EUGENE, Ore. — Fans of the University of Colorado, which is becoming Steeplechase University in track circles, were in for two major shocks in Saturday’s steeplechase finals at the Olympic Trials.
Former Buff Steve Slattery, who was considered a favorite to claim one of three spots on the U.S. Olympic team, broke down about a third of the way through the race, slowing dramatically with an Achilles tendon problem. He ran about 80 more meters, then crashed with a splash in the water pit to end his race.
But Billy Nelson, who finished second at the recent NCAA championships in his last collegiate race for CU, finished second Saturday and made the team. Teammate Jenny Barringer made the women’s steeplechase team Thursday night.
Making his performance all the more dramatic, Nelson did not have the required Olympic A standard (8 minutes, 24.6 seconds) going into the race, but he got it Saturday, finishing in 8:21.47.
“It was great, it’s my dream, I’m going!” Nelson said. “It’s what I’ve been waiting for since I started running in ’97.”
Nelson conceded that he wasn’t exactly a favorite coming into the race.
“Getting here was a big thing,” Nelson said. “Running fast enough to get here was great, making the final was even better. My goal was to get the A standard regardless of what place I finished. That’s just a huge stepping stone.”
Like Stephen Pifer, another graduating Buff who runs the 1,500 and 5,000, Nelson signed a contract with Nike. Both runners plan to move here to train with the Oregon Track Club.
“I think it’s a good stepping stone for where we need to be,” Nelson said. “It’s going to be an elite place, it’s going to have distance runners, middle-distance, sprinters, everything.”
Slattery, who moved to Mammoth Lakes, Calif., last year with his distance-running wife Sara, said he tweaked his left Achilles in the steeple semifinals Thursday night.
“On the third lap (Saturday) I felt something pop,” Slattery said. “I think it was just real tight and I pulled something. It’s pretty disappointing. I don’t know what to say.”
Slattery was running in third when he suddenly downshifted. Five or six runners passed him before he fell in the water pit.
“I was trying to run through it, but I didn’t have the power to push off and I slipped on the water jump,” Slattery said. “I felt like this was my chance. I ran really well last year and I’m in better shape this year.”
Aurora’s Kevin Eastler won the 20-kilometer race walk to qualify for his second Olympic team, and it was a relief because he has had to deal with knee tendinitis and surgery in December to repair a sports hernia.
“It feels great,” said Eastler, who is in the Air Force’s World Class Athlete Program. “It was a very tough season with injuries. I was very happy it turned out the way it did.”
Denver East graduate David Oliver posted the fastest time in the 110-meter hurdles prelims (13.24 seconds) and can qualify for his first Olympic team today. Oliver, who has three of the five fastest times in the world this year — including a personal best of 12.95 — went to the world championships last year.
American-record holder Dominique Arnold false-started out of Oliver’s heat in the quarterfinals.
“I just tried to maintain my focus with all the false starts going on,” Oliver said. “Just came out and ran a decent race, getting ready for (today). That’s all that’s important.”
The Olympic team lost a potential medal when Tyson Gay, the reigning world champion in the 100 and 200, collapsed in the quarterfinals of the 200 with a hamstring pull. Gay made the team in the 100 last Sunday.
“Before I went out on the track I felt a little tightness in my hamstring, so I had kind of a bad feeling,” Gay said. “When I came off the curve the first two steps were fine, and then I felt it, sort of a pull, about 40 meters in.”
