Todd to throw at Olympic Trials Friday

University of Montana javelin thrower Evan Todd, a Glacier High graduate, is heading back to Eugene, Oregon this week for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials at Hayward Field.

Todd is ranked 13th in a 24-man field that will compete on Friday beginning at 4:30 p.m. Mountain, with the action streamed live on Peacock. 

“It’s really exciting to have an athlete that’s going to be wearing a Montana uniform at the Olympic Trials,” UM coach Doug Fraley said. “That is the highest level of competition that you can get on domestic soil, and I’m just so proud and grateful that we have an athlete that’s going to be representing Griz track and field at Hayward Field this week.” 

It’s been an extremely impressive senior season for Todd, who broke the Montana school record and won his third straight Big Sky Championship with a mark of 246 feet, 6 inches in Bozeman in early May. 

The 75.13m mark also made him an auto-qualifier to the Olympic Trials as any throws over 75 meters – he threw 75.13 – are accepted. He enters as the seventh-best collegiate American in the field. 

Southern Connecticut State University sophomore Jordan Davis, the D-II national champion in the event, leads the field with a mark of 84.45 meters or 277-0. There are five other athletes that have throws of at least 80 meters this season, including D-I national champion Marc Anthony Minichello of Georgia (82.32). 

In order to qualify for the Olympics Todd would need to reach 85.5 meters, or 280-6. If no American reaches the standard mark, they can still be accepted into the Paris Olympics based off world rankings.  

The full field will take three throws on Friday with the top eight marks returning on Sunday for the finals.  

This will be Todd’s second trip to Hayward Field in the last three weeks, as he competed in the NCAA Championship meet on June 5 at the same venue. He finished 22nd with a throw of 214-1 (65.26m) at the event.