Harvard Athletes Excel at USA Olympics Track and Field Trials

A name not normally associated with the Olympics, the Harvard women’s track and field program made its presence felt during the trials period, as a strong contingent of student athletes competed for spots on their respective nation’s roster.

Coming off of a year that saw her claim both indoor and outdoor All-American status in the shot put, rising senior Nikki Okwelogu insured a Harvard presence at the Olympics games by qualifying in the shot put.

The Fresno, Calif. native first met the Olympic qualifying standard by throwing a 17.91 mark to win the NCAA Eastern Regional competition. The senior then took home the title in the same events at the Nigerian Olympic Trials to gain a spot on the 35-person Nigerian roster.

Despite qualifying for the Olympics, Okwelogu paid her way to Brazil in order to compete after being notified that the Nigerian Federation would be unable to pay for her ticket. The rising senior set up a GoFundMe to help raise money in order to compete in Rio de Janeiro.

Back in the States, the Crimson sent a strong contingent of athletes to the US Olympic trials in Eugene, Or., with the competitors looking to secure a top-three finish in order to obtain a spot on the Olympic team.

Recent Harvard graduates Paige Kouba ’16 and Autumne Franklin ’16 led the group of five athletes that also included rising sophomore and first team outdoor All-American Gabby Thomas, rising junior and first team indoor All-American Courtney Smith, and rising senior and second team outdoor All-American Jade Miller.

Smith started off the string of performances with a 22nd place finish in the 10000 meters. Despite keeping pace with the leaders for the 1600 meters, the rising junior–who was the only collegiate competitor in the field–was unable to keep up, ultimately crossing the line with a time of 35:45.82.

A few days late, Kouba–who lives in Eugene and had been a volunteer at previous renditions of the Trials– stepped onto the track to compete in the 3000-meter steeplechase, clocking in with a time of 10:13.82, good for 31st.

Though the distance runners turned in solid performances, it was the sprinters who made some noise in the latter half of the competition.

Miller and Franklin both competed in the 400 meter hurdles, the same event the two had garnered All-American honors just a few weeks beforehand at the NCAA Championships.

Franklin posted a time of 56.17 in the first round to advance as one of the top 16 competitors, while Miller fell just short with a time of 56.77, just over half a second slower than the time needed to move on to the next round.

Franklin improved her time in the second round, finishing third with a time of 55.40 seconds before culminating her performance in the final round.

The Owning Hills, Md. native continued to improve by clocking in at 54.65 seconds but was unable to clinch a spot in the Olympics, finishing sixth overall, a half-second behind Sydney McLaughlin for the final roster spot.

Competing in the 200 meters, Thomas continued to demonstrate the impressive progress that saw her claim third in the 200 meters at the NCAA Championships in her debut season with Harvard.

After posting times of 22.91 and 22.72 seconds in the first and second rounds of the competition, Thomas was one of just three collegiate athletes in the event finals. The Florence, Mass. native replicated Franklin’s performance by taking sixth place, clocking in at 22.72 seconds, less than 0.2 seconds behind third place finisher and defending event champion Jenna Prandini.

While no Crimson athlete qualified for a spot in the US Olympic roster, the five competitors were the third most sent by a women’s collegiate program–just behind perennial powerhouses Oregon and Arkansas.

–Staff writer Julio Fierro can be reached at julio.fierro@thecrimson.com.