By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN
Special to Hays Post
Brett Meyer was disappointed three years ago when he barely missed qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 1,500-meter run.
But he knew he still had time to realize that dream.
“Generally, the best middle-distance runners are around 27 to 28 years old,” he said. “I knew I had more opportunities ahead of me.”
That theory – along with a lot of hard work – has paid off.
The 27-year-old Meyer, a former national champion at Fort Hays State University who now coaches distance runners on the Tiger track team, will compete in the 1,500 meters at this summer’s U.S. Olympic Trials.
He recorded a personal-best time of 3 minutes, 36.8 seconds at a race in California last July, and he has been training ever since for the Trials, set for June 21-30 in Eugene, Oregon.
Following that race, he anxiously awaited the release of the Olympic standards for 2024 and received a huge Christmas present in December when he learned the 1,500 standard was 3:37.0.
Meyer said that was a big relief. Three years ago, he raced right up to the time of the Trials in an effort to meet the qualifying mark and “every race I was in three weeks before the Trials, I was under a lot of pressure.”
“I was excited to get the Olympic standard out of the way this time, because I didn’t want to be chasing it the whole year,” he said. “This way, I wasn’t stressed about trying to find races to better my time, and I could focus on my mental state.”
Handling one’s emotions is key to racing success, said Meyer, who trains on his own. And it has been an emotional roller-coaster year for Meyer and his family.
He and his wife, Kelly, bought their first house last fall.
Kelly’s father, Terry Wycoff from Scott City, died of heart complications at age 66 in January.
And Kelly gave birth to their firstborn son, Judah James, in April.
“I have a lot to run for this year,” said Meyer, who added that he is proud to represent Fort Hays State as well.
The feeling is mutual for FHSU Head Coach Jason McCullough, who Meyer trained under during his collegiate career.
Meyer is just the second former FHSU athlete coached by McCullough to qualify for the Trials in the past eight years after marathoner Cory Keehn made the USA Olympic Team Trials in 2016.
“I’m proud of Brett. It takes a lot of work and a lot of persistence,” said McCullough, who also is pleased to have Meyer as one of his assistant coaches. “You have to be patient and believe in yourself.”
Meyer, a multi-sport athlete at Scott City Community High School, actually wanted to play basketball in college.
But he decided to follow his high school sweetheart, Kelly Wycoff, to Fort Hays State.
Since she spent a lot of time at the track, Meyer thought he’d give college track a shot.
McCullough pegged Meyer as a natural for the mile and 1,500 from early on.
“By his sophomore year, I remember telling him he would be a sub-4-minute miler,” McCullough said.
“He’s really good at racing, and he loves to race,” McCullough said, checking off a list of reasons for Meyer’s success. “He’s also very smart. He plays the long game and is patient. He knows how to win.”
“My wife says, ‘If I could brag Brett up, it’s his discipline,’ ” Meyer said.
“I don’t know that I’m all that talented, but I don’t miss a day,” he said. “I focus on being disciplined, don’t do any crazy hard difficult workouts.”
Humility also is one of Meyer’s characteristics. Anyone who knows him would agree that he is definitely talented.
Meyer didn’t let the disappointment of not qualifying in 2021 get him down. He kept training – and racing.
He qualified for both the indoor and outdoor U.S. Championships in 2022. He made it all the way to the outdoor finals, where he finished seventh. He qualified for that meet again last year and finished one spot out of making the finals.
Meyer has a busy schedule. Both he and his wife work for the Office of Student Affairs at FHSU. And Kelly, like her husband, is part of the Tiger track and field coaching staff.
Meyer knows training takes more than putting in miles, although he does a lot of that, too, logging between 80 and 95 miles a week.
“Nutrition, sleep, rest, hydration – they’re all really important,” he said.
Jim Krob, who coached cross country and track and field at FHSU from 1988 to 2005 and still lives in Hays, was pleased to hear that Meyer had qualified for the U.S. Trials.
“Oh, my, yes,” Krob said when talking about Meyer being a positive representation of Fort Hays State. “He is such a hard worker and such a good kid. And he does a great job of working with those Tiger runners. I hope he does well (at the Trials).”
Meyer said parenthood has given him a new twist to everyday life, which includes running about 14 miles a day.
“I’m never not tired. Maybe running has been preparing me for this whole parent experience,” he said with a smile.
Meyer will accompany the FHSU track team to the NCAA Division II National Championships in Emporia next week, then can totally immerse himself in pre-race mode.
He is excited that his young family will accompany him to Oregon, where Kelly and Judah should easily be able to spot their favorite runner.
At 6-foot-3, Meyer said he is often a head taller than a lot of his competitors.
Hopefully, it will be easier to see the finish line in Eugene.
“My A standard would be top three,” Meyer said of the placing that would qualify him for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. “But I’m really into effort goals, and I really just want to leave no regrets.”
With Eugene being the home of the University of Oregon, where late distance running icon Steve Prefontaine set the running world on fire in the 1970s, Meyer said he can’t help but think of one of Prefontaine’s famous quotes: “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”
“That’s what racing is all about,” Meyer said. “The main thing is to give my best effort there and give myself a shot. I don’t want to leave the track thinking I could have done something better.”