Brown, Shostak punch tickets to Olympics

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  Texas A&M University-Commerce Track and Field alumni Josh Brown (left) and Mariana Shostak qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris this past weekend. Brown will represent the United States in the discus throw, while Shostak will represent Ukraine in the 4x400-meter relay. Lion Athletics Photos

  Texas A&M University-Commerce Track and Field alumni Josh Brown (left) and Mariana Shostak qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris this past weekend. Brown will represent the United States in the discus throw, while Shostak will represent Ukraine in the 4x400-meter relay. Lion Athletics Photos

EUGENE, Ore. and LVIV, Ukraine — Two former Texas A&M University-Commerce track and field student-athletes booked a trip to the Paris 2024 Olympics over the weekend.

Joseph Brown made Team USA in the men's discus, while Mariana Shostak won the 400 meter dash National Championship for Ukraine and is part of Team Ukraine's mixed 4x400 meter relay in Paris.

Brown came in seeded as the third-best thrower in the field at last week's US Olympic Trials at Hayward Field and was among the eight throwers to make Saturday's finals. Brown was in eighth place entering the sixth and final throws and recorded a mark of 215-10 (65.79m) to move up to all the way to third.

The top three finishers in the men's discus who had recorded the Olympic Standard over the past year made Team USA and advanced to the Olympics. Brown had already hit the Olympic Standard coming into the trials, thus sealing his ticket to Paris. Brown is a former National Champion at A&M-Commerce.

Ukraine qualified for the mixed 4x400 meter relay at the Olympics by finishing in the top 14 at the World Athletics Relays in the Bahamas last month. Shostak raced to a personal best time of 52.11 seconds to win the 400 meter dash at the Ukrainian National Championships on Saturday and is part of the mixed 4x400 relay team for Ukraine. Shostak had two top-three finishes at the National Championships and is a five-time All-American fo the Lions.

A&M-Commerce is now up to three track student-athletes that are slated to participate in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. Ibrahim Fuseini will represent Ghana in the men's 4x100 meter relay, Brown in the men's discus for the United States, and Shostak in the mixed 4x400 meter relay for Ukraine.