last weekend's NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Over the course of the 10-day meet, Mason Ferlic and Shannon Osika headline the alumni who will be contending for as many as three spots on the Olympics team in each individual event, and will be joined by current Wolverines Andrew Liskowitz and John Meyer in the men's shot put and Ziyah Holman in the women's 400 meters.
Joining Ferlic and Osika -- who are seeded among the top five in their respective men's steeplechase and women's 1,500-meter events -- as former Wolverines will be Steven Bastien (men's decathlon), Amanda Eccleston (women's 1,500 meters), Claire Kieffer-Wright (women's high jump), and Taylor McLaughlin (men's 400-meter hurdles).
Liskowitz and Meyer kick off the week with the qualifying rounds of the shot put Friday (June 18) at noon PDT with 12 spots on the line for the finals at 6:30 p.m. PDT. The six-time All-American Liskowitz, fresh off his fourth-place NCAA finish last week, enters the meet ranked No. 9 in the field, with two-time All-American Meyer ranked 15th. Having already achieved the Olympics qualifying standard, Liskowitz only needs to finish top-three to clinch a spot on the Olympic team, while Meyer would need to finish top three and throw at least 21.10m.
Friday also will feature the first of three rounds in both the women's 1,500 meters at 4:03 p.m. PDT and the women's 400 meters at 4:30 p.m. PDT.
Osika is ranked third in the 1,500-meter field with her 4:00.73 that exceeds the Olympics standard, and would only need to finish top-three to secure her spot to Tokyo. Eccleston, who missed out on a 2016 Olympics berth by fractions of a second in her last Trials appearance, is No. 26 in the field and would need to both meet the standard of 4:04.20 and finish in the top three in the final to make the squad.
The top six in each of the three first-round heats automatically will advance to Saturday's (June 19) semifinals along with the next six fastest finishers. From the two semifinal heats, the top five finishers and the next two fastest will qualify for Monday's final.
First-year phenom Holman will represent the Wolverines in the 400 meters after qualifying to NCAAs and winning a pair of Big Ten titles in her debut collegiate campaign. She currently stands 0.06 seconds shy of the 51.35 Olympics qualifying standard, and would need to achieve that mark and finish top-three to qualify for the Olympics.
She is ranked No. 17 in the field, and will look to advance among 16 women to Saturday's semifinals. The top three in each of the four first-round heats will advance to two semifinal heats. From those, the top three finishers in each heat earn an automatic berth to Sunday's (June 20) final, and will be joined by the next two fastest finishers.
Friday also will see two-time Big Ten champion Kieffer-Wright contest the first round of the high jump competition at 4:45 p.m. PDT. Should she be among the 12 women who advance, she would compete for a berth to Tokyo on Sunday. Having not yet met the Olympic qualifying standard of 1.96m, she would need to clear at least that bar and finish top three to make the team. She has a best of 1.81m so far in 2021 after having not competed since 2019.
Saturday will mark the first of two days in the decathlon for multiple-time All-American Bastien. His competitions begin Saturday at 1 p.m. PDT and continues Sunday at 12:15 p.m. PDT. The decathlon is expected to conclude around 7:30 p.m. PDT. Bastien's best of 8,008 points during the qualifying period that dates back to 2019 does not reach the Olympics qualifying standard of 8,350 points, so he would need to both achieve at least that score and finish top-three to qualify for Tokyo.
Ferlic, who is ranked third and is in strong position to challenge for an Olympic berth in what has been the best year of his career, will compete in the first round of the 3,000-meter steeplechase on Monday at 4:29 p.m. PDT. A spot to the final on June 25 will be at stake.
With a best of 8:18.49 to his name this year, Ferlic has achieved by nearly four seconds the Olympics qualifying standard and needs only to finish in the top three in the June 25 final to punch his ticket to Tokyo.
Rounding out the Michigan competitors with the latest first-round competition is four-time All-American hurdler Taylor McLaughlin, who is entered in his signature 400-meter hurdles event. The first round begins on June 24, with spots at stake for the June 26 final that will decide the Olympics team.
McLaughlin has a 48.85 best from the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships that ranks him No. 10 in the field, though he has not contested the event since that national meet just over two years ago. Should he finish top-three on June 26, he would clinch a spot on Team USA in the event.
The meet will be televised live on NBC and NBC Sports Network, and live results will be available from Flash Results. The official social media channels of Michigan track and field will also be providing updates throughout the Trials.
Players Mentioned
