Eastern Washington University track and field standout Parker Bowden has received and accepted an invitation to compete on Friday, June 25, at the United States Olympic Team Trials at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
Although he came up short in his bid to advance to the finals of the NCAA Championships in Eugene, his school-record time of 13.58 — second-best all-time in the Big Sky Conference — was good enough to rank him 21st among the entrants and secure an invite to the trials.
The automatic qualifying standard is 13.48 seconds and 14 of the competitors met that standard, but officials are in the process of accepting non-qualifiers to fill a maximum field of 32. The trials are used to determine the representatives for the United States in this summer’s Olympic Games in China.
“The trials have been the goal since the beginning of the season,” said Bowden. “Having the opportunity to race the best in the country is exciting. I’m happy to get another competition in this year after the performance I had in Texas.”
Bowden, a graduate of Spokane’s Central Valley High School, won EWU’s first-ever Big Sky title in the high hurdles with a 13.58 on May 15 in Ogden, Utah., to earn the meet’s male Top Performer honor. His effort broke the meet record of 13.68, and was just .16 from the Big Sky all-time mark of 13.42.
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