Frerichs, Orji & Saunders Realize Their Olympic Dreams

NEW ORLEANS — Three finals were contested Thursday night at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials – Track & Field in Eugene, Oregon: the women’s shot put, the women’s triple jump and the women’s steeplechase.

As it turns out, three collegians were favored to nab one spot on each of those teams: Raven Saunders, Keturah Orji and Courtney Frerichs, respectively — and they didn’t disappoint.

QUICK LINKS: List of Collegians at Trials | List of Collegians on Team USA

Frerichs, Orji and Saunders — who are all collegiate record holders — punched their tickets to Rio at a rain-soaked Hayward Field in front of 21,835 fans.

Saunders stepped into the spotlight first after qualifying third earlier in the day. It took her three attempts to auto qualify, but once she hurled the shot 18.43m (60-5¾), she could breathe easier.

Through the first three rounds of the final, Saunders sat in fourth place. She moved up to second with her fourth throw (18.98m/62-3¼) and then unleashed the Kraken on the fifth. Saunders launched the orb 19.24m (63-1½) and now has three of the top-4 throws in all-date collegiate history.

The rising junior from Ole Miss will be joined on Team USA by Michelle Carter and Felisha Johnson.

Was there ever a doubt that Orji would do something special? After all, she did set the American record during the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in June.

Orji was in control from the start as she never lost grasp of first place. In fact, she could have stopped jumping after her first attempt (14.27m/46-10) and won by nine centimeters.

That wasn’t enough for Orji as she asserted her dominance. Orji posted five jumps better than 14 meters (the rest of the field had one) and her fifth was the best (14.32m/46-11¾).

The rising junior from Georgia became the first collegian to win the U.S. Olympic Trials title and will be joined in Rio by Christina Epps and Andrea Geubelle.

And before Thursday, no female collegian made the track team. That all changed when Frerichs finished second in the steeplechase final behind Emma Coburn.

For six laps, Frerichs settled into the middle of the pack, a little more than one second off the lead. With one lap to go, it was clear Frerichs needed a strong kick to make Team USA.

Frerichs bore down and posted the quickest final lap of the field (1:09.96) on her way to a time of 9:20.92. That moved her up to second on the all-dates collegiate list behind Jenny Simpson (neé Barringer).

Of note: The past seven NCAA steeplechase champs dating back to 2010 were in the final. The 2016 champion (Frerichs) will be joined in Rio by the 2013 titlist (Coburn) and the 2015 one (Colleen Quigley).