Brondyke vies for Olympic opportunity
Central College
EUGENE, OREGON — Competing at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, former Central College track and field athlete Kurtis Brondyke ’11 will challenge for a spot in the men’s decathlon at the 2016 Rio Olympics this summer.
The U.S. Olympic Team Trials will take place Thursday, June 30 to Sunday July 10 at legendary Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Brondyke qualified 13th out of 18 competitors, entering the meet having recorded a career-best mark of 7.795 points at the Texas Greatest Athlete Meet June 4-5. So far in the 2016 season, Brondyke has posted personal bests in five of the 10 events that make up the decathlon: 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, discus throw and pole vault.
Ashton Eaton, the gold medalist from the 2012 London Olympics leads the field with a qualifying mark of 9,045 points. The 2012 Olympic silver medalist Trey Hardee also is in the field with 8,725 points.
During his four years at Central, Brondyke earned NCAA Division III All-American honors four times and was a national champion at the indoor meet in 2011 in the pentathlon. He finished fifth in the decathlon in 2009 and 2010 and was the runner-up 2011.
The decathlon starts at 9:45 a.m. on Saturday with the 100-meter dash and concludes with the 1,500-meter run Sunday at 5:33 p.m.
