Hardee qualifies for 2008 Summer Olympics in men's decathlon
EUGENE, Ore. -- Former Texas athlete Trey Hardee has qualified to compete for the United States in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, after finishing second in the decathlon at the U.S. Olympic Trials with a score of 8,534 points Monday night. Hardee becomes the first Longhorn to qualify for the decathlon in the Olympics. "The past few days have been a dream for me," Hardee said. "It's the Olympic Trials and Hayward Field. I have never experienced what I have in the past two days. I PR'ed in a couple events and had a really good meet. The decathlon is unique. You get to know people over the course of two days. You encourage one another. You're competing against each other, but you still consider them friends." After accumulating 4,454 points and second-place standing on Sunday, Hardee maintained second-place by compiling 4,080 points on Monday. He ran a 13.71 in the 110 meter hurdles for 1,012 points, threw a distance of 42.41 meters (139-02) in the discus for 714 points, reached a height of 5.00 meters (16-4.75) in the pole vault to earn 910 points, threw a mark of 63.69 meters (208-11) in the javelin for 794 points, and finished off the decathlon with a time of 4:44.79 in the 1,500 meters to claim 650 points and a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. Hardee's score of 8,534 points surpasses his personal best of 8,371 points set at the 2008 Texas Relays. The score is also the second-highest score among Americans in the past two years, trailing only Bryan Clay's first-place Trials score of 8,832 points. Three more Longhorns are set to compete in upcoming events at the Trials, as Andra Manson (high jump), Leo Manzano (1,500 meters) and Jake Morse (3,000m steeplechase) will all attempt to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team on Thursday, July 3.
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