July 5, 2008 – ATLANTA – Once again, the United States Olympic track and field trials were unkind to the Morehouse student-athletes who qualified to participate in them.

In 2004, high jumper Keith Moffatt came within an eyelash of earning a berth on the U.S. Olympic team. Moffatt tied for third place in that competition, but because of more misses at a lower height, he failed to make the three-man high jump team that competed in the Athens Olympics.

This weekend at the Olympic trials in Eugene, OR, Moffatt, long jumper Randall Flimmons and hurdler Damian Prince fell short in their attempts to represent Morehouse and the United States at the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

Moffatt, a senior from Newport News, Va., came closest to making the team. His leap of 7’-5 ¼” tied three other jumpers for second best in the meet, but Moffatt finished in fifth place, because of more misses at a lower height. Moffatt’s leaps during the year, also fell short of the “A” Standard of 7’-6 ½” required to make the Olympic team.

Flimmons, a senior from Columbus, MS, made it to the long jump finals, but hurt his shoulder on his first jump and finished seventh.

Prince, a senior from Decatur, GA, ran a 50.97 race, but was eliminated in the preliminaries of the 400-meter hurdles.

Coincidentally, the Olympic trials record of 47.37 for the 400-meter hurdles is still held by alumnus Edwin Moses ’78, the last Morehouse Man to participate in the Olympic Games.