A little more than a week ago, Ashland University senior and former Bluffton High School athlete Trevor Bassitt couldn't go in any preliminary of the 2021 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships due to injury.
Bassitt rallied enough physically to help the Eagle men tie for fourth place nationally as a team, and anchor the winning 4x400-meter relay at Grand Valley State prior to Memorial Day.
On Sunday (June 6) night, at the American Track League men's 400 hurdles at the Music City Track Carnival in Nashville, Tenn., wearing his Ashland uniform, Bassitt not only won the event, but did so with a personal-best time of 48.80 seconds.
That time puts him No. 8 in the world in the men's 400 hurdles this season, and No. 3 among USA hurdlers, and puts Bassitt faster than the 2021 Olympic qualifying standard of 48.90 seconds.
Running in lane 5, Bassitt won in 0.16 seconds over second-place Kenny Selmon. The top three finishers were Americans – Bassitt, Selmon (48.96 seconds) and C.J. Allen (48.97 seconds).
Bassitt will head to the 2021 United States Track & Field Olympic Trials, June 18-27 in Eugene, Ore. He will be part of a contingent that is slated to include former Eagles Katie Nageotte, Myles Pringle, Drew Windle, Alex Hill and Jordan Crayon.
As an Eagle, Bassitt is a six-time NCAA Division II national champion, and a 13-time NCAA Division II All-American.
Also at the ATL and Music City Track Carnival on Sunday, Nageotte won the women's pole vault with a top effort of 4.85 meters/15-feet-11. Nageotte, who won two national championships and was a three-time All-American as an Eagle, is the top women's pole vaulter in the world this spring at 4.93 meters/16-feet-2.
