ATLANTA – Jonas Hampton, a former standout on the Hartford men's cross country and track and field teams, had an outstanding performance at the United States Olympic Team Trials in the marathon, which were held in Atlanta this past Saturday. A 2011 graduate from the University of Hartford, Hampton took eighth place with a new personal best in the 26.2 mile race.

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Averaging a 4:59 minute/mile, Hampton crossed the finished line in a time of 2:12.10 to earn eighth in a field of 175 runners and set a personal-best time in the event. The course in Atlanta was a brutally hilly course, which featured 1,389 feet of uphill and 1,382 feet of downhill that pushed runners to their limits on a cold and windy day. He qualified for the Olympic Trials after setting a time of 2:14:19 in the 2018 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
 
This was the second time that Hampton qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials, as he previously earned a spot in the event in 2016 after claiming top honors at the 2015 Eversource Marathon in Hartford, Conn., after finishing his first-ever marathon in a time of 2:15.57. He had also qualified for the trials by way of his previous half-marathon time of 63:57 in Houston in January 2015.
 
A four-year member of the Hartford track and field and cross country teams from 2007 to 2011, Hampton was a standout distance runner for the Hawks. He set personal bests of 31:45.62 in the 10,000m, 14:52.10 in the 5000m, 8:39.74 in the 3000m and 4:27.36 in the mile. On the cross country course, the Pottstown, Pa., native recorded personal-best times in the 10k (34:09.25), 8k (26:21.0) and the 5k (15:35.0). 
 
Hampton, who currently resides in Medford, Mass., graduated from Hartford in 2011 with a degree in civil engineering. He is actively involved in the Department of Athletics' Former Athlete Advisory Committee (FAAC), a group that is comprised of student-athlete alumni from each of the Hawks' Division I programs that is dedicated to assisting the Director of Athletics with first-hand insights and extending the reach of Hartford's alumni network.