Van Ingen finishes 27th at U.S. Olympic Trials

Erik van Ingen placed 10th in his heat and 27th overall in opening round of the 1,500 on June 28 at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. The four-time All-American clocked a time of 3:43.52 and missed advancing to the second round by three places.

Craig Miller won van Ingen’s heat, which was the first of three heats, in a time of 3:41.89. The top overall time of 3:40.78 was recorded by Jordan McNamara.

Rory Quiller, a three time All-American and 2008 NCAA pole vault champion at Binghamton, tied for eighth in the finals with a height of 17-8 1/4.  The top three finishers in the event qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team.

Van Ingen is a four-time, first-team track & field All-American. At the NCAA Indoor Championships, he was fifth in the mile at the 2011 meet and seventh this past year. After a sixth-place finish in the 1,500 at the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Championships, van Ingen was eighth in the 2012.

From 2004-08, Quiller was a five-time NCAA qualifier and three-time All-American at Binghamton. After placing second in the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships and fourth in the ensuing outdoor meet, he captured the 2008 NCAA indoor championship in his final collegiate meet. Four months later, he competed in the pole vault at the U.S. Olympic Trials, which were also held in Eugene, Ore.

Van Ingen and Quiller only spent one indoor track season together as teammates. After transferring from Canisius College in January 2008, van Ingen did not compete during that indoor season but still trained with the team.

In its history, Binghamton has had four of its athletes take part in the Olympics either before or after their collegiate careers. John Moreau competed in fencing for the U.S. in the 1984 games, which were held in Los Angeles, California. Chris Coleman took part in the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympic Games in the bobsledding events.

Before arriving at Binghamton, Yun Qu competed for her native China in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. She was fourth in the 100 butterfly. Hui-Jue Cai, meanwhile, also swam for China in 1996 and earned a bronze medal in the 4x100 relay.

On June 9, van Ingen placed eighth in the finals of the 1,500 at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. In the process, he earned All-America honors for the fourth time in his career, something no other Binghamton athlete has accomplished during the program’s 11-year NCAA Division I era.

Andrew Bayer of Indiana won the race in a time of 3:43.82, followed by Miles Batty of BYU (3:43.83) and Ryan Hill of N.C. State (3:44.24). Van Ingen was eighth in a time of 3:45.00, defeating three former national champions in the process. Van Ingen advanced to the finals by winning the second of two preliminary heats on June 7.

“I’m really proud of Erik’s consistency at the national level” assistant coach Annette Acuff said. “Every year it gets more challenging to keep it going. His Binghamton career has been an amazing story. Erik has grown so much as an athlete and has truly helped put our distance program on the map.”