Your guide to Texas Tech, area athletes in U.S. Olympic Trials opening weekend (2024)

Don WilliamsLubbock Avalanche-Journal

The U.S. Olympic Trials for track and field start Friday in Eugene, Oregon, and 17 current and former members of Texas Tech teams are scheduled to take part. The trials take place over a 10-day period at Hayward Field, where Tech hurdler Caleb Dean won an NCAA title two weeks ago.

The trials are structured with four days of competition from Friday through Monday, practice days with no competition on Tuesday and Wednesday and the remainder of the trials set for June 27-30. The track and field portion of the Olympics in Paris is scheduled from Aug. 1-11.

The NBC family of networks will air coverage each day. That includes on NBC, the USA Network and livestreaming on Peaco*ck, NBC and the NBC Sports apps.

Here are quick glances at athletes from Texas Tech, South Plains College and Wayland Baptist who are scheduled to compete in the first four-day period. The A-J will publish a breakdown next week of those scheduled to compete June 27-30.

All times below are CDT.

Denim Rogers, Texas Tech, decathlon

Rogers was the Big 12 runner-up and 10th at the NCAA championships in the heptathlon as a Texas Tech senior in 2023.

Schedule: Combined events at noon CDT, 1:01 p.m., 2:11 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 9:05 p.m. Friday; second day, combined events at noon, 1:08 p.m., 3:17 p.m., 7:15 p.m. and 9:38 p.m. Saturday.

Related:

Related: Caleb Dean's stellar 2024 season yields major national award

Vernon Norwood, South Plains College, 400 meters

Norwood, who turned 32 in April, ran a personal record 44.26 seconds last year in Budapest. He's a seven-time global gold medalist on U.S. men's 1,600-meter relay teams, including at the last Olympics in Tokyo.

Schedule: First round, 5:20 p.m. Friday; semifinals, 8:35 p.m. Sunday; final, 8:59 p.m. Monday.

Related: SPC grad Norwood wins Olympic bronze

Khaleb McRae, South Plains College, 400 meters

McRae won NJCAA titles in the 400 and the 600 meters for South Plains in 2021 before transferring to Alabama, where he's qualified for NCAA championships the past three years in the 400 and on relays.

Schedule: First round, 5:20 p.m. Friday; semifinals, 8:35 p.m. Sunday; final, 8:59 p.m. Monday.

Benard Keter, Wayland Baptist and Texas Tech, 3,000-meter steeplechase

Keter, 32, made Team USA for the last Olympics in Tokyo with a second-place finish at the U.S. Trials. He also won the silver medal at last year's U.S. championships at Hayward Field, running a personal record 8 minutes, 17.19 seconds.

Schedule: First round, 6:49 p.m. Friday; final, 9:07 p.m. Sunday.

Related: Tech's Keter makes U.S. Olympic team

Zach Bradford, Texas Tech, pole vault

The transfer from Kansas spent one year at Texas Tech, 2023, sweeping the Big 12 titles and finishing second at the NCAA indoor championships and third at the NCAA outdoor. His personal best is 19 feet, 4¾ inches.

Schedule: Qualifying, 7:50 p.m. Friday; final, 7:45 p.m. Sunday.

Related: Tech’s Bradford nets bronze at NCAA Championships

Alyssa Colbert, Texas Tech, 100 meters

In her first year at Tech, the transfer from Northern Arizona was the Big 12 runner-up and eighth in the 60 meters at this year's NCAA indoor championships and fourth in the Big 12 and 10th at the NCAA outdoor in the 100 meters.

Schedule: First round, 7:53 p.m. Friday; semifinals, 8 p.m. Saturday; final, 9:50 p.m. Saturday.

Jalen Seals, Texas Tech, long jump

The transfer from Baylor spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons with the Red Raiders, winning one Big 12 title apiece in the long jump and the triple jump. He qualified for the NCAA indoor and outdoor meets both years and earned first-team all-America status at the 2021 indoor.

Schedule: Qualifying, 6:45 p.m. Saturday; final, 7:25 p.m. Monday.

Zarriea Willis, Texas Tech, high jump

Willis, 27, was a four-time Big 12 champion and a two-time NCAA champion, sweeping the indoor and outdoor titles as a Texas Tech senior in 2019. Her personal record is 6-2¼.

Schedule: Qualifying, 7 p.m. Saturday; final, 7:15 p.m. Monday.

Courtney Lindsey, Texas Tech, 100 and 200 meters

As a Tech senior in 2023, Lindsey won the 100 and got second in the 200 at the NCAA outdoor championships in Eugene. He has the second-fastest time in the world in the 200 this year, clocking 19.71 seconds in late April in Nairobi, Kenya.

Schedule: 100 meters: First round, 8:22 p.m. Saturday; semifinals, 7:48 p.m. Sunday; final, 9:49 p.m. Sunday. Schedule, 200 meters: First round, 9:33 p.m. June 27; semifinals, 9:28 p.m. June 28; final, 8:49 p.m. June 29.

Related: Courtney Lindsey has stunning day at NCAA Championships as Texas Tech finishes sixth

Fred Kerley, South Plains College, 100 and 200 meters

One of America's most versatile sprinters, Kerley was a World Championships gold medalist in the 100 two years ago in Eugene and the Olympics silver medalist in the 100 three years ago in Tokyo. He's won seven medals in global competition, compiled in the 100, the 400 and the 400- and 1,600-meter relays.

Schedule: 100 meters: First round, 8:22 p.m. Saturday; semifinals, 7:48 p.m. Sunday; final, 9:49 p.m. Sunday. Schedule, 200 meters: First round, 9:33 p.m. June 27; semifinals, 9:28 p.m. June 28; final, 8:49 p.m. June 29.

Robert Dunning, South Plains College, 110-meter hurdles

Dunning won NJCAA championships in the 60-meter hurdles and the 110-meter hurdles as a South Plains freshman in 2017. He went on to win an NCAA championship in the 110 hurdles for Alabama in 2021, going undefeated in the event that season. He turns 27 on Sunday.

Schedule: First round, 7:05 p.m. Monday; semifinals, 7:01 p.m. June 27; final, 9:50 p.m. June 28.

Cale Kassen, Texas Tech, 110-meter hurdles

Kassen had a banner year at Lee University in Tennessee, being named the NCAA Division II field athlete of the year during the indoor season. The 6-foot-7 junior from Valley View set the D-II record in the heptathlon in winning the NCAA indoor championships and was runner-up in the decathlon at the NCAA outdoor championships. Kassen was first-team all-Big 12 for Tech in the 60-meter hurdles and the high jump during the 2020 indoor season, but was sidelined the following year by autoimmune issues after a severe case of COVID, Tech coach Wes Kittley said.