July 8, 2004

BLACKSBURG, Va. ñ The Virginia Tech track and field family will be well represented at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials held at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex in Sacramento, Calif., on July 9-18.

Tech will be sending three of its assistant coaches to the week-long event in hopes of securing a spot on the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team to compete in Athens.

Hokie assistant cross country and distance coach, Mary Jayne Harrelson, will run in the womenís 1,500 meters on Friday, July 16. This year at the USA Track and Field Indoor Championships, Harrelson (Roxboro, N.C.) placed fifth in the 800 meters and fifth in the 1,500m. She took eighth in the 1,500m at this yearís Boston Indoor Games and finished fifth in her heat in the 800m at the 2004 World Indoor Championships. Harrelson has a 1,500m personal record of 4:07.37.

Harrelson returns to the Olympic Trials after taking fifth place in the 1,500m and sixth place in the 800m in 2000.

Dee OíConnell, Techís volunteer throws coach, surpassed the Olympic ëBí standard for the javelin at the Raleigh Relays with a personal record mark of 185í4î and is currently ranked fourth in the U.S. The Kunkletown, Pa. native will throw the javelin starting on Friday.

Melinda Sallins (Miami, Fla.) is slated to compete in the 400 meter hurdles on Friday at the Olympic Trials. Over the past nine years, Sallins has been ranked in the top 10 in the 400m hurdles. This year she was fourth in the Brazil Grand Prix with a time of 56.70, third at the SeaRay Relays and sixth at the Mt. SAC Relays. Sallins set personal records during her indoor training in the 60, 200 and 400 meters this year. Sallins is an administrative assistant for the Hokie track and field teams.

For more information concerning the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials including television schedule and results, visit the USATF website at www.usatf.org.

A fourth Hokie volunteer coach, Cleopatra Borel, has already qualified for the 2004 Olympics and will represent her native Trinidad & Tobago throwing the shot put.