One of Florida's most beloved alumni Jenny Simpson (Barringer) won her first ever US Olympic Trials with a time of 4:04.79 to take gold in the 1,500m at historic Hayward Field. The pace started out slow for three quarters of the race, but then Simpson said sayonara to the rest of the pack leaving them with 250 meters to go to win over Shannon Rowbury, and Brenda Martinez who nabbed the final two spots for a trip to the Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro.
Simpson will be making her third appearance for Team USA in the Olympic Games and second in the 1,500m. At the 2012 London Olympics, she made team USA in the 1,500 by finishing third at the Trials, but failed to advance out of the semifinals and into the finals. She was 9th in the 3,00m steeple chase in Beijing.
Making the trip equally special for the former Oviedo standout, was having high school coach Jay Getty in attendance watching that magical moment. Getty and the rest of her support team rocked Go Jenny shirts.
We're proud of Jenny and all our Florida athletes who will be representing the red,white and blue in Rio!
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One of Florida's most beloved alumni Jenny Simpson (Barringer) won her first ever US Olympic Trials with a time of 4:04.79 to take gold in the 1,500m at historic Hayward Field. The pace started out slow for three quarters of the race, but then Simpson said sayonara to the rest of the pack leaving them with 250 meters to go to win over Shannon Rowbury, and Brenda Martinez who nabbed the final two spots for a trip to the Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro.
