Monae Nichols placed third in the women’s long jump at the U.S. Championships and second at the World Championships during this year’s indoor track and field season.
The former Texas Tech All-American is looking to keep that momentum going.
Nichols placed third in the women’s long jump preliminaries at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, on Thursday. She jumped 22 feet, 5 3/4 inches to comfortably advance to the finals. The top 12 competitors will compete on Sunday for three spots on the U.S. team.
Nichols competed at Bethune-Cookman University from 2018-2020 and at Texas Tech University from 2021-2022. As a senior, she earned second and first place at the Big 12 indoor and outdoor meets and second and fourth place at the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships.
To make the Paris team, she will have to beat at least one of Tokyo Olympic competitors Tara Davis-Woodhall, Quanesha Burks or Jasmine Moore.
Related:A guide to track and field athletes at and around Texas Tech University for the second week of the U.S. Olympic Trials
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Caleb Dean, Courtney Lindsay and other Red Raiders advance.
The second four-day session of trials competition got underway at Hayward Field on Thursday.
Tech’s recent NCAA champions, Caleb Dean and Courtney Lindsay, both advanced through the first round. Dean qualified in the 400m hurdles with a time of 49.45 seconds. He got off to a similar start as he did in the recent NCAA Championship round in Eugene, building a big lead early on.
Former South Plains College star Chris Robinson won the preliminaries in 49.54 seconds. Dean and Robinson’s time was the fastest of the 33 competitors who competed. They are considered favorites to make the U.S. team, including Dean, who ran 47.23 seconds at the NCAA Championships.
Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Rhy Benjamin, who holds the American record of 46.17 seconds, is the favorite to win the U.S. Trials. The semifinals are scheduled for Friday at 8:16 p.m. and the finals are scheduled for Sunday at 7:20 p.m.
Lindsey won the first race, the 200 meters, in 20.28 seconds as Dean coasted to the finish line to conserve energy. Last year, as a senior at Tech, Lindsey was runner-up in the 200 meters and won the 100 meters at the NCAA outdoor meet.
In the boys’ 800, former Midland High School star Bryce Hoppel and former Texas Tech runners Vincent Crisp, Jonah Koech and CJ Jones advanced to the semifinals on Friday at 8:39 p.m. Hoppel won the first heat in 1:46.83. Crisp was 1:47.12, Koech was 1:47.26 and Jones was 1:47.31.
Simone Watkins, who competed at Tech from 2020-2023, won the first round of the women’s 400-meter hurdles in 57.05 seconds.
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