Over the next few days, CITIUS MAG and Trials of Miles Racing will be unveiling some of the key athletes registered for next month’s Texas Qualifier meet happening on Feb. 26 and 27th.

The first night of the meet will be aimed for athletes to achieve the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials qualifying marks. The second night of action will get faster with some of the sport’s top stars aiming for Olympic qualifying times that would have them set for the Summer Games in Tokyo.

Race organizers plan to have strict COVID-19 protocols in place that will require athletes to get tested before the meet and implement social distancing and mask requirements before and after the race.

There will be a FREE broadcast of the meet available on The CITIUS MAG YouTube Channel. Subscribe now. If you are interested in sponsoring a race at the meet, please contact race organizer Cooper Knowlton via email – cooper@trialsofmilesracing.com

Also…check out the fields for the:

– WOMEN’S 800 OLYMPIC QUALIFYING SECTION

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Kirubel Erassa, 13:17.23 PB

Erassa last raced in 2019, which was a strong season for him with personal bests of 13:17.23 for 5,000 meters and 27:32.89 for 10,000 meters. He took fifth at the U.S. outdoor championships in the 10,000 meters.

Drew Hunter, 13:17.55 PB

The former high school mile star has taken well to the 5,000 meters as a professional training under coach Tom Schwartz and Tinman Elite. He was fifth in the event at the 2019 U.S. outdoor championships. He set his personal best in a third place finish at last month’s Sound Running Track Meet in California.

Oliver Hoare, 13:28.33 PB

Hoare decided to forego the remainder of his NCAA eligibility at Wisconsin after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out his senior year outdoor season in 2020. He signed a professional contract and joined Dathan Ritzenhein’s On Athletics Club in Boulder, Colorado. Last year, he became the first man to break four minutes for the mile on Colorado soil in 3:56.8. He ran his 13:28.33 personal best at the Sunset Tour meet in California last August.

Joe Klecker, 13:28.98 PB

Klecker is also one of the core stars of the On Athletics Club. The former Colorado Buffaloes star, who finished second at the 2019 NCAA cross country championships, also broke four minutes for the mile in the time time trial with Hoare. In August, he ran a personal best of 13:28.98 for 5,000 meters at the Sunset Tour meet in California and then made his 10,000 meter track debut in 27:35.57 for third place at the Sound Running Track Meet in December.

Eric Avila, 13:18.68 PB

Last year, Avila lowered his personal best from 13:43.05 to 13:18.68 with a fifth place finish at the Sound Running Track Meet so the move up from the 1,500 meters appears to be going well under coach Terrence Mahon and the Golden Coast Track Club.

Hillary Bor, 13:26.81 PB (13:14.96 indoors)

In 2019, Hillary Bor captured his first U.S. title in the steeplechase with Evan Jager sidelined due to injury. He went on to finish eighth at the world championships in Doha. However, there were no opportunities to steeple in 2020 so Bor took to the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters on the track last year. He ran 13:58.55 at altitude in Boulder and then made his 10,000 meter debut with a 27:38.53 for seventh place at the Sound Running Track Meet.

Ryan Hill, 13:05.69 PB

Ryan Hill signaled his return to full health last summer when he ran 13:15.28 at the Bowerman Track Club intrasquad meet in late June. Earlier this month, Hill announced he has joined Northern Arizona Elite and will be training under coach Ben Rosario. With Bowerman, he won three U.S. titles and made four world championship teams. He won a silver medal in the 3,000 meters at the 2016 World Indoor Championships that were held in Portland, Ore. In his recent appearance on The CITIUS MAG Podcast, he said that his plan is to run the 5,000 meters at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Willy Fink, 13:31.79 PB (13:17.15 indoors)

Don’t sleep on the District Track Club’s budding star. He ran 13:17.15 at Boston University last February. Over the summer, he clocked a 3:37.16 personal best for 1,500 meters in Nashville, Tennessee. He went on the Run Your Mouth Podcast last year to discuss why Ohio is the “Miler State.”

