University of Tennessee Athletics
UT Well-Represented at U.S. Olympic Trials
June 30, 2016 | Track & Field
UPDATED: VFLs Sarah Brown and Tavis Bailey added
EUGENE, Ore. -- Tennessee will be well-represented at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials with 12 VFLs and four current UT student-athletes competing for spots on Team USA for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., will host the U.S. Olympic team trials from July 1-10. Friday will feature the Opening Ceremony at 3:30 p.m. PT/6:30 p.m. ET.
Current Vols (those set to return for the 2016-17 academic year) competing at the U.S. Trials include All-Americans Christian Coleman, Nathan Strother, Chelsea Blaase and Cassie Wertman. Coleman, the 2016 NCAA Indoor champion in the 200 meters, has qualified to compete in both the men's 100 meters (July 2-3) and 200 meters (July 7-9). Strother will compete in the men's 400 meters from July 1-3. Blaase will run in the women's 10,000-meter final on July 2. Wertman will compete in the women's shot put on July 7.
Recent alums and All-Americans Jake Blankenship and Felicia Brown will look to continue the success from their respective 2016 senior campaigns. Blankenship, was the NCAA Outdoor Champion and SEC Outdoor Champion in the men's pole vault, owns the No. 3 mark entering trials. The men's pole vault will have its qualifying on July 2 and finals on July 4. Brown was the 2016 NCAA Indoor champion in the 200 meters and emerged as one of the world's elite sprinters. She will compete in the women's 200 meters with the first round on July 8, semifinals on July 9 and finals on July 10.
Four-time Olympic medalist and VFL Justin Gatlin will try for his third trip to the Olympics. Gatlin, who earned gold (100m) and silver (4x100) at the 2004 Athens Olympics and bronze (200m, 100m) at the 2012 London Olympics, enters the U.S. Trials with the nation's top mark in both the men's 100 meters (9.77) and 200 meters (19.74).
VFL Aries Merritt, who won gold in the men's 110-meter hurdles at the 2012 London Olympics, has returned to the sport after undergoing a kidney transplant from his sister in August. Merritt took bronze in the event at the 2015 World Championships just four days before surgery and continues to shine as one of the best in the world in the event. Merritt owns the No. 5 qualifying mark of 13.24.
VFL Tavis Bailey will compete in the men's discus. Bailey, who was the 2015 national runner-up, qualified with a PR of 65.82 meters on May 29 in Salinas, Calif. That throw was the No. 4 overall mark to qualify for trials.
VFL Tianna Bartoletta, formerly Tianna Madison, was a 2012 Olympic gold medalist in the women's 4x100. She earned gold in the long jump for Team USA at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing and will try to make her second Olympic team. Bartoletta owns the No. 6 qualifying time in the women's 100 meters at 10.94 and the No. 2 qualifying mark in the women's long jump at 7.14 meters.
Like Gatlin, VFL and three-time Olympic medalist DeeDee Trotter will try to make her third Olympic Team. Trotter earned gold on the women's 4x400 at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics and bronze in the 400 meters in London. Trotter owns the No. 14 qualifying mark in the 400 meters at 51.24.
VFL Liz Costello, who earned indoor All-America honors at Tennessee in 2011 after a great career at Princeton, will run in both the women's 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters. She enters with the No. 23 qualifying mark in the 5,000 meters at 15:28.88 and the No. 6 time in the 10,000 meters at 31:43.79.
VFL distance great Sarah Brown, formerly Sarah Bowman, will compete in the women's 1,500 meters. Brown, running for New Balance, owns the No. 3 entry time at 4:03.20.
The women's 800 meters will feature a pair of Tennessee alums in VFLs Chanelle Price and Phoebe Wright. Price enters with the No. 4 time of 1:59.10 and Wright owns the No. 13 time of 2:00.61. In 2015, Price earned gold for the U.S. at the NACAC Championships (800 meters) and the World Relay Championships (4x800). Wright was the 2011 USA Indoor champ in the 800 meters finished fifth at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials.
VFL Ellen Wortham will compete in the women's 400-meter hurdles. Wortham clocked the No. 30 time of 56.91 on June 11 in Montverde, Fla. She competed at the 2012 Olympic Trials, just missing the finals for the 400-meter hurdles with a 10th-place semifinal time of 55.87.
Below is a list of U.S. Olympic Trials events featuring VFLs and current Tennessee student-athletes.
