So many storylines are going to unfold over the next few months as American track and field athletes prepare for the Olympic Trials and try to win a spot on the U.S. team.
I have my eye on a single family in Gresham, Oregon with three athletes who all enter 2012 with a shot at making the team.
Sam Crouser, cousin Ryan Crouser, and Sam’s little sister, Haley, as a group, have been transformational figures in U.S. high school throwing over the past few years. Sam broke the U.S. high school javelin record in 2010. Ryan broke the discus record in 2011. And Haley, just a high school junior, could very well smash the girls javelin record this spring.
If all three remain healthy, Sam (20), Ryan (19) and Haley (17) are shoo-ins to make the Olympic Trials fields at Eugene’s Hayward Field in June.
Can any of them actually make the U.S. team at such a young age?
Yes.
Ryan Crouser made his collegiate debut over the weekend for the University of Texas and won the shot put in a dual meet with Arkansas. He met the NCAA Indoors A standard and will no doubt be a contender to win the national title. But shot put is not Ryan’s best event.
The throwing world would LOVE to see a shot put competition between Ryan, New Jersey’s Nick Vena and New Zealand’s Jacko Gill.
But Ryan is too young to tangle with the top Americans in the shot just yet. On the other hand, he is simply too good in the discus to be easily dismissed. Ryan might already be the top discus thrower in the country.
Sam Crouser, an Oregon sophomore (redshirt freshman), had a severe back injury last year and missed the entire 2011 season. But he has made a full recovery and is now doing amazing things in workouts. When Oregon finally unleashes him this spring, expect to see a complete transformation.
At 6-foot-7, with those long levers and expert technique, throws of 270 or 280 feet could be in the cards this spring. That spells Olympic team.
And so that leaves Haley. She’s too young, right? Only a high school junior and arguably not even the best thrower in U.S. high schools (Avione Allgood of North Las Vegas, Nev. is the national record holder).
Women’s javelin is an event with a shallow talent pool in the U.S. Allgood was fourth in the U.S. championships last year, which is an indication that she could be in range of top-three as well. But the Olympic B standard is 183-8, the A standard 198-6. U.S. record holder Kara Patterson and Rachel Yurkovich are firmly established as the top two throwers in the country, but it is not out of the question for Haley Crouser to be right behind them. Yes, she will have to break the high school record in order to do it.
We’re practically counting on that.
Haley is the longest shot to actually make the team (her PR is 172). But she will be at Hayward Field, which is practically home turf. If Ryan and Sam are throwing far, it’s likely that Haley could ride that momentum too.
It’s possible.
