Syracuse Alum Freddie Crittenden III Qualifies for Paris Olympics
The red, white and blue will add some Orange to their Olympic track team, as Freddie Crittenden III qualified for the Paris Olympics in the 110-meter hurdles at Friday’s U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials.
Crittenden makes his first Olympic squad after setting a new personal-best time of 12.93 seconds in the event, which was just 0.13 seconds shy of the world record, to finish second in the final. He’ll be joined on the U.S. Olympic team by Grant Holloway (12.86 seconds) and Daniel Roberts (12.96 seconds) in the event.
The top-six finishers in the race all set new PRs, and it was the first time three runners broke 13 seconds in the same race. Holloway’s time is the current world lead heading into the Olympics.
A Syracuse track and field athlete has now qualified in four-straight and seven of the last-nine Summer Olympic Games.
A former U.S. Champion in the 60-meter hurdles, Crittenden was a five-time All-American and six-time All-ACC honoree in his time at Syracuse. He was a runner-up in back-to-back seasons at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in his collegiate career at Syracuse, where he graduated in 2017. He has since had a successful international career.
Crittenden may be joined by some of his former teammates in Paris, with qualifying still happening in numerous countries. Amanda Vestri (United States) will race in the women’s 10,000-meter run final Saturday night at 9:09 p.m. eastern on NBC. Shaleah Colaire (Canada), Jaheem Hayles (Jamaica) and Benne Anderson (Germany) are also competing at their respective nation’s national championships.
Kline named General Manager to reimagine recruiting
Former New York Knicks scout Alex Kline ’16 has been named Syracuse University Men’s Basketball General Manager, according to head coach Adrian Autry ’94.
“As we look to compete at the highest levels, bringing in Alex as our General Manager position is critical,” said Autry. “This move aligns with our goal of being at the forefront of player evaluation, development and retention, recruiting, and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) in college basketball. It will help Syracuse compete at the national level. Kline joins the Syracuse staff after four years as a scout with the Knicks. Kline was a talent evaluator who helped the organization with the NBA Draft, the trade deadline and free agency, as well as special projects for the team president, vice president and assistant general manager.
“With the rapidly changing landscape that is college basketball, I felt this was the perfect time to re-join my Syracuse family,” said Kline. “Coach Autry, the staff and I are in lockstep on a process-driven vision that is linear to how NBA front offices construct winning rosters. Simply put, this was a life-changing opportunity to impact both a university and community that has poured so much into me.”
In 2016, Kline became a basketball operations assistant with the New Orleans Pelicans of the NBA. During four-plus years with the Pelicans, Kline assisted with college scouting and player evaluation. He provided information used for the NBA Draft and free agency. Kline was hired as a scout by the Knicks in 2020.
He gave birth to The Recruit Scoop in 2010, an online site devoted to publicizing high school basketball players. Rapidly growing interest in the site led to affiliation with Yahoo! Sports and Rivals in 2012, while Kline was still in high school.
Kline created the Mary Kline Classic, named to honor his mother, as a scholastic charity basketball event designed to raise awareness for cancer research. He oversaw the Classic from 2010-2015 before transitioning to co-director in 2017. Proceeds from the contest have exceeded $131,000 and have been donated to the National Brain Tumor Society and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.
