WACO, Texas - The Baylor track and field team will be represented by nine current and former athletes at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, which start Friday and continue through July 10, at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
In Eugene, the top three finishers per individual event make the Olympic team, provided they have met the Olympic standard qualifying mark or time at some point since May 1, 2015.
ATHLETES
TRAYVON BROMELL | 100 Meters
Trials Schedule: First Round - Saturday, July 2 at 3:01 p.m. CT | Semifinals - Sunday, July 3 at 6:19 p.m. CT | Finals - Sunday, July 3 at 7:53 p.m. CT
In two seasons in Waco (2014-15), Bromell won two NCAA individual titles (2014 outdoor 100 meters & 2015 indoor 200 meters) and five Big 12 titles. He garnered four NCAA All-American performances and 10 All-Big 12 accolades. He rewrote the record books as he holds all 10 of the fastest 100-meter times in BU history, while also tallying school records in the indoor 60 and 200 meters.
JAMES GILREATH | 800 Meters
Trials Schedule: First Round - Friday, July 1 at 6:15 p.m. CT | Semifinals - Saturday, July 2 at 2 p.m. CT | Finals - Monday, July 4 at 7:51 p.m. CT
Olympic Outlook: Gilreath owns the 24th-fastest qualifying time (1:46.70) in the 800-meter field. He set that time at the Portland Track Festival on June 12, 2016.
Baylor Highlights: Gilreath was a member of the BU squad from 2008-2012. He ran the lead-off leg for BU’s sixth-place 4x400-meter relay at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Gilreath was also a three-time Big 12 Champion (2010 Indoor 800m, 2010 Indoor DMR, 2011 Indoor DMR) and is still the Baylor record holder in the indoor 800 meters and as member of the indoor DMR.
RACHEL JOHNSON | 3,000-Meter Steeplechase
Trials Schedule: First Round - Monday, July 4 at 6:03 p.m. CT | Finals - Thursday, July 7 at 9:48 p.m. CT
Baylor Highlights: In her four years in Waco, (2011-15), Johnson totaled six individual All-America honors, which is tied for the second-most in school history. In her senior season, she became the fourth Baylor female athlete to earn All-American honors in cross country, indoor and outdoor track in the same school year. She was fifth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November and then tallied a sixth-place finish in the 3,000-meters and a second-place finish in the 5,000-meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships, before taking sixth in the steeplechase at the outdoor meet.
WIL LONDON | 400 MetersTrials Schedule: First Round - Friday, July 1 at 7:15 p.m. CT | Semifinals - Saturday, July 2 at 3:46 p.m. CT | Finals - Sunday, July 3 at 6:48 p.m. CT
Olympic Outlook: After claiming gold in the 400 meters at the USATF Junior Championships last week, freshman Wil London enters the meet with the 18th-fastest qualifying mark (45.28). That time was achieved in April while winning the Michael Johnson Invitational title.
Baylor Highlights: London enjoyed a breakout freshman season in Waco, he won the Big 12 Outdoor 400-meter title with a time of 45.36 and had the top qualifying time at the NCAA West Preliminary Championships (45.84). In Eugene at the NCAA Championships, the Waco, Texas, product placed 14th in qualifying. During the indoor season, he earned All-America honors with an eighth-place showing in the individual 400 meters and as a member of the 4x400-meter relay. London was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year as well.
TIFFANI McREYNOLDS | 100-Meter HurdlesTrials Schedule: First Round - Thursday, July 7 at 7:02 p.m. CT | Semifinals - Friday, July 8 at 5:58 p.m. CT | Finals - Saturday, July 9 at 7:53 p.m. CT
Olympic Outlook: Tiffani McReynolds enters the meet with the 23rd-best qualifying time at 12.88. She set that mark at the Michael Johnson Invitational in March in Waco. At the 2012 Olympic Trials, McReynolds finished 27th with a time of 13.39, but she was coming off an injury in that year.
Baylor Highlights: Over the course of five years in Waco (2011-15), Tiffani McReynolds won seven Big 12 hurdle titles (four indoors, three outdoors) and racked up five All-America performances, including three runner-up finishes at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 60-meter hurdles. She still owns all 10 of the fastest 60-meter and 100-meter hurdle times in school history.
