Detroit Assistant Brian Richotte to Compete at U.S. Olympic Trials
DETROIT -- University of Detroit Mercy Track & Field Assistant Coach Brian Richotte is scheduled to compete at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials on June 21 at "Hammer Time", a special edition of the men's and women's hammer throw at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Ore.
Richotte will be competing in the Olympic Trials for the second time after placing 16th in 2008. He achieved a Trials qualifying standard mark on June 8, 2011, at the Last Chance Throwers Gala, hosted by Indiana Wesleyan, taking first place overall with a throw of 228-2 (69.56m).
“For me, it's been the ultimate victory lap, especially after 2008 when going into that meet I thought it was going to be my last ever. I was able to come out last year and PR and be able to qualify for the Olympic Trials,” said Richotte.
Richotte recently completed his fourth year with the Titans track & field team helping sophomore Eric Lewis reach the NCAA Track & Field Outdoor East Regional Championship in the hammer. With the appearance for Lewis in the East Regionals, it marked the third time in Richotte's four years that he has mentored a Titan hammer thrower to the NCAA Regionals as Brittany Horne competed in 2009 in 2010.
During his coaching tenure, UDM has produced 11 All-Horizon League performers, four Horizon League Champions, 11 marks on the UDM top 10 list and a Horizon League Co-Athlete of the Year.
Richotte is an 11-time USA Track & Field Championships qualifier. He finished his collegiate career as a two-time NCAA All-American with seven individual conference championships and multiple school, meet and conference marks, while at Radford and Oregon.
Richotte took two years off after the 2008 Olympic Trials and has recently started practicing again as he works with the UDM student-athletes he coaches, working his way back into competition form.
“Once I started throwing and lifting, I started seeing my throwing marks increase to a point where I thought I could be competitive,” said Richotte. “With Eric living close by, we kind of trained through Thanksgiving and Christmas and rolled into the new year with a PR in the weight throw after taking two years off. I really credit them (Titan throwers) for keeping me busy and being the ultimate training partners.”
Richotte attended Radford University from 2003-06 earning All-American accolades in the hammer in 2005 and weight in 2006. He claimed four Big South titles with two in the hammer and weight as well as setting the school and conference records in both events.
After graduating from Radford, he attended the University of Oregon, where he set the school record in the weight throw with a mark of 20.86m. He won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in the weight finishing 11th at the NCAA Championship. He was also the Pac-10 hammer champion at 67.98m, while finishing 13th at the NCAA meet. He left the school ranked fifth on the all-time records list and was named to the NCAA All-Academic team in 2007. He also earned his master's degree in Educational Leadership.
After his collegiate career ended, Richotte competed for TeamXO, a club team in Oregon, and was able to qualify for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the hammer after throwing 68.94m. He went on to finish 16th overall with a toss of 66.96m.
The first official U.S. Olympic Trials event begins on the morning of Thursday, June 21, with the trials running through July 1 taking place centrally at the University of Oregon at Hayward Field in Eugene.
The men's hammer throw competition is scheduled to include both a qualifying and a final round. The special location for the hammer will be a new and exciting phenomenon in U.S.-based competition, and is a practice which started with much success at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where the shot put competition was held inside the Coliseum.
To qualify automatically for the Olympic Trials, male hammer throwers need a mark of 72.00m, while provisional qualifiers need to be above 64.00m. The top three throwers, with Olympic Games standards, will then advance to represent the USA in the 2012 Summer Olympics, held in London from July 27-August 12.
(Release courtesy DetroitTitans.com)
