JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (July 14, 2004) - Three alumni from East Tennessee State University's track and field program Catherine Berry, Taneisha Robinson-Scanlon, and Zach Whitmarsh have qualified to compete in the Olympic Trials for their respective countries. Top finishers in each event will be automatically selected for the final teams, but only if they also achieve the Olympic qualifying standard.
Distance runner Berry, who in addition to being an ETSU alumnus is also a volunteer assistant coach, participated in Great Britain's Olympic trials in Manchester last week. She claimed the women's 5,000m crown, winning in a time of 15:45.28, the Olympic qualifying standard is 15:08.70. Berry will continue to compete this summer in hopes of meeting that standard.
Whitmarsh competed in Canada's Olympic Trials in Victoria, British Columbia this past weekend. On Saturday, July 11 he finished fourth in the 800m preliminaries with a time of 1:49.94. He placed seventh in finals with a mark of 1:50.46. The Olympic qualifying standard is 1:46.00.
Robinson-Scanlon a skilled long and triple jump athlete has yet to compete in Ireland's Olympic Trials.
2004 Olympic track and field competition in Athens will begin for those who qualify on Aug. 20-29.