Who would have predicted it?
The 2016 and 2017 Northwest Conference male athlete of the year, from a Division III Ohio school, would record the eighth fasted time in the 2021 U.S. Olympic finals in the 400 men’s hurdle event – 5 spots and a heartbeat away from membership on the U.S. Olympic track and field team?
Not to mention the race winner was a gasp from a world-record set in 1992.
Bluffton’s own Trevor Bassitt, 2017 Bluffton High School student-athlete, is the "who would have predicted it guy."
Here’s how the final race was reported from Eugene, Oregon, where the race took place under the hottest of temperatures:
Men’s 400-meter hurdles, final: Rai Benjamin runs the second-fastest time ever to blow away the field in the 400 hurdles. Benjamin’s time of 46.83 seconds is five-hundredths of a second off Kevin Young’s 1992 world record of 46.78.
The time is a meet record, of course. Joining Benjamin on Team USA for the Tokyo Olympics will be Kenny Selmon, who was second in 48.08, and David Kendziera, who took third in 48.38. All three ran personal bests in the trials final.
The official times of the eight finalists in th 400m, hurdles:
1 - Rai Benjamin, 46.83
2 - Kenny Selmon, 48.08
3 - David Kendziere, 48.38
4 - Aldrich Baily, 48,55
5 - Khallifah Rosser, 48.81
6 - Isaiah Levingston, 49.25
7 - Cameron Samuel, 49.27
8 - Trevor Bassitt, 50.03
How Trevor advanced to the finals
8 p.m. - Friday, June 25 - Trevor Bassitt of Ashland University continued to advance in the Olympic Trials today.
After qualifying for the semi-finals in the 400-meter hurdles his semi-finals time advanced him to the event finals, which are taking place now in Eugene, Oregon.
STORY FROM EARLIER TODAY -
Bluffton High School grad Trevor Bassitt has moved on to the semi-finals in the 400 meter men's event on Friday in Eugene, Oregon. Bassitt attends Ashland University.
One one-hundredth of a second was the difference between an automatic qualifier and an at-large bid. The top 15 runners finished within 1 second of each other.
Results from Heat 4 of the First Round of Men's 400 Hurdles at #TrackFieldTrials21, which was comprised solely of collegians from 2021 follow:
Cameron Samuel, 49.89
Jonathan Harvey, 49.95
Charles Brockman, 49.98
Trevor Bassitt, 49.99
Cass Elliott, 50.19
Colten Yardley, 52.32
And from the May, 2017, Bluffton Icon’s state track meet archives:
Trevor Bassitt, outstanding Bluffton High School senior athletic, added his name to the list of BHS state track and field title winners on Saturday.
Bassitt won the state Division III boys’ 300 hurdles title with a time of 37.94. Second was Jordan Beight of Grandview Heights in 38.36. Bassitt won 10 points for BHS in the win.
Earlier in the day Bassitt finished second in the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.26. He was second to Cole Smith of Smithville, whose winning time was a breath faster at 14.20. Bassitt scored 8 points for BHS.
Although Smith took top honors in the 110, Bassitt defeated him in the 300 as Smith was third in that race clocked at 38.87.
Bluffton’s times on Friday’s follow:
• Trevor Bassitt, 2nd place, 14.67 in 110 hurdles, preliminaries
• Trevor Bassitt, 1st place, 38.92 in 300 hurdles, preliminaries
• Kaleb Jefferson, junior, 9th, high jump, 6-2
• 3200 relay -
Isaac Andreas, Baylor Garmatter, Antony Kingsley,
Christopher Harnish, 6th, 8:08.92 (3 points)
The 3 points earned by the 3200 relay team give Bluffton 21 points at the state meet, which was not completed at the time of this posting.
Earlier this spring Bassitt was named the Northwest Conference male athlete of the year and his coach, William Theisen, was named male coach of the year.
Bluffton High School boys’ and girls’ track teams both finished runner-up in the Northwest Conference meet in Ada on May 14. Columbus Grove won both boys’ and girls’ titles.
Final thoughts
With a story like this, someday there may need to be a sign on the Bluffton University track reading: Trevor Bassitt ran on this track.
We can only imagine the wording on a sign at the edge of town following the Olympic trials in four years.
