Two-time Olympic medalist and Williston Northampton alum Gabby Thomas, along with UMass alum Heather MacLean, will open their U.S. Track & Field Olympic Trials on Thursday with an eye on making the team for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The Trials began last week and run through Sunday in Eugene, Ore. UMass alum Lisa Wilson competed in the first round of the women’s hammer throw on Friday and finished 16th, just outside the top-12 that advanced to the final.

Thomas is set to compete in the 200-meter dash. The first round of competition is set for Thursday at 8:51 p.m., while the semifinals are Friday at 10:06 p.m. and the finals are on Saturday at 8:27 p.m, all on NBC and streaming on Peacock.

Thomas, a former Easthampton resident and Harvard alum who now runs for New Balance, is the No. 1 qualifier in the event with a mark of 21.60 seconds. She won the bronze medal in the 200 at Tokyo 2020 and also earned a silver medal as the anchor in the 4x100 relay. She also qualified for the Trials in the 400, but scratched in favor of focusing on the 200.

Thomas graduated from Williston in 2015 and set several school records. She studied neurobiology and global health at Harvard, where she set school and Ivy League records in the 100 and 200 before forgoing her final year of collegiate eligibility and turning pro in 2018. In May 2023, she finished her master's degree in public health with a concentration in epidemiology at the University of Texas-Austin.

MacLean, who also runs for New Balance, will compete in the 1,500 meters. She is the No. 9 seed with a time of 4 minutes, 2.49 seconds. The first round is Thursday at 8:23 p.m, the semifinals are Friday at 8:53 p.m. and the finals are on Sunday at 8:09 p.m.

MacLean reached the semifinals of the 1,500 at the 2020 Tokyo Games. She ran for UMass from 2013-2018 and was named an All-American three times. She won two Atlantic 10 cross country titles and became the first woman in UMass history to earn cross country All-America honors. In all, the Peabody native won 10 Atlantic 10 titles across five seasons.