July 6, 2008

Official Results

EUGENE, Ore. - East Stroudsburg University graduate Barry Krammes finished sixth in the men's javelin at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials on Sunday afternoon at Hayward Field, his third straight finish in the top six at the national level.

Krammes entered the finals with the top throw in the preliminary round on Friday night, a mark of 259-1 which established a personal best by almost 15 feet.

He threw 242-2 on the second of his three throws and was sixth after the first round of the finals. The top eight athletes advanced to the second round, where Bobby Smith threw 249-6 to claim the national championship.

Mike Hazle and Leigh Smith will represent the U.S. at the Olympic Games in Beijing, China as the only two athletes in the finals to hit the Olympic "A" standard of 269-4 in the past year. Breaux Greer, the American record holder, also had an "A" standard mark but failed to reach the finals, placing 17th. Hazle was second and Smith was fifth at the trials.

Krammes' throw of 259-1 on Friday was the top mark of the competition and surpassed his previous personal record of 244-5, set three weeks ago in Victoria Falls, British Columbia.

Exceeding expectations at national meets is nothing new for Krammes, who was seeded 18th going into the U.S. Championships in 2006 and threw 241-1 to place fifth. He was also fifth at the 2007 U.S. Championships with another personal best and took another huge step forward in his development at the Olympic Trials.

He was seeded 15th going into the trials based on his mark of 243-4 in last year's U.S. Championships, then hit his personal record on his only throw Friday night to stand on top of the leader board after the first day of competition.

Krammes is a 2004 graduate of ESU, where he was a two-time All-American for the Warriors. He is a social studies teacher at East Stroudsburg South High School and was granted a sabbatical to train at the University of North Carolina this spring.