Former and Current Buckeyes Eye Olympic Bids at 2004 U.S. Track and Field Trials – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/30/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
June 30, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Six members of the 2004 Ohio State track and field team will compete in the 2004 United States Olympic Trials in Sacramento, Calif. July 9-18. All six earned All-America honors at the NCAA outdoor championships in June, including nine-time career All-American Dan Taylor, who will vie for a bid in the shot put to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece August 13-29. Three former Buckeyes also will attempt to gain a spot on the U.S. Team, highlighted by current track and field assistant coach and cross country head coach Robert Gary, who aims at his second Olympic trip in the men’s steeplechase.
Taylor (Sr., Middlefield, Ohio/Berkshire) is one of three from the OSU men’s team as fellow seniors Joel Brown (Baltimore, Md./Woodlawn) and Rob Myers (Rushville, Ohio/ Fairfield Union) will run for spots in the 110-meter hurdles and 1,500-meter run, respectively. Brown placed third at the NCAA championships and heads to the trials toting a qualifying time of 13.42. Myers placed fourth at nationals and ranks in the 1,500m field with a time of 3:39.60.
Taylor, who will enter the trials with a 2004 top mark of 68 feet, 7 inches (68-7/ 20.62m), will be the first Buckeye to compete as the men’s shot qualifying round is set for Friday, July 9 at 6:10 p.m. PDT. Myers will take the track for the quarterfinals of his event Thursday, July 15, with Brown set to run in the qualifier of the hurdles Saturday, July 17.
The OSU women are represented by three underclassmen as juniors Rosalind Goodwin (Prospect, Ky./ Louisville Ballard) and Keturah Lofton (Zanesville, Ohio/ Zanesville) aim at bids in the triple jump and hammer throw events, while sophomore Amarachi Ukabam (Creve Couer, Mo./ Marquette) hopes for a slot in the discus or the shot put. Goodwin turned in a top leap of 44-7.50 (13.30m) at NCAA’s. Lofton captured the Big Ten record in the hammer on three occasions this season, topping out at 204-7 (62.36m). Ukabam’s best in the discus reached 181-9 (56.21m), while her best mark in the shot set an Ohio State record at 54-7.50 (16.74m). Goodwin will compete in the qualifying round of the triple jump Friday, July 9 and Ukabam will follow the next day in the discus qualifier and Thursday, July 15 for the shot put. Lofton’s qualifying round takes place Monday, July 12.
An additional pair of former Buckeyes joins Gary at the trials in former NCAA hurdles champion Donica Merriman and six-time Big Ten champion Ian Connor. Merriman, the 2001 national champ in the both the indoor 60m and outdoor 100m hurdles, heads to the trials boasting the fourth-best time in the country at 12.65. Connor will compete with Myers in the 1,500 meters, holding a time of 3:40.22. Gary, who ran the steeple in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, is ranked third in his field heading to the trials in a time of 8:24.82.
