Hokie ClubEUGENE, Ore. - Virginia Tech rising senior Tasmin Fanning finished in 11th place in the 5,000 meters at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials on Monday night, earning a chance to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team in the final on Friday.
The Charlottesville, Va., native held down second place for most of her heat, and despite dropping to sixth in the homestretch, her time of 15:37.73 was good enough to advance her to the final at 8:55 p.m. PST on Friday.
Earlier in the day at the U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb., Tech's Jessica Botzum fell by the narrowest of margins in the semifinals of the women's 100-meter breaststroke.
Needing to finish among the top eight to move on to Tuesday's final, the Raleigh, N.C., native tied for eighth with Lindsay Payne in 1:08.85, breaking the personal best that she set in the prelims. Botzum and Payne then held a swim-off to determine the eight-place finisher, and Payne emerged by mere fractions of a second to end Botzum's 100-meter breaststroke hopes. She will, however, compete in the 200-meter breaststroke on Thursday.
Results for the track trials are available here: http://www.usatf.org/events/2008/OlympicTrials-TF/schedule.asp
Results for the swimming trials are available here: http://www.omegatiming.com/calendar/index.html