COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Seventeen current and former Texas A&M track student-athletes are set to compete at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials at Hayward Field.
Competition for a spot on Team USA begins Friday, June 18-27. The top three finishers in each final event secures a seat on the plane to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in late July.
Athing Mu, along with fellow current Aggies Bryce Deadmon, Brandon Miller and incoming freshman Katelyn Fairchild make their Olympic Trials debut. Mu highlights the group as one of the front runners in the women’s 800m with an American season-best time of 1:57.73, which currently ranks No. 2 in the world.
Miller, the 2021 NCAA 800m runner-up, enters the meet with a season-best time of 1:44.97. His time is the third fastest by an American this season, only behind 2021 NCAA Champion Isaiah Jewett (1:44.68) and adidas professional Bryce Hoppel (1:44.94). Deadmon enters the 400m as the fifth-fastest American in the 400m with his season-best time of 44.44.
Fairchild, a class of 2021 signee, was one of the nation’s top recruits in the javelin. Recently, she claimed the KSHSAA 4A state title with a toss of 170-0 (51.81m). Prior to winning the state title, she recorded her all-time personal best mark of 175-4 (53.44m). One of the youngest competitors in the meet, she enters seeded 16th.
Professional Aggies Jessica Beard, Donavan Brazier, Sam Hardin, Fred Kerley, Annie Kunz, Shamier Little, Maggie Malone, Natosha Rogers, Sammy Watson, Ameer Webb, Jacob Wooten and Audie Wyatt are in action.
Brazier enters the meet with a target on his back as one of the favorites in the men’s 800m. The Nike professional is the reigning IAAF World Champion and the current American record holder with a time of 1:42.34. Kerley, a three-time USATF 400m champion, steps down to compete in the 100m and 200m. The versatile speedster clocked a personal-best 9.91, a world-leading mark in April, and currently ranks as the fourth-fastest time in the world.
On the women’s side, Malone enters as the top American in the javelin. Recently, she set an American record toss of 219-2 (66.82m) in Chula Vista, California, on May 29. Her mark is currently ranked No. 3 in the world. Little, representing adidas, enters the 400m hurdles and has the second-fastest time in 2021 by an American this season at 53.12. Beard, the 2018 USATF Outdoor 400m silver medalist, enters the 400m with the sixth-fastest time by an American this season at 50.38.
Rogers, the 2012 Olympic Trials silver medalist, enters the 10,000m with the eighth-fastest qualifying time of 31:12.28. In January 2020, Rogers won the women’s crown at the USATF Cross Country Championships.
How to Follow
Coverage is provided by NBC and NBCSN over the eight nights of competition, including six in primetime on NBC. Additionally, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app present exclusive streaming coverage of select field events, including long jump, pole vault, shot put, hammer, javelin, discus, 20km race walk, decathlon and heptathlon. Live results are provided through Flashresults.com.
For complete schedule of events and more Olympic Trials information visit usatf.org.
Aggies at U.S. Olympic Trials
Men
Fred Kerley – 100m, 200m
Ameer Webb – 100m, 200m
Bryce Deadmon – 400m
Donavan Brazier – 800m, 1500m
Brandon Miller – 800m
Jacob Wooten – Pole Vault
Audie Wyatt – Pole Vault
Will Williams Jr. – Long Jump
Sam Hardin – Javelin
Women
Jessica Beard – 400m
Athing Mu – 800m
Natosha Rogers – 10,000m
Shamier Little – 400m Hurdles
Sammy Watson – 800m
Maggie Malone – Javelin
Katelyn Fairchild – Javelin
Annie Kunz – Heptathlon