Men's 100m
First Round: Saturday, July 2, at 1:01 p.m. PT/4:01 p.m. ET
Semifinals: Sunday, July 3, at 4:19 p.m. PT/7:19 p.m. ET
Final: Sunday, July 3, at 5:53 p.m. PT/8:53 p.m. ET
Justin Gatlin (Nike) - No. 1 qualifying mark - 9.77
Christian Coleman (Tennessee) - No. 14 qualifying mark - 10.03
Men's 200m
First Round: Thursday, July 7, at 5:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. ET
Semifinals: Friday, July 8, at 5:37 p.m. PT/8:37 p.m. ET
Final: Saturday, July 9, at 5:42 p.m. PT/8:42 p.m. ET
Justin Gatlin (Nike) - No. 1 qualifying mark - 19.74
Christian Coleman (Tennessee) - No. 20 qualifying mark - 20.26
Men's 400m
First Round: Friday, July 1, at 5:15 p.m. PT/8:15 p.m. ET
Semifinals: Saturday, July 2, at 1:46 p.m. PT/4:46 p.m. ET
Final: Sunday, July 3, at 4:48 p.m. PT/7:48 p.m. ET
Nathan Strother (Tennessee) - No. 8 qualifying mark - 45.07
Men's 110m Hurdles
First Round: Friday, July 8, at 3:02 p.m. PT/6:02 p.m. ET
Semifinals: Saturday, July 9, at 4:25 p.m. PT/7:25 p.m. ET
Final: Saturday, July 9, at 5:52 p.m. PT/8:52 p.m. ET
Aries Merritt (Nike) - No. 5 qualifying mark - 13.24
Men's Discus
Qualifying: Thursday, July 7, at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET
Final: Friday, July 8, at 3:30 p.m. PT/6:30 p.m. ET
Tavis Bailey - No. 4 qualifying mark - 65.82m
Men's Pole Vault
Qualifying: Saturday, July 2, at 10:30 a.m. PT/1:30 p.m. ET
Final: Monday, July 4, at 3:30 p.m. PT/6:30 p.m. ET
Jake Blankenship - No. 3 qualifying mark - 5.72m
Women's 100m
First Round: Saturday, July 2, at 12:33 p.m. PT/3:33 p.m. ET
Semifinals: Sunday, July 3, at 4:02 p.m. PT/7:02 p.m. ET
Final: Sunday, July 3, at 5:44 p.m. PT/8:44 p.m. ET
Tianna Bartoletta (Nike) - No. 6 qualifying mark - 10.94
Women's 200m
First Round: Friday, July 8, at 3:30 p.m. PT/6:30 p.m. ET
Semifinals: Saturday, July 9, at 5:03 p.m. PT/8:03 p.m. ET
Final: Sunday, July 10, at 5:11 p.m. PT/8:11 p.m. ET
Felicia Brown - No. 8 qualifying mark - 22.26
Women's 400m
First Round: Friday, July 1, at 5:45 p.m. PT/8:45 p.m. ET
Semifinals: Saturday, July 2, at 1:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. ET
Final: Sunday, July 3, at 4:38 p.m. PT/7:38 p.m. ET
DeeDee Trotter - No. 14 qualifying mark - 51.24
Women's 800m
First Round: Friday, July 1, at 4:45 p.m. PT/7:45 p.m. ET
Semifinals: Saturday, July 2, at 11:43 a.m. PT/2:43 p.m. ET
Final: Monday, July 4, at 5:42 p.m. PT/8:42 p.m. ET
Chanelle Price (Nike) - No. 4 qualifying mark - 1:59.10
Phoebe Wright (Nike) - No. 13 qualifying mark - 2:00.61
Women's 1,500m
First Round: Thursday, July 7, at 6:26 p.m. PT/9:26 p.m. ET
Semifinals: Friday, July 8, at 5:03 p.m. PT/8:03 p.m. ET
Final: Sunday, July 10, at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET
Sarah Brown (New Balance) - No. 3 qualifying mark - 4:03.20
Women's 5,000m
First Round: Friday, July 7, at 4:20 p.m. PT/7:20 p.m. ET
Final: Sunday, July 10, at 4:28 p.m. PT/7:28 p.m. ET
Liz Costello (New Balance / New Balance Boston) - No. 23 qualifying mark - 15:28.88
Women's 10,000m
Final: Saturday, July 2, at 11:04 a.m. PT/2:04 p.m. ET
Liz Costello (New Balance / New Balance Boston) - No. 6 qualifying mark - 31:43.79
Chelsea Blaase (Tennessee) - No. 17 qualifying mark - 32:08.39
Women's 400m Hurdles
First Round: Thursday, July 7, at 5:58 p.m. PT/8:58 p.m. ET
Semifinals: Friday, July 8, at 4:31 p.m. PT/7:31 p.m. ET
Final: Sunday, July 10, at 4:03 p.m. PT/7:03 p.m. ET
Ellen Wortham - No. 30 qualifying mark - 56.91
Women's Long Jump
Qualifying: Friday, July 1, at 5:10 p.m. PT/8:10 p.m. ET
Final: Saturday, July 2, at 11:45 a.m. PT/2:45 p.m. ET
Tianna Bartoletta (Nike) - No. 2 qualifying mark - 7.14m
Women's Shot Put
Qualifying: Thursday, July 7, at 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET
Final: Thursday, July 7 at 6:15 p.m. PT/9:15 p.m. ET
Cassie Wertman (Tennessee) - No. 20 qualifying mark - 17.68m
