LCC alum Pappas earns trip to Olympics

LCC alum Pappas earns trip to Olympics
Bryan Clay, left, and Tom Pappas, right, lead decathletes around the Hayward Track after the final event of the decathlon competition at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Ore., Monday, June 30, 2008. Clay placed first and Pappas second. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- Bryan Clay, Trey Hardee and Tom Pappas have qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in the decathlon.

Clay, a silver medalist at the Athens Olympics, won the U.S. Olympic track trials Monday with a score of 8832, his personal record, and also the best mark in the United States in 16 years and best in the world in four years.

Hardee also set a personal best with 8533 points, and Pappas made it back to the Olympics, four years after rupturing a tendon in his foot in the Athens Games.