June 20, 2016

PRINCETON, N.J. – Fresh off an All-American performance in the shot put at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, sophomore Josh Awotunde continued to pursue his Olympic aspirations over the weekend with a strong showing at the Princeton Qualifier meet. The event, hosted at Princeton University, gives athletes a chance to hit the standards to qualify for Olympic trials, and Awotunde used the opportunity to hit another career milestone.

At the NCAA Outdoor Championships just 11 days earlier, Awotunde threw 19.43 meters, or 63 feet and nine inches to take seventh place overall in the shot put. At the Princeton meet Sunday, the Franklinville, N.J. would finish with five-straight throws that would top his performance at nationals. He topped out at 20.11 meters (65-11 ¾) becoming just the second Gamecock ever to crack the 20-meter barrier. He remains second overall in school history, behind only Brad Snyder’s mark of 67-3 ½ set in 1999.

With Team USA’s Olympic trials scheduled for July 1-10, Awotunde’s mark could qualify him to participate in the meet. He may also compete on behalf of Nigeria, where his parents hail from. Currently, the Gamecocks have three athletes on the roster who are already set to compete at the U.S. trials: Tyler Brockington (400m hurdles), Natasha Dicks (triple jump) and Dondre Echols (110m hurdles).