Former University of Southern Indiana Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field All-American Michael Jordan ’15 (Indianapolis, Indiana) made a strong push for a spot in the upcoming U.S. Olympic Trials Friday night.
Jordan, competing for the New Jersey-New York Track Club, finished 17th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Hoka One One Middle Distance Classic in Eagle Rock, California. His time of eight minutes, 35.47 seconds was just 3.47 seconds away from a U.S. Olympic Trials automatic qualifying time and ranks him 14th in the U.S. in 2016 and 66th in the world.
A five-time All-American at USI, Jordan owns the top three times in school history in the steeplechase. He was the 2012 GLVC Cross Country Runner of the Year before earning U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association Midwest Region Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year honors in 2013.
The two-time steeplechase All-American finished third in the event at the 2013 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships and sixth at the 2012 NCAA II Outdoor Championships. He posted a school-record time of 8:42.63 at the 2013 Payton Jordan Invitational.
If Jordan qualifies and competes at the U.S. Olympic Trials, which are July 1-10 in Eugene, Oregon, he will become the third former USI Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field All-American to compete at a U.S. Olympic Trials event in the last six months.
This past February, Jesse Davis ’06 (Bloomington, Indiana) and Dustin Emerick ’12 (Elmwood, Illinois) competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials marathon in Los Angeles. Emerick finished 26th in the event, crossing the finish line in 2:22:18, while Davis was 70th with a time of 2:29:39.
Jordan graduated from USI in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
