Former Bluffton High School track-and-field standout and Ashland University elite hurdler Trevor Bassitt has been on a mission.
One might even say that Bassitt has been running with a chip on his shoulder.
The 2017 Bluffton graduate was a Division III high school state champion in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles.
Bassitt went on to compete, collegiately, at (NCAA Division II) Ashland University, where he established himself as one of the top 400-meter hurdlers in the national circuit.
Bassitt competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2021, where he finished eighth in the 400-meter hurdles, and did not make the U.S. team for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. The top three placers made the U.S. Olympic Team.
But he did not give up.
This past winter, Bassitt won the silver medal in the 400-meter run at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. He made the U.S. team by winning the open 400 at the 2022 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Bassitt’s mission was not complete.
Bassitt went on to notch second place in the 400 hurdles at the 2022 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which earned him a spot on the U.S. team.
Tuesday evening at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, Bassitt clocked a personal-best time of 47.39 seconds in the 400-hurdle finals to garner a third-place finish and a bronze medal.
In lane eight, Bassitt passed three competitors in the final 100 meters to claim the bronze.
Coming out of high school, most of Bassitt’s college offers to compete in track came from smaller schools. The lack of offers from the larger colleges helped fuel Bassitt’s desire to work even harder at his craft.
“I only had two D-I schools (colleges) reach out to me. … That was really it,” Bassitt said in an interview with The Lima News this past March. “Most schools did not think I was fast enough to be a sprinter at the collegiate level. … Most D-I schools did not want me. So, I bet on myself. I went to Ashland, where I knew the coaches would believe in me, and I would have a good training group, and a good culture around me.”
That culture at Ashland definitely paid off for Bassitt.
Tuesday at the World Athletics Championships, Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos won the 400 hurdles in 46.29. American Rai Benjamin, who won the gold medal at nationals last month, won the silver in a seasonal-best of 46.89. The 24-year-old Bassitt was not far behind his teammate, clocking the third-fastest bronze medal time ever recorded at the World Championships.
Norway’s Karsten Warholm, last year’s Olympic champion in the 400 hurdles and world-record holder, faded down the stretch and finished seventh Tuesday.
Ironically, Bassitt notched his bronze medal on the birthday of the late Jud Logan, the longtime Ashland University track-and-field head coach. Logan passed away this past January. Logan was a four-time Olympian in the hammer throw.
Months before he passed away, Logan texted Bassitt and predicted that he would be in the finals of the 2022 World Athletics Outdoor Championships.
Logan’s vision was right on point.
Bassitt was not the only former Ashland University track athlete that competed at the World Athletics Championships this past week.
Katie Nageotte, a former Ashland pole vaulter, won a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships on July 17. She also won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, which was held in 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Mark Altstaetter
Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.