East Lansing’s Taylor Manson Heads To The Olympics

Former East Lansing HS track and field star, and current University of Florida sprint standout Taylor Manson has qualified for the U.S. Olympic team and will head to Tokyo, Japan for next month's Summer Olympic Games.

Taylor qualified for the team after running a personal best 50.79 in the 400-meter women's final at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday night.  That time was good for seventh in the finals race.

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With the seventh-place finals finish, Manson didn't qualify for the 400 meters in Tokyo individually, and under previous circumstances, she wouldn't have made the team as a relay member.  But with the addition of mixed-gender relays this year, USA Track and Field has decided to send all eight finalists in the men's and women's 400 meters to Tokyo.

Taylor has one year of collegiate eligibility left at Florida.  She runs the 200 meters in addition to the 400 meters in Gainesville.  She was the Michigan state champion at 400 meters in her senior year at East Lansing (2017) after finishing runner-up her junior year.