Olympic Trials

St. Ambrose track and field athletes Michael Ohioze, Jenny Lopez and Anthony Peters spent the last days in June competing for berths in 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Brazil.

All three came up short of a trip to Rio in August, but the experience may make them viable contenders for the 2020 games in Tokyo, said Dan Tomlin '05, '10 MBA, head track and field coach, who said the summer opportunities will be "life-changing" for all three athletes.

"Being around world-class athletes certainly has its benefits," he said. "For one, you see they are really no different than you. It's just really a level of commitment to their sport. I don't think any of them see this as the finishing line, but more of a check point along an even longer road."

Peters, a junior from Bartlett, Ill., and Lopez, a junior from Elgin, Ill., each finished eighth in their attempts to make the United States Olympic team in the men's and women's 20K race walk at the U.S. Trials in Salem, Oregon, on June 30. 

Ohioze, a senior from London who also plays soccer at St. Ambrose, attempted to make the Olympic team for his native Great Britain at the British Championships on June 24 in Birmingham, England. Ohioze finished sixth in his preliminary 400 meter heat in a time of 49.43 and did not advance to the semifinal round. Tomlin attributed tired legs from a busy spring track season. Ohioze finished fourth at the NAIA National Track and Field Championships in May.

Peters won NAIA national race walk titles at both the indoor and outdoor championships this past season. Lopez was a national indoor champion and finished third in the women's outdoor race walk competition. Each qualified for the trials by bettering a 20K qualifying standard in April in St. Louis.

Peters has won a pair of junior national titles and competed on the international stage in last year's Pan Am Junior Games. For both race walkers, the Olympic Trials represent a step up in competing against athletes twice their age with considerably more experience and the 20K distance. Both have years ahead of them in their sport and will continue to train past their anticipated 2018 graduations, possibly enlisting the indoor track at the Wellness and Recreation Center that will open in the fall of their senior years. 

The last SAU athlete to compete in the Olympic is believed to be Kim Clarke '91, a women's basketball player at SAU who competed in three different Olympics as a member of the U.S. women's handball team. To have three contenders from an NAIA level program in the same year is something in which to take pride, Tomlin said.

"It's unusual for a program our size to have one athlete a step away from the Olympics, let alone three," said Tomlin, SAU's head track and field coach. "We are fortunate to have such talented and committed athletes."

All three wore SAU uniforms while competing.

"I don't know if we could ask for three better people to be wearing SAU on their chest," Tomlin said. "They are proud Ambrosians and we're certainly proud of them. They are everything we hope ambassadors of the school can be and that makes their successes even more rewarding."