Cal Poly graduate student Davis Bove has earned a bid to the US Olympic Track and Field Team Trials after setting back-to-back personal best finishes in the 1,500-meter race. He will compete in the first round on Friday, June 21 at 5:22 p.m.
Bove qualified for the trials through his lifetime best performances in the 1,500 at two straight meets.
Cal Poly’s Male Athlete of the Year ran a personal best 3:38.40 at the Music City Track Carnival in Murfreesboro, Tenn. on June 1. He followed up the outing by setting another PR, running a 3:37.13 at the 2024 Portland Track Festival on June 9.
In the first round of the trials, Bove will compete against 35 other athletes to finish in the top six of his heat to earn a spot in the second round alongside the top six of the other two heats and the next six fastest times.
The top 12 of the second round will then compete for a spot on the US Olympic Team on Monday, June 24, at 5:47 p.m.
In his lone season as a Mustang, Bove helped lead Cal Poly to a historic season in which they won both the men’s and women’s Big West titles.
The Franklin, Tenn. native set a program record in the men’s 1,000 (2:20.97) and became the fifth Mustang ever to run a sub-four-minute mile with the second-fastest time in school history (3:58.0).
Bove also ran the third-fastest 5,000 times in program history (13:48.0) and was .67 seconds off of advancing to the NCAA finals in the men’s 1,500.
The distance runner also qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships this past fall by placing eighth at the NCAA West Regional, tied for the second-highest individual finish by a Mustang man at the meet in program history.
His performances, highlighted by an individual title at the Big West championships, earned him Big West Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year honors.
The U.S. Olympic Team Trials where Bove can be watched will be live on NBC, Peacock and USA Network.