Matthew Hughes, 13:19.56 PB (13:13.38 indoors)

Hughes is a seven-time national champion for Canada and has finished in the top 10 for the 3,000m steeplechase at the world championships or Olympics four times in his career. Last summer, he only found himself steeplechasing once for a fifth place finish at the Monaco Diamond League. He took the year to train and worked his way to a 1,500 meter personal best of 3:37.20 in Zagreb in September. His outdoor personal best of 13:19.56 from 2015 could be jeopardy considering he ran six seconds faster nearly a year ago.

Edward Cheserek, 13:04.44 PB

Cheserek enters as one of the favorites in the race with the second-fastest personal best in the field. Last year, he took two cracks at the 10,000 meters and set personal bests out each time. He ran 27:23.58 for third place at the Sound Running Track Meet in December. His personal best of 13:04.44 was set when he won the KBC Night of Athletics in Huesden in July 2019.

Kieran Lumb, 13:40.51 PB

The 22-year-old out of The University of British Columbia ran 13:40.51 at the 2019 Mt. SAC Relays. He has a pair of fifth place finishes in the 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters from the 2019 Canadian national championships.

Mason Ferlic, 13:37.56 PB (13:31.44 indoors)

It’s early in 2021 but Ferlic is currently the world leader in the mile after opening his season with a 3:58.05 for the win at a small meet in Clermont, Florida. Last year, he clocked a personal best of 3:58.87 for the mile. He’s another signature steeplechaser who has been racing events without hurdles since the pandemic.

Geordie Beamish, 13:31.58 PB

Beamish also joined the On Athletics Club after winning three cross country national titles with Northern Arizona. He has personal bests of 3:38.09 for 1,500 meters, 3:56.90 for the mile, 7:44.67 for the indoor 3,000 meters and 13:31.58 for the 5,000 meters.

Ben True, 13:02.74 PB

True holds the fastest personal best in the field from his epic, narrow win over Hassan Mead by .06 seconds at the 2014 Payton Jordan Invitational. This will be his first 5,000 meters on the track since he competed at the 2019 world championships in Doha while battling injuries to both his Achilles. Since 2013, True’s 10 best 5,000 meter races average out to 13:08.

James West, 13:52.29 PB

West had a full season in 2020 that included a personal best of 1:48.67 for the 800 meters indoors, 3:34.07 for the 1,500 meters at the Doha Diamond League and 7:43.79 for the 3,000 meters at a meet in Bromley, England. His personal best in the 5,000 meters was set while he competed for Oregon at the 2018 Stanford Invitational.

Sam Parsons, 13:22.32 PB

Parsons spent some of 2020 sidelined by injury and opted not to time trial or race until the Olympic qualifying window opened up in December. He just missed his personal best with a 13:32.41 at the Sound Running Track Meet in December. His personal best was set at the 2019 Payton Jordan Invitational.

Ben Flanagan, 13:38.98 PB (13:31.07 indoors)

The 2018 NCAA 10,000 meter champion dropped down to the 5,000 meters in 2020. During the indoor season, he ran 13:31.07 at the Boston University Last Chance Meet. In August, he ran 13:38.98 at the Music City Distance Carnival. Two weeks after that, he ran a 10,000 meter personal best of 28:06.88. His most recent race was a 63:19 half marathon.

Reid Buchanan, 13:27.83 PB

Buchanan has an itch for getting right back into racing considering that he just ran a 2:11:38 debut at the Marathon Project. Last year, he also ran 61:45 at the Houston Half. His personal best of 13:27.83 was set at the 2017 Portland Track Festival.

Morgan McDonald, 13:15.83 PB

If you haven’t subscribed to Morgan McDonald’s YouTube channel, please do so. You’ll be able to see his preparation and other antics out of the Team Bosshard training camp in the coming weeks. The former NCAA champion out of Australia raced sparingly in 2020 but clocked a 1,500 meter personal best of 3:37.42. This will mark his second full year of training under Joe Bosshard.