SALEM, Va. – Former Roanoke College standout Carmen Graves '13 will compete this weekend at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon in the 300-meter steeplechase.

Competition starts on June 21; Day 4 (June 24) has the Men's Finals of the 1500 at 5:47 Pacific Time (8:47 on the East Coast), immediately followed by the trials of the Women's 3000 meter steeplechase, set for 5:59 PT.  Only 30 women will compete in the two heats contested that evening.  
 
Graves qualified at last year's USA T&F Championships in early July.  Consequently, she had the luxury of training this spring without the pressure of worrying about meeting the qualifying standard.  In mid-May she ran 9:43 at the Los Angeles Grand Prix and two weekends ago, won the steeple at the prestigious Music City Distance Carnival at Middle Tennessee State in 9:42.   She is currently ranked 69^th in the 3000 steeplechase World rankings, and 13^th among Americans. 
 
This is Graves' third Olympic Trials. Dick Emberger, Class of 1960, won the US Olympic Trials in 1964 and competed again in 1968.   
 
Television coverage for the Trials will be broadcast on NBC, their Peacock network, and the USA channel. The women's steeplechase is viewable from Peacock streaming or NBCOlympics.com, and the NBC Sports app.

Graves was a star on both the women's track and field and women's soccer teams during her time at Roanoke. For track, she was a five-time All-American and two-time ODAC Track Athlete of the Year (2012-13). In 2013, she was named All-American by virtue of her placing second in the 800m run (2:10.75) at the NCAA Indoor National Championships. In soccer, she was a first team All-State and All-ODAC selection her junior and senior years. She finished her soccer career with 26 goals, 14 assists, with six game-winning goals. Graves was inducted into the Roanoke Sports Hall of Fame in 2023.