Bove Qualifies for US Olympic Trials in 1,500, Competes Friday

Friday, June 21

Eugene, OR / Hayward Field

5:22 P.M.

U.S. Olympic Team Trials

Bove Qualifies for US Olympic Trials in 1,500, Competes Friday

6/17/2024 12:30:00 PM | Track and Field

WATCH

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — After running back-to-back lifetime bests in the men's 1,500-meter, graduate student Davis Bove has booked his ticket to the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials and will compete in the First Round of the Trials this Friday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

The First Round of the men's 1,500 will be contested at 5:22 p.m. Friday. The field is comprised of 36 runners and the top seven finishers in each of the three heats along with the next three fastest times will advance to the 1,500 semifinals set for 6:54 p.m. Saturday. From there, the remaining field of 24 runners will be cut in half to create a final of 12 that will fight for spots on the U.S. Olympic Team on Monday, June 24, at 5:47 p.m.

You can watch Bove race in the First Round of the 1,500 Friday live on Peacock and USA Network. The entirety of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials will be contested June 21-24 and June 27-30 in Eugene live on NBC, Peacock and USA Network.

Bove isn't the only current or former Mustang taking part in this year's U.S. Olympic Trials. 2021 Cal Poly grad Bobby Poynter, who competed at USC from 2022-23 after completing his undergrad and track career at Cal Poly, will run in the First Round of the men's 800 at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 27, while 2019 Cal Poly grad Katie Izzo, who competed at Arkansas from 2019-21 after finishing her Mustang career, is slated to run in the women's 10,000 at 6:09 p.m. on Saturday, June 29.

Bove secured his trip to the Olympic Trials by running a lifetime best of 3:37.13 at the 2024 Portland Track Festival on June 9. That performance came just a week after the Franklin, Tenn. native shattered Aidan McCarthy's 2023 school record in the event at the Music City Track Carnival in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on June 1 with a then personal best of 3:38.40.

Bove is just over three weeks removed from barely missing out on advancing to the NCAA Championships in the men's 1,500. At the NCAA West Preliminaries on May 22-25 in Fayetteville, Ark., Bove placed 15th overall in the quarterfinals and finished just .67 seconds away from advancing to the NCAA Finals based on time.

The Cal Poly Male Athlete of the Year tore up the track & field school record books in his only season competing on the track for the Mustangs. Indoors, Bove became the fifth Mustang ever to run a sub-four-minute mile with the second-fastest time in school history (3:58.0) and he established a program record in the men's 1,000 (2:20.97). Outdoors, he qualified for the NCAA West Prelims in both the 1,500 and 5,000, and scored a total of 18 team points for the Mustangs at the Big West Championships, winning the conference title in the men's 1,500 and securing second in the men's 5,000. He also ran the third-fastest 5,000 time in program history (13:48.0).

This past fall in his debut as a Mustang, Bove qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships by placing eighth at the NCAA West Regional, tied for the second-highest individual finish by a Mustang man at the meet in program history. He also ran away with the individual title at the conference meet to be crowned Big West Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year and led the Mustangs to their second straight Big West Championship.

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