Hoosiers compete in Olympic Trials across continent

U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb.

Cody Miller

Junior Cody Miller swam the second-fastest 200-meter individual medley in IU history Saturday at the Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb., but it wasn’t enough to send him to London.

He finished seventh in the heat, but his time of 2:00.90 was second in school history to Todd Patrick. Michael Phelps was the winner in the race with a time of 1:54.84.
Miller had originally qualified as an alternate in the race after a qualifying time of 2:01.63, but Peter Vanderkaay was scratched from the final, and Miller was able to compete.

On Thursday, Miller had finished 14th in the semifinals of the 200-meter breaststroke, and the 200-meter individual medley was his final race.

Allysa Vavra

Recent graduate and 2012 Big Ten Swimmer of the Year Allysa Vavra completed her run at the Olympic Trials with a 25th-place finish in the 200-meter backstroke Saturday in Omaha, Neb.

Vavra, whom the Indiana Department of Athletics named IU Female Athlete of the Year this week, competed in five events in six days, the most of any IU swimmer this year. She finished in the top 50 in each of them, and the top 30 in three.

Vavra swam the 400-meter individual medley Monday, June 25, and finished ninth with a time of 4:43.36, just .2 seconds away from qualifying for the finals. It was the second-best time in school history.

She finished 28th in the 200-meter individual medley, 45th in the 200-meter butterfly and 49th in the 200-meter breaststroke.

Canadian Olympic Track and Field Trials in Calgary, Alberta

Emma Kimoto

Junior high jumper Emma Kimoto came into the Canadian Olympic Trials with a jump of 1.76 meters, the fifth-highest jump of any Canadian woman of the year, at the Big Ten Championships in May.

At the Olympic Trials in Calgary, Alberta., on Friday, Kimoto came just short of her season high with a jump of 1.75 meters. She finished in a three-way tie for fourth place.

The top finisher was Nicole Forrester at 1.86 meters, and IU junior Derek Drouin’s sister Jillian came in third with a height of 1.80 meters.

Ben Hubers

During the NCAA Championships in early June, IU senior Ben Hubers finished 33 seconds behind champion Cameron Levins of Southern Utah University in the 5,000-meter race.

On Saturday, Hubers finished just 5 seconds behind Levins at the Canadian Olympic Trials.

Levins ran the race in 14:34.82, with Hubers just behind at 14:39.94. At the NCAA Championships, Hubers had finished 19th and ran the third-fastest time of all Big Ten runners.

Entering the Olympic Trials, Hubers had the third-fastest time of his fellow Canadian competitors in the 5,000-meter race. When he had finished his race Friday, he had the second-best time, but it wasn’t enough to send him to London. He finished 4 seconds ahead of third-place finisher Hussein Hashi.

U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Ore.

Andy Bayer

Bayer, the defending NCAA champion in the 1,500-meter race,finished fourth in the event at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., with a time of 3:37.24.

The time ties Bayer for the second-fastest in school history with Jim Spivey.

Bayer qualified 23rd of 24 runners in his heat Thursday to advance to the semifinals and continued his success during his semifinal run en route to the finals.

Bayer finished in 3:42.56 to place sixth in his semifinal heat and advance to the final, which took place Sunday in Eugene, Ore. With his time, Bayer would have won the other semifinal heat, meaning he held the fastest non-automatic qualifying time in the event.

Abby Stechschulte

IU Assistant Coach Abby Stechschulte, who helped junior high jumper Derek Drouin develop into an Olympian, had her own chance to qualify for the United States Olympic Team at the Olympic Trials on Saturday in Eugene, Ore.

Stechschulte finished in sixth place at the heptathlon, which combines seven events (hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200-meter dash, long jump, javelin throw and 800-meter dash).

On Saturday, she began the day with a career-best 6.02 meters in the long jump and ended the day with another personal record in the 800-meter dash, completing it in 2:16.78.

Her total score of 5,855 earned her a spot on Team USA at the 2012 Thorpe Cup in Germany from July 21-22 if she desires to go. The Thorpe Cup is a competition between the U.S. and Germany featuring the decathlon and heptathlon.

Stechschulte attended West Virginia for her undergraduate career but attended IU to earn a master’s degree in kinesiology. While at IU, she found spots on the top-10 lists for the shot put, long jump, 100-meter hurdles and heptathlon. Her heptathlon score, earned in the 2008 Texas Relays, is the second best in IU history.

—Alex McCarthy