Who is Coming to the Trials of Miles Kansas City Qualifier?

A newsletter exclusive for readers on who to expect to see in action on May 1

Folks, we’re almost two weeks from returning to action with the Trials of Miles x CITIUS MAG Kansas City Qualifier on May 1. There’s been plenty of meets added to the race calendar in May and that’s great for the sport. We’re excited to welcome some awesome athletes to take their shot at qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials and the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Once again, you’ll be able to tune in LIVE and for free on the CITIUS MAG YouTube channel. Kyle Merber and I will be back behind the mic for action starting at 7 p.m. CT. We’ll also have some special guests popping into the booth. (For those wondering, the drone will be BACK.) You can go back and watch all our races from Austin here.

This meet will be a little bit different from the Texas Qualifier because we’re adding 100/110m hurdles and the 3,000m steeplechase to the program. We’re also going to have a few Masters and high school races on Saturday during the day.

For the hurdles, there will be three rounds of the 100/110 hurdles with approximately 50-60 minutes between each round. All athletes will be guaranteed at least two rounds. Every athlete will automatically qualify for the second round and the top eight athletes in the semi-final will advance to the A final, and the next eight will race in the B final. The A final will be featured on the main broadcast. 

Meet director Dave Alfano has confirmed with the NCAA that any marks (with the exception of 100/110 hurdles) achieved at our meet will be eligible for the NCAA qualification process. 

So who is coming and racing in these new featured events?

Our hurdles fields are headlined by Olympic gold medalist Dawn Harper-Nelson and 2018 World Indoor Championship silver medalist Jarrett Eaton. In early 2018, Harper-Nelson announced she was planning to retire and then gave birth to her first daughter in April 2019. She has decided to make a run for the Tokyo Games. She was recently announced as one of the first athlete ambassadors for &Mother, which is a nonprofit aimed at supporting mothers and their goals as elite athletes. Eaton has a 13.25 personal best for the 110m hurdles and has consistently been a U.S. championship finalist since 2015.

Steeplechase opportunities have been so limited within the past year so this could be one of the few chances to throw down some times before the Trials. Two-time U.S. Olympian Donn Cabral has raced each Trials of Miles track meet in Jersey City, New York, Austin and now this one. If he goes four-for-four with our New York City meet on May 21, we might have to name a race after him in 2022. Cabral owns the fastest personal best of the entries thus far with his 8:13.37 PR.

Mason Ferlic, who won the men’s 5,000m at the Texas Qualifier, returns to his main event. The 2016 NCAA champion has a personal best of 8:21.57 but his fitness is next level right now. Ferlic’s splits during a recent Michigan workout: 4:08 mile, 3:09 for 1,200m, 1:57 for 800m and 53 sec for 400m. Sheesh!

For the Tinman Elite fans, Jamaine Coleman, Brian Barraza and Joey Berriatua are slated to roll through as well.

Eyes will be on Allie Ostrander in the women’s steeplechase since it will be her first time over barriers and water jumps since she ran at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. The Brooks Beasts star ran a personal best of 9:30.85 in her first appearance at a global championship. She will be challenged by Aimee Pratt and Lizzie Bird, who represented Great Britain in Doha as well.

We’ll also get to see Sara Vaughn in action again. She was sixth in the women’s 1,500m in Austin and then doubled back to help pace the women’s 5,000m, which saw a few Olympic Trials qualifiers. This will be her first steeplechase race since 2014.

The meet will also feature some 800s, 1,500s and 5,000s. Expect to see the likes of Taylor Werner, Erik Sowinski, Gesa Krause, Heidi See, Sam Chelanga, Mariah Kelly, Rebecca Mehra, Jessica Judd, Tonatui Lopez, Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse and others in those events.

Stay tuned for news on some cool prizes that we may give to athletes who win their respective races. Among the perks for the athletes competing will be our Miles to the Trials program, where if a U.S. athlete hits an Olympic Trials qualifying time for the first time in an event, Trials of Miles Racing will pay for their flight to Eugene.

If you’re interested in sponsoring a race or competing at the event, feel free to reach out to me or Trials of Miles Racing’s Cooper Knowlton (cooper@trialsofmilesracing.com)

Full meet information including the entry standards can be found here.

Can’t wait for you all to enjoy some great racing on May 1!