Current and Former Ohio State Athletes Turn in Top Preliminary Times at 2005 USA Track and Field National Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
June 24, 2005
Columbus, Ohio – Several current and former Ohio State track and field student-athletes performed well Thursday in first-day action at the 2005 USA Track and Field National Championships at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Rob Myers, a 2004 All-American, posted the top qualifying time in the men’s 1,500-meter prelims, while fellow former All-American Joel Brown clocked the No. 4 qualifier in the men’s 110-meter hurdles. The men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase features the most athletes with Buckeye connections as current OSU runners Brian Olinger and Aaron Fisher each emerged from the prelims with a qualifying time, while Ohio State cross country head coach Robert Gary aslo moved on to the finals in the steeple with a qualifying time.
Myers won Heat No. 2 of the 1,500m in 3:38.96 to claim the top seed in the finals set for 5:32 p.m. EDT Saturday.
In the steeple, Olinger paced the Buckeye contingent with a fourth-place time of 8:37.05, ahead of Gary’s 8:39.16 sixth-place time and Fisher’s eigth-place finish of 8:45.15. The trio will run in the steeple final at 3:45 p.m. EDT Saturday. Gary, who doubles as a track and field distance coach, is a former U.S. Olympian, competing in the 1996 Atlanta Games and 2004 games in Athens, Greece.
Brown churned through the first heat of the 110m hurdles in 13.46, taking fourth in the prelim round. Terrence Trammell, a 2004 Olympian, paced the field in 13.37. The semifinals of the event are set for a 9:05 p.m. EDT start Friday.
ESPN will provide coverage of the 2005 USA Track and Field National Championships Saturday from 4-6 p.m. EDT. ESPN2 will broadcast events Sunday from 5-7 p.m.
