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|  Big Blue National Invitational: 13 Olympic Trials Qualifiers June 14, 2004 From Press Release
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Fans at the Big Blue National
Invitational saw 12 athletes hit 13 Olympic Trials Qualifying
Standards with six coming from Wild Bill's Magical Metric
Mile. The Big Blue National Invitational was held on the
campus of Hillsdale College, in Hillsdale Michigan on June 11th
& 12th, 2004. Wild Bill's Magical Metric Mile (1500 meters) was led by
Olympian Paul McMullen, a graduate of Eastern Michigan
University and representing the US Coast Guard, with a winning
time of 3:40.92. McMullen led five other competitors under the
Olympic Trials qualifying standard of 3:43.00. Fans
experienced one of the fastest metric mile races in the US with
Dan Wilson (Asics) in 3:41.10, Erik Schmidt representing the US
Marine Corps (3:41.29), Brandon Strong representing Asics
(3:41.38), Ian Conner representing NIKE (3:42.03), and Karl
Savage of Zap Fitness (3:42.15) cruising under the Olympic
Qualifying standard of 3:43.00. Syracuse Chargers' Matt
LoPiccolo, finishing in seventh, just missed the Olympic Trials
qualifying standard with his career best time of 3:43.56, an
improvement of nearly three seconds. Schmidt in third also had
a big career best of nearly three seconds. Indiana Invaders' Zack Riley had a winning throw of 68.55
meters in the hammer throw which easily exceeded the Olympic
Qualifying standard of 64.00 meters. Riley's performance earned
him MVP honors at Big Blue National Invitational. Olympic Gold Medalist Darnell Hall, representing the Hansons-
Brooks ODP, equaled the Olympic Qualifying Standard of 45.85 to
win the 400 meters. Hall won the Olympic Gold at the 1992
Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain as part of the US 4x400 relay
team. Hall also won the 1995 World Indoor Championships in the
400. Greg Richardson won the 110 hurdles with a time of 13.68 and
Syracuse Chargers' Ron Andrews was second with a time of
13.71.
Andrews improved on his mark of 13.84 from the first day of
competition. The Olympic qualifying standard in the 110 hurdles
is 14.00. Joe Allen, representing Holyfield International, qualified for
the US Olympic Trials with his winning leap of 7.83 meters in
the long jump. Henry Patterson hit the Olympic Trials qualifying standard of
2.20 to win the high jump over Ryan Fitzpatric, a graduate of
Purdue University, who cleared 2.15 meters. BIG BLUE NATIONAL INVITATIONAL TOP PERFORMERS: MVP Points High Performance Meet Series Director Greg Harger said, "This
was a very solid weekend of performances. The excitement of
Wild Bill's Magical Metric Mile as the finale of the event was
a great way to end this weekend's inaugural high performance
competition." Harger added, "This was a great early summer
Olympic season tune up for the team as we head toward the
Olympic Trials in July. We look forward to the prospect of
growing the event and working with Hillsdale College to make
this an annual fixture on the domestic calendar." The next scheduled stop on the Indiana Invaders High
Performance Meet Series will be in Bloomington, Indiana for the
Big RED National Invitational on June 26th and 29th. Athletes
will likely be seeking the Olympic A Qualifying standard and
the Olympic Trials A standard in several events. The Big RED
National Invitational leads into the USATF National Club Track
& Field Championships in Bloomington, Indiana on July 2nd and
3rd. The Club Championship is the final qualifying opportunity
for the US Olympic Trials as it has an exemption beyond the
July 1st qualifying window. Big Blue National Invitational Results: Big RED National Invitational:
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