Former national champion and current Fort Hays State track and field assistant coach Brett Meyer has qualified to run in the 2022 Toyota USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships. The 2019 NCAA Division II champion in the 1,500m run will compete in the same race against the nation's best later this week in Eugene, Ore.
Meyer is one of 36 Americans that qualified for this year's Outdoor Championships in the 1,500m run. The first round of competition is slated for Thursday (June 23) at 8:35 p.m. (6:35 p.m. PT) before the finals run live on NBC on Saturday (June 25) at 3:40 p.m. (1:40 p.m.). More information on the USATF Outdoor Championships can be found here. The top four runners in the finals will then represent the United States of America in the World Athletics Championships July 15-24.
Meyer qualified for the event after running a lifetime-best 3:37.77 at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif. in April. Earlier this month, the Scott City, Kan. native won the New York Grand Prix in 3:37.95 after placing third at the Music City Track Carnival in Nashville, Tenn. in 3:37.93.
A native of Scott City, Kan., Meyer began his professional career immediately following his national title in the summer of 2019. He earned his first pro win at the Ryan Shay Mile in Charlevoix, Mich. in July of that year with a time of 3:58.18.
Meyer first broke the four-minute mark in the mile at the St. Louis Festival of Miles in the summer of 2018 with a time of 3:59.77. He then set the Kansas indoor record in the mile with a time of 3:58.39 at the 2021 Ichabod Invite in Topeka, eclipsing a mark earlier set by Olympic silver medalist Jim Ryun.
His 2021 season continued with a win at the St. Louis Festival of Miles (3:56.71) before a personal-best 3:56.18 at the Falmouth (Mass.) Track Festival. He nearly qualified for the USATF Olympic Trials in the 1,500m, running a top time of 3:38.10 at the Music City Track Carnival. Meyer placed second at the Portland (Ore.) Track Festival that year in 3:38.44 before winning the Ed Murphey Last Chance Meet in Memphis, Tenn. in 3:38.25. He wrapped up 2021 with a time of 3:51.81 in a road mile race in Cleveland, Ohio, the Guardian Mile.
Meyer's national title in his final collegiate race was his sixth All-American trophy. He was an eight-time MIAA champion, including six individual titles and two in relays. Meyer currently holds two program records, including the indoor 1,000m run and the outdoor 4x1,600m relay. He served as a graduate assistant at FHSU from 2019-21 before coming on as an assistant coach in 2021-22. Meyer also serves as the building coordinator in the Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success within the Division of Student Affairs. He is a two-time graduate from Fort Hays State University, earning a bachelor of science in Health and Human Performance in 2019 before completing a master's of science in the same department in 2021.
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