But that hasn’t deterred two local athletes, who have made the trek to Eugene, Ore., in hopes of using the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for track and field as a launching pad for their road to Beijing.
Temple product Mike Hazle and former Copperas Cove standout Robert Griffin will try to punch their tickets to the Games of the XXIX Olympiad when they compete at the trials, which begin today and run through July 6 - at which point the U.S. track and field team for the 2008 Summer Games will be finalized.
Hazle - a 1997 Temple High School graduate and multi-sport athlete for the Wildcats - won’t compete until July 4, when the qualifying round in the men’s javelin throw gets under way at 3:30 p.m.
Sitting in the top 10 in the world rankings and perched atop the World Athletics Tour standings, Hazle is one of only three American throwers who have met the “A” qualifying standard of 81.80 meters for this year’s games. A country is allowed to enter three competitors per event, if all three athletes have met the “A” standard.
Hazle’s heave of 82.21 at a meet last month in Doha, Qatar, has him seeded third for the trials behind Breaux Greer (91.29) and Leigh Smith (83.74). The finals for the men’s javelin are scheduled for July 6.
Griffin, on the other hand, will go to work at 5:05 p.m. today in the quarterfinals of the men’s 400-meter hurdles.
After graduating early from Cove and skipping his final high school semester this spring to enroll at Baylor, Griffin - also a quarterback for the Bears - finished third at the NCAA outdoor championships but is seeded 16th for the trials.
His qualifying time of 49.22 seconds puts him an eyelash behind a pack of 14 “A” standard qualifiers that is led by James Carter (47.72).
The semifinals for the 400 hurdles are set for 1:55 p.m. Saturday and the finals will be at 2:17 p.m. Sunday.
Competing along with Hazle and Griffin will be several athletes who area fans might remember.
Former Baylor stars Jeremy Wariner and Darold Williamson and ex-Waco standout and current Baylor runner LeJerald Betters hold down three of the top seven seeds for the men’s 400.
University of Texas middle-distance man Jacob Hernandez is the No. 4 seed for the 800, and former UT athlete Leonel Manzano ranks third in the 1,500.
Kansas State’s Scott Sellers - a Katy Cinco Ranch product and the Texas Class 5A record holder - is the third seed in the high jump. Among those pushing Sellers for a spot on the U.S. team will be Grant Lindsey, who edged Temple’s Harry Sheppard for state gold as a Mansfield senior in 2007.
The No. 7 seed for the men’s triple jump is Shardae Boutte, the former El Paso Andress standout who bested an eight-man field that included Belton’s Ramonce Taylor for state gold in 2004.
On the women’s side, former UT star Marshevet Hooker sits third in the 100 and her sister, Destinee Hooker, ranks second in the high jump.
Ex-Plano standout and current Texas A&M athlete Porscha Lucas is seeded second for the 200, and high school teammate Erica McLain - now at Stanford - is in the same spot in the triple jump.
The Carter sisters, who rewrote the Texas high school record books in the throwing events, also will be on hand. Former UT star Michelle Carter ranks fourth in the shot put, and current Texas Tech competitor D’Andra Carter is the No. 10 seed for the discus.
If there are three U.S. athletes within the “A” standard - which there are for most events - then the top three finishers at the trials will compete in Beijing in August.
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
