Vanderbilt grad student Veronica Fraley qualified for the 2024 Olympics in Paris on Thursday, finishing third in the discus competition at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Hayward Field in Oregon.
It will be the first Olympics for Fraley, who has previously represented the U.S. at the World Championships (twice) and the 2023 Pan American Games.
The Raleigh, N.C., native topped the 60-meter mark on four of her six throws, recording her best effort in the third round with a throw of 62.54 meters.
Fraley, currently ranked 22nd in the world, earlier this month won the discus competition at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. In that competition, Fraley’s winning throw was 63.66 meters, allowing her to finish ahead of Louisville’s Jayden Ulrich (63.05 meters) and Florida’s Alida van Daalen (62.44 meters).
It’s been quite a season for Fraley, who competed three years (2019-21) at Clemson and two at Vanderbilt.
She was named the SEC Field Athlete and Scholar Athlete of the Year, won the SEC shot put crown and was runner-up in the discus. Fraley concluded her NCAA career with four All-America selections, two East Region titles, two SEC titles and an NCAA discus championship.
The 24-year-old Fraley holds Vanderbilt records in both the discus (63.66 meters) and outdoor shot put (18.29 meters).
Vanderbilt’s Allyria McBride also competed at the trials Thursday, advancing out of the first round of the 400-meter hurdles after finishing with a time of 56.96 seconds. The rising junior from Marietta, Ga., placed fourth in her heat and was 18th overall in a field of 34 individuals.
Fraley will continue competing at the U.S. Trials on Friday when the first round of the shot put gets underway, while former Commodore Brooke Overholt will begin her attempt to make the Canadian Olympic team with the first round of the 400-meter hurdles in Montreal.
This story was first published by our sister publication Nashville Post.
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