North Carolina State University Athletics
Eleven Current and Former Wolfpack Athletes Set for USATF Olympic Trials
6/17/2021 1:21:00 PM | Track
RALEIGH - NC State track & field student-athletes and alumni will participate in the upcoming USA Track & Field (USATF) Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., in hopes of securing a spot on the US National Team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. The Olympic Trials begin Friday, June 18 and conclude Sunday, June 27.
Current student-athletes who have qualified for the trials are Cravont Charleston, Elly Henes, Akira Rhodes, Ian Shanklin and Hannah Steelman.
Alumni competing at the meet are Graham Crawford ('16), Gabriele Cunningham ('19), Samantha George ('17), Ryan Hill ('13), Erika Kemp ('18) and Kris Kornegay-Gober ('13). Crawford, Hill and Kornegay-Gober each participated in the 2016 USATF Olympic Trials as well.Â
Fans will be able to watch the entire Olympic Trials meet on NBC and NBCSN. The full broadcast schedule can be found here.
Cravont Charleston - 100, 200m
Charleston hit the qualifying marks for both the 100m and 200m during his 2021 outdoor season. His time of 10.10 in the 100m was set at the 2021 Raleigh Relays and was good for meet and facility records in the event. In the 200m he earned a mark of 20.16 at the North Florida Invite that checks in as the third-fastest time in program history. There will be three rounds of both the 100m and 200m in order to determine who will represent the US on the team.
Graham Crawford ('16) - 1500m
Crawford, now running for the Reebok Boston Track Club, qualified for the Olympic Trials with a 1500m time of 3:37.64. While running for NC State, he recorded what is still the second-fastest 1500m time in program history (3:38.49). Three rounds will take place to set the Olympic team in the event.
Gabriele Cunningham ('19) - 100m Hurdles
NC State's most recent alum to qualify, Cunningham enters the Olympic Trials competing for Nike with the 15th-best time in the 100m hurdles (12.76). She remains the school record holder in the outdoor 100m and 200m as well as the indoor 60m, 200m, 300m and 60m hurdles, and her collegiate-best 100m hurdles time of 12.99 sits at third-fastest in program history. Three rounds will occur to set the 100m hurdles Olympians.
Samantha George ('17) - 5000m
An All-American in the DMR, George now competes for Tracksmith professionally. She is set to compete in the 5000m, having qualified with a mark of 15:19.66. Two rounds of the 5000m will determine the Olympic competitors in the event.
Elly Henes - 5000m, 10000m
Henes enters the Olympic Trials coming off of a 5000m National Championship. The redshirt senior earned her first national title, and the program's first in any event since 2002, at Hayward Field on Saturday. Henes collected seven All-America track & field honors over the course of her career, tying her for second-most in women's program history, while also garnering three cross country All-America accolades. Her 5000m Olympic Trials qualifying mark of 15:18.75 was, at the time, the 10th-fastest mark in NCAA outdoor history. She additionally qualified in the 10000m with a time of 32:12.06. The 5000m is set to be two rounds while the 10000m will be one round.
Ryan Hill ('13) - 5000m
While at NC State Hill garnered seven All-America accolades in track & field, the third-most honors earned by an individual in men's program history. He currently holds the indoor school records in the mile, 3000m and 5000m in addition to the outdoor 1500m and mile. In cross country, Hill was a three-time All-American. He now competes for HOKA Northern Arizona Elite and checks in the qualifying list with the 12th-fastest time, 13:15.28. There will be two rounds of 5000m to determine the Olympians.
Erika Kemp ('18) - 5000m, 10000mÂ
Kemp, a five-time track & field All-American and one-time cross country All-American while at NC State, will represent Boston Athletic Association at the meet. Her collegiate-best indoor 5000m mark remains second-fastest in program history while her outdoor 5000m time sits at fifth. Her 5000m Olympic Trials qualifying time, 15:10.10, is the 11th-fastest qualifying mark, and her 31:35.63 qualifying time in 1000m is 14th-quickest. Two rounds of the 5000m and one round of 1000m will take place to set the Olympic competitors in the events.
Kris Kornegay-Gober ('13) - High Jump
Qualifying with a high jump mark of 2.20m, Kornegay-Gober is set to compete for the U.S. Coast Guard at the Olympic Trials. His best indoors collegiate mark of 7'4.25" remains the school record, and his outdoors collegiate best of 7'3" checks into the NC State record book as sixth-best in program history. There will be two rounds of the high jump to determine who will represent the United States at the Olympics.
Akira Rhodes - 100m Hurdles
Rhodes recorded an impressive first season with NC State, posting a second-place finish in the 100m hurdles at the ACC Outdoor Championships. She ran an 8.24 in the 60m hurdles during the 2021 indoor season for the fourth-quickest program mark, and her 100m hurdles Olympic Trials qualifying time of 13.06 checks in as the fourth-fastest mark in program history. The 100m hurdles Olympians will be determined through three rounds.
Ian Shanklin - 5000m
A school record-setting performance in the 5000m at the NCAA Championships was good to qualify Shanklin for the Olympic Trials. The redshirt junior ran a 13:23.48 to garner Second Team All-America honors, the second of his career. Two rounds of 5000m will decide who goes to Tokyo.
Hannah Steelman - 3000m Steeplechase
Steelman's 9:43.08 in the steeplechase was a personal best and set a school record by over 15 seconds. Over the course of the 2020-21 year, Steelman tabbed All-America accolades in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field. She placed 14th in the 3000m steeplechase at the NCAA Championships for Second Team All-America honors. There are two rounds of the 3000m steeplechase to determine the Olympic competitors in the event.
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