EUGENE, Ore. (June 21, 2024) – The first day of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials could not have gone any better for the Northern Arizona University track and field team, as
Nico Young finished third in the 10,000-meters and qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics, clocking a time of 27:52.40.
It marked just the second career 10k for Young, who set the collegiate record of 26:52.72 back on March 16, 2024 to qualify for the Olympic trials. Young qualifies along with Nike runners Grant Fisher (27:49.47) and Woody Kincaid (27:50.74).
Also representing Northern Arizona was 2017 graduate Brooke Andersen in the hammer throw and current Lumberjack junior
Colin Sahlman in the 1500-meters.
Andersen is moving on to Sunday's finals in the hammer throw after placing first in today's qualifying round. Andersen needed just one throw, tossing 76.25 meters on her first attempt to immediately move into first place and was able to pass on her next two. Andersen is eyeing her second Olympic team after qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics in the hammer in 2020. The finals are set for 5 p.m. Mountain Standard time on Sunday, June 23.
In a tight men's 1500-meter heat where a half of a second separated first and 11
th place, Sahlman emerged as the winner to auto qualify for tomorrow night's semifinal with a time of 3:38.67, finishing 20
th overall. Sahlman has ran the fourth fastest time in NCAA history in the 1500-meter this season and will toe the line at 6:54 p.m. MST on Saturday evening with his eyes on the final.
Futsum Zienasellassie, a 2016 graduate, finished 12
th in the 10k with a time of 28:32.43.
Northern Arizona sent a group of 10 qualifiers made up of both current and past student-athletes competing in 10 events over the next two weeks during the trials. Still to come are
Alyson Churchill in the women's 10k,
Karrie Baloga in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase,
Maggi Congdon in the women's 1500-meter,
David Dunlap in the men's 200-meter, and Young and Abdihamid Nur in the men's 5k.
To view the entire broadcast schedule, click
here. For live results, click
here.
