SALEM – Grant County will be well represented at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials this year.

Connor Smith and Jon Roy will be attending the trials July 6.

One age group and event is selected from the host state during each Olympic trial to put on an exhibition race. The athletes that finish in the top eight in that event during the Junior Olympics qualify for the exhibition.

This year the trials are being held at the University of Oregon in Eugene. The 400-meter dash was selected as the event and the age group is athletes born in 1992 and 1993.

Smith took seventh place at the Oregon Junior Olympics in Salem June 21 with a time of 56.3 seconds to earn a spot in the exhibition race. Roy took 10th with a time of 58.1 to be selected as an alternate.

Smith and Roy only found out they qualified for the Junior Olympics 10 days before the event. They are also the only representatives from Eastern Oregon.

“For Connor and Jon it was really just a case of being in the right place at the right time,” said Sonna Smith Grant Union track coach and Connor’s mom. “They live in Oregon, and were willing to run the 400 without getting much practice.”

Roy and Smith were part of the Grant Union boys track team that took third place in the state June 17.

Roy’s sister Mary also attended the Junior Olympics. She competed in and placed in three events. She finished in second place in the triple jump with a jump of 31 feet and eight inches, fifth place in the long jump with a jump of 14’8″ and sixth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 28.77. She qualified for the Regional Junior Olympics in Spokane, in the long jump and triple jump, but will not be attending the event this year.