Abbey D’Agostino ’14 and four Dartmouth track and field alumni will be participating in the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., through July 1. D’Agostino is joined by teammate, Alexi Pappas ’12, who graduated on June 10, Ben True ’08, Sean Furey ’04, Thayer ’05 and ’06, and Adam Nelson ’97.
Abbey D’Agostino ’14 will run her 5,000-meter Olympic Trials’ qualifying heat on June 25. (photo by Eli Burak ’00)
A five-time All-American, D’Agostino won the 5,000-meter event at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, on June 9, becoming the first female in Big Green track and field history to win a national title. She runs in the Olympic Trials’ qualifying heat on June 25 at 9:05 p.m. EST. Dartmouth women’s cross country head coach and assistant track coach for distance runners Mark Coogan, a 1996 U.S. Olympic marathoner, told the Boston Globe on June 17, “She has an outside shot. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but she will be a player. Track & Field News picks her to finish fourth [D’Agostino’s fastest time this year was 15:23.35]. She’ll be running with the elite 5,000-meter runners in the country and after what she did in Des Moines, it’s all icing on the cake.”
In this video, D’Agostino discusses what goes through her mind during a race and what she’s thinking when she crosses the finish line. She was filmed running around Dartmouth’s Memorial Field track with a GoPro camera strapped to a bicycle.
Alexi Pappas ’12 (left) will compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase on June 25 at the Olympic Trials. (photo by Eli Burak ’00) Adam Nelson ’97 (right) is a two-time Olympic silver medalist. His shot put qualifying round begins on June 23. (photo courtesy of Dartmouth Athletics)
A third place finisher at the NCAAs, All-American Pappas will compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase on June 25 at 7:50 p.m. EST. Her time of 9:55.89 at the NCAA East Regional in late May was her fastest this year, breaking her previous Dartmouth record. This fall, Pappas will start graduate school at the University of Oregon, where she will pursue a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies focusing on film, English, and entrepreneurial business, while also using her remaining eligibility to run cross country and indoor track for the Ducks.
Nelson, a two-time Olympic silver medalist, is looking to make his fourth U.S. Olympic team when shot put qualifying begins on June 23 at 6 p.m. EST. A former Big Green football player who still holds the Dartmouth shot put record, Nelson was the 1997 NCAA champion. In addition to winning silver medals at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, he also won a gold medal at the World Outdoor Championship in 2005. Nelson, who earned an MBA from the University of Virginia, is using his Olympic quest to raise money for the Global Genes Project. He’s raised more than $10,000 toward his goal of $25,000 for the charity, which supports rare disease awareness and funding.
Ben True ’08 was an All-American in outdoor track and field, cross country, and Nordic skiing. He will compete in both the 5,000-meter (June 25) and 10,000-meter (June 22) events at the Olympic Trials. (photo courtesy of Dan Grossman/MapleLeafPhotos.com) Olympic Trial competition begins for Sean Furey ’04, Thayer ’05 and ’06, the Big Green record-holder in the javelin, on June 23. (photo courtesy of Dartmouth Athletics)
One of the best distance runners in the history of Dartmouth and the first to run a sub-four-minute mile, Ben True is attempting to make his first Olympic team. An All-American in outdoor track and field, cross country, and Nordic skiing, the Maine native will be striving to qualify in both the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter events. After an injury-plagued winter, he won the Boston Athletic Association 5k in April, taking the men’s title in 13:41 and breaking the course record he set last year.
True was recently profiled by the television show, N.H. Chronicle, and was shown training at Dartmouth on the Memorial Field track with Coogan. True also talked about the community service work he does through one of his sponsors, In the Arena, at the Indian River Middle School in Canaan, N.H. The 10,000-meter final is June 22 at 9:45 p.m. EST, and True is one of eight runners who met the Olympic “A” qualifying standard of 27:45 (his fastest time this year is 27:41.17). True also met the “A” standard of 13:20 in the 5,000. Qualifying for the 5,000-meter is June 25 at 10 p.m. EST.
Furey, an engineering major who holds the Dartmouth school record in the javelin, was a member of Team USA for the 2009 World Outdoor Championships but, like True, is also attempting to make his first U.S. Olympic team. He finished first at the U.S.A. Outdoor Championships in 2010 and second in 2011. Of the three javelin throwers who have met the Olympic “A” qualifying standard of 269 feet, Furey has thrown the farthest this year, recording a distance of 271-5 feet. Javelin qualifying begins at 3:30 p.m. EST on June 23.
To qualify for the 2012 London Olympics from August 3-12, they all must finish among the top three in their respective events. The U.S. Olympic Trials will be televised on these dates and times on NBC and the NBC Sports Network.