LAUREN (HAGANS) PAQUETTE | 5,000 Meters
Trials Schedule: First Round - Thursday, July 7 at 6:20 p.m. CT | Finals - Sunday, July 10 at 6:28 p.m. CT
Baylor Highlights: In her time at Baylor (2004-08), Paquette (formerly Hagans) was an All-American during the 2007 cross country season and secured five more All-America accolades in track (2008 indoor 3,000m, 2006-08 indoor DMR and 2008 outdoor 1,500m). She won Big 12 titles as a member of the 2008 indoor DMR and in 2008 in the outdoor 800 meters. Paquette is still the BU school record holder in the outdoor 1,500 meters
TIFFANY TOWNSEND | 100 Meters & 200 Meters
100M Trials Schedule: First Round - Saturday, July 2 at 2:33 p.m. CT | Semifinals - Sunday, July 3 at 6:02 p.m. CT | Finals - Sunday, July 3 at 7:44 p.m. CT
200M Trials Schedule: First Round - Friday, July 8 at 5:30 p.m. CT | Semifinals - Saturday, July 9 at 7:03 p.m. CT | Finals - Sunday, July 10 at 7:11 p.m. CT
Olympic Outlook: Tiffany Townsend boasts the 12-fastest qualifying time (11.08) in the 100 meters and sits with the 20th-best 200-meter mark (22.62) entering the meet. At the 2012 Olympic Trials, Tiffany Townsend finished 19th in the semifinals with a time of 11.56 in the 100 meters and she was 12th in the semifinals of the 200 meters with a time of 22.96.
Baylor Highlights: Tiffany Townsend wrapped up her collegiate career (2008-11) as the most decorated athlete in program history as she claimed 17 All-America honors. She also claimed two Big 12 titles as a member of BU’s outdoor 4x400-meter relay in 2008 and 2009. Townsend is still the BU record holder in the indoor 60 and 200 meters and in the outdoor 100 and 200 meters.
JEREMY WARINER | 400 Meters
Trials Schedule: First Round - Friday, July 1 at 7:15 p.m. CT | Semifinals - Saturday, July 2 at 3:46 p.m. CT | Finals - Sunday, July 3 at 6:48 p.m. CT
Olympic Outlook: Jeremy Wariner will be looking to make his fourth Olympic team in 2016. In the 400 meters, he owns the 23rd-fastest qualifying time at 45.42. Wariner won gold in the 2004 Athens Games and also claimed world titles in 2005 and 2007. He took silver in the event at the 2008 Beijing Games and also was a member of BU’s gold medal winning 4x400-meter relay teams in 2004 and 2008. In 2012, Wariner made the team as a member of the relay squad, but a hamstring injury did not allow him to compete.
Baylor Highlights: In his two years in Waco (2002-04), Wariner became the first athlete to sweep the major 400-meter titles in one year in 2004, by winning the Olympic gold, the U.S. Championship and the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor titles. Wariner also helped Baylor capture the 4x400-meter relay NCAA Indoor and Outdoor championships in 2004, the indoor title with a then NCAA-record time of 3:03.96. Wariner still owns the indoor and outdoor 400-meter school records at BU.
OLICIA WILLIAMS | 800 Meters
Trials Schedule: First Round - Friday, July 1 at 6:45 p.m. CT | Semifinals - Saturday, July 2 at 1:43 p.m. CT | Finals - Monday, July 4 at 7:42 p.m. CT
Baylor Highlights: Olicia Williams closed out her Baylor career in June by placing 13th in qualifying at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Earlier this year, she won the 800-meter title at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship with a time of 2:04.12. That victory paired with Williams' indoor 800-meter conference title, which she claimed in February. She is the first BU athlete and the fifth Big 12 athlete to win indoor and outdoor 800-meter titles in the same year. She earned All-America honors in the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships in the 800 meters and as a member of the distance medley relay. She is in the indoor and outdoor school record holder in the 800 meters.
COVERAGE
NBC, NBCSN and the NBC Sports app will have full television coverage of the meet each day.
