Robert Gary Gains Bid to 2004 Olympic Games in Steeplechase – Ohio State Buckeyes
7/15/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
July 15, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Robert Gary, a 1996 Olympian and current Ohio State cross country head coach, gained his second career bid to the U.S. team in the 3,000-meter steeplechase Thursday night at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials – Track and Field in Sacramento, Calif. Gary, running for adidas, placed third in the steeple in a career-best time of 8:19.46 to earn the final qualifying spot for the U.S. steeplechase squad, which will compete in Athens, Greece next month.
Gary, who owned the lead on two occasions during the race, placed behind three-time NCAA champion Daniel Lincoln of Nike and his winning time of 8:15.02. Gary’s teammate, Anthoney Famiglietti, clocked 8:17.91 to place second. Lincoln’s time established U.S. Championship and U.S. Olympic Trials standards and is the fastest time run by an American since 2001.
“I was running very hard out there and I wanted to take the lead,” Gary said in the media mixed zone after the race. “But, I felt kind of dead. So, I just tucked in and hoped no one came up from behind. Fam (Anthoney Famiglietti) did a great job of leading the race.
“Four years ago, I came here and tried to not mess up and didn’t run well,” Gary continued. “In 1996, I had nothing to lose and thought I could out-kick anybody with 50 meters to go.”
With his bid to the 2004 Games, Gary becomes the fifth Buckeye to compete in two Olympics, joining Mal Whitfield (1948, 1952), Glenn Davis (1956, 1960), Joe Greene (1992, 1996) and fellow steepler Mark Croghan, the only Buckeye to compete in three Olympics in 1992, 1996 and 2000. Croghan and Gary now have combined to represent the United States and Ohio State in the steeple in the last four Olympiads. In the 1996 Atlanta Games, Gary failed to advance to the finals in the steeple. Along with his duties at cross country head coach, Gary is the distance coach on the Ohio State track and field team.
Also running in the distance events were former Big Ten champion Buckeyes Ian Connor (1998-2001) and Rob Myers (2000-04), who each claimed spots in the semifinals of the men’s 1,500 meters. Myers headed the lead pack down the home stretch, but was edged at the finish line by Said Ahmed of Arkansas. Myers turned in a time of 3:41.81, falling just shy of Ahmed at 3:41.65 in Heat No. 3 to place fourth overall. Connor, running for Team Nike, used a time of 3:43.09 to take the No. 21 position in the standings and join Myers in the semis set for Friday night at 11 p.m. (EDT). A pair of female throwers also competed Thursday as Keturah Lofton (Jr., Zanesville, Ohio/ Zanesville) placed 12th in the finals of the women’s hammer, reaching a distance of 204 feet, 3 inches (62.26m), while Amarachi Ukabam (So., Creve Couer, Mo./ Marquette) advanced to her second event final of the trials with a 52-4.75 (15.97m) effort to place 10th in the qualifying round of the women’s shot put. The shot final is set for Friday evening at 10:45 p.m. (EDT). On Monday night, Ukabam extended past 180 feet to take 12th position in the discus final. Kristin Heaston of Nike won the women’s shot at a length of 58-10 (17.97m). The hammer winner was Erin Gilreath of New York Athletic Club at 231-0 (70.42m).
For a complete schedule and results of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials – Track and Field visit www.usatf.org .
3,000m Steeplechase – Finals
1 Daniel Lincoln Nike 8:15.02 2 Anthoney Famiglietti adidas 8:17.91 3 Robert Gary* adidas 8:19.46 *Earns Spot on U.S. Olympic Team
Men’s 1,500m – Preliminaries
1 Michael Stember Nike 3:41.65Q 2 Said Ahmed Arkansas 3:41.81Q 3 Alan Webb Nike 3:47.10Q 4 Rob Myers Unattached 3:41.83Q 5 Paul McMullen Coast Guard 3:42.06Q 21 Ian Connor Nike 3:43.09q
Women’s Hammer – Finals
1 Erin Gilreath Nyac 70.42m 231-00 69.27m 67.89m 68.07m 70.42m 68.78m 69.99m 2 Anna Mahon Nike 69.23m 227-01 64.37m FOUL 68.90m 68.74m 69.23m FOUL 3 Amber Campbell Coastal Carolina 65.98m 216-06 63.60m 64.62m FOUL 63.97m FOUL 65.98m 12 Keturah Lofton Unattached 62.26m 204-03 62.26m FOUL 61.49m
Women’s Shot Put – Preliminaries
1 Kristin Heaston Nike 17.93mq 58-10.00 17.93m x x 2 Laura Gerraughty North Carolina 17.75mq 58-03.00 17.18m FOUL 17.75m 3 Jillian Camarena Stanford 16.95mq 55-07.50 16.95m FOUL FOUL 10 Amarachi Ukabam Ohio State 15.97mq 52-04.75 15.54m FOUL 15.97m
