Former Jayhawk Hoppel sets new meet record, wins event and qualifies for Olympics

Posted on July 2, 2024 by angelo

AP Photo/George Walker IV

Bryce Hoppel wins the men’s 800-meter final during the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team Trials, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Eugene, Oregon.

Former Kansas track star Bryce Hoppel qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics in style Sunday night.

Hoppel earned first place by setting a personal best and a new meet record at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Eugene, Oregon, when he finished the 800-meter race in 1:42.77.

The stellar performance means the former KU national champion and All-American, who now runs professionally for Adidas, will have another chance to represent his country at the Olympics. He placed 16th in the event when he competed in Tokyo in 2021.

Hoppel, originally from Midland, Texas, will therefore meet his former KU coach, Stanley Redwine, in Paris. Redwine was selected in March to lead the U.S. men’s track and field team at this summer’s Olympics.

Since his last Olympic appearances, Hoppel has won several first-place finishes in the 800 meters, including at three consecutive U.S. Indoor Championships and at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Scotland in March.

“I had trouble sleeping last night,” Hoppel told The (Eugene) Register-Guard on Sunday. “I was trying to do everything perfect. We’ve been there before, we’ve been on the Olympic team before. I followed a strict routine and we succeeded. I’ve been preparing all year, this is the culmination of all that training and hard work. »

AP Photo/George Walker IV

Bryce Hoppel wins the men’s 800-meter final at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in track and field, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Eugene, Ore.

AP Photo/George Walker IV

Bryce Hoppel speaks with fans after winning the men’s 800-meter final during the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team Trials, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Eugene, Oregon.

Hoppel wasn’t the only KU-affiliated competitor at the Olympic trials.

Chandler Gibbens, who holds the Jayhawks’ records in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, competed in the 10,000 meters and finished 11th overall with a time of 28:31.63.

High jumper Devin Loudermilk had one of the longest runs of any Jayhawk at the event, as he managed to get out of the first round of his event by jumping 2.14 meters and then tied for 10th place with 2.16 meters in Sunday’s final.

Fresh off second place nationally in the men’s pole vault, Clayton Simms placed 18th in the first round of trials, clearing 5.50 meters.

Mason Meinershagen was a standout recruit for KU during the 2024 season. She cleared 4.20 meters in the women’s pole vault and finished 19th in the first round.

Current KU assistant coach Honor Finley and former KU thrower Patrick Larrison were among the former Jayhawks who also competed in the trials. Finley finished 32nd in the women’s 800 meters in 2:03.68, while Larrison finished in the first round of the shot put in 19.84 before finishing 10th at 19.83 in the final the next day.