North Carolina had its footprints all over the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon last week.
From June 21 to Sunday, numerous athletes from the state of North Carolina and local collegiate athletes competed for an opportunity to represent the United States in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Very few made their Olympic dreams come true in the trials, but some came close and will have to wait until the Olympic team is selected on Sunday to know their fate.
Raleigh native and Wakefield High School graduate Veronica Fraley earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team for the discus throw. Fraley finished third in the women’s discus throw final with her best attempt falling at a distance of 62.54 meters.
For Fraley, she had a successful month of June. Earlier in the month, she won the 2024 NCAA discus national title as a graduate student at Vanderbilt with a throw of 63.66 meters. Fraley holds the school record for discus (63.66 meters) and shot put (18.29 meters).
In 2021, coming off her final season at Clemson where she spent the first two years of her college career, Fraley competed in the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, finishing 10th overall.
Although she spent the most recent track and field season at Roberts Wesleyan, former Duke pole vaulter Brynn King qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team after finishing third in the women’s pole vault final. King cleared a career-best 4.73 meters (15 feet, 6.25 inches) to punch her ticket to Paris.
UNC distance runner Parker Wolfe fell just short of outright qualifying for the Olympics after finishing third in the men’s 5,000-meter finals with a time of 13 minutes and 10.75 seconds.
Wolfe, the ACC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year and 2024 NCAA national champion for the 5,000-meter run, was just over a second shy of the second-place finish needed to qualify in the trials race.
“I had a feeling I could hang with these guys, and you just have to do it on the day,” Wolfe said to reporters after the race. “It’s definitely a big confidence boost that I can hang with those guys, and hopefully I can race them again in Paris.”
UNC alum Madison Wiltrout, a 2023 graduate, also came close to qualifying for the Olympics after finishing third in the women’s javelin finals. Wiltrout threw a personal-best distance of 61.17 meters, but it was just over a meter short of a guaranteed Olympic spot.
Wolfe and Wiltrout’s Olympic aspirations are still alive, but they’ll have to wait until Sunday to know if they’ll make the team for sure.
UNC also had junior Ethan Strand competing in the men’s 1,500-meter final, but he finished 12th with a time of 3:39.08 and did not qualify for the Olympics.
Craig Saddler II, a senior at UNC, went overseas to compete for a spot on the Great Britain Olympic Team, and he finished sixth in the men’s 400-meter hurdles finals with a time of 50.61 seconds. As of Sunday, Saddler’s Olympic status is not yet final.
Former NC State athlete Erika Kemp ran a 32:21.84 in the women’s 10,000 final to earn an eighth-place finish. Another former NC State athlete and Green Hope High School alum Elly Henes finished ninth in the women’s 10,000-meter final with a time of 32:25.17. Katelyn Tuohy, a former NC State athlete, competed in the women’s 5,000-meter final and finished 12th with a time of 15:33.40.
Cam Murray, who also went to NC State, made it to the final round of the men’s 110-meter hurdles and finished sixth with a time of 13.15. Former Wolfpack runner Andrew Colley raced in the men’s 10,000 meter final and finished eighth with a time of 28:05.05.
Michael Dickson, a former North Carolina A&T runner, finished seventh in the men’s 110-meter hurdles finals with a time of 13.21 seconds. NC A&T also had former athlete Trevor Stewart competing in the men’s 400-meter semifinals and former athlete Cambrea Sturgis running in the women’s 200-meter semifinals and women’s 100 semifinals. However, neither of them qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials final round.
ECU senior Sydni McMillan reached the women’s 100 hurdles semifinals, but she came in 21st place and short of the finals with a time of 13.51.
Campbell senior Dominique Alexander, a Millbrook High School graduate, advanced to the men’s 100-meter semifinals where he finished in 24th place with a time of 10.27 seconds.
Albemarle’s Akala Garrett, now running at the University of Texas, made the finals of the 400 hurdles but missed a spot on the team with a time of 55.01.
