A&M-Commerce alums Brown, Smith set to compete in US Olympic Trials in Eugene

A&M-Commerce alums Brown, Smith set to compete in US Olympic Trials in Eugene Image

• Texas A&M University-Commerce Track and Field alumni Joseph Brown (left) and J.T. Smith will be competing in the US Olympic Trials this week. Brown will be looking to qualify in the discus throw, while Smith is attempting to qualify in the 100-meter dash. Lion Athletics Photos

Lion Athletics Wed, 06/26/2024 - 07:08 Body

EUGENE, Ore. — Two Texas A&M University- Commerce track & field alums and former national champions are set to compete in the US Olympic Trials this week at the historic Hayward Field, hoping to secure a bid to the Paris 2024 games.

Joseph Brown, the 2019 men's discus national champion, competes in the discus event at the Olympic Trials. The native of Mansfield declared with a mark of 67.92 meters, which is third-best in the field.

J.T. Smith, who won the 2021 4x100-meter relay national championship and the 100 meter dash national championship in 2022 is slated to compete in the 100-meter dash, his seed time of 10.02 seconds is 14th in the field.

Brown and Smith look to join current Lion, Ibrahim Fuseini, in Paris. Fuesini has qualified for the 4x100 meter relay for his home country of Ghana.

The first round of the men's discus is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. local (8:45 p.m. central) Thursday, June 27. The top qualifiers then move on to the finals, which are Saturday, June 29, at 4:30 p.m. local (6:30 p.m. central). The top three competitors who meet the Olympic Standard will represent Team USA at the Paris Olympics. The Olympic Standard in the men's discus for this year's games is 67.20 meters.

There are three rounds of the 100-meter dash. The first round is scheduled for 6:20 p.m. local (8:20 p.m. central) on Saturday. The next two rounds are on Sunday, with the finals being the highlight event of the night at 7:49 p.m. local (9:49 p.m. central). The top three medalists that meet the Olympic Standard of 10.00 seconds will make Team USA. There is one additional spot in the 100-meter dash at the Olympics, reserved for the athlete with the best World Athletics ranking, who did not qualify through their country's trials.

Live results of the Olympic Trials can be found at https://results. usatf.org/2024trials/. The entire Olympic Trials can be watched on the NBC Family of Networks, with select Prime Time broadcast windows on NBC. The full broadcast schedule can be found at https:// www.usatf.org/events/ event-resource-pages/television- webcast-schedule.