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O'Neil trains Olympian; 2 Lopes reach U.S. Trials finals
7/1/2024 8:47:00 AM | Track and Field, Paul Coro, Lopes Insider Blog
GCU assistant coach helps Crittenden to Paris; Smith, Oloyede go far in Eugene
World-class hurdler Freddie Crittenden became an Olympian for the first time under the training of Grand Canyon track and field assistant coach Tim O'Neil this weekend at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team Trials, where GCU athletes Israel Oloyede and James Smith II reached finals in their events Sunday.
Crittenden, who was hurt for the 2016 and 2020 trials, punched his Olympic ticket in the 110-meter hurdles as an unsponsored athlete. The Phoenix resident has been training for six years with O'Neil, the founder of Phoenix Track Club that works out at GCU's track and performance center.
"He never lost faith in me and kept me getting up every day to do it," Crittenden said of O'Neil in a press conference in Eugene, Oregon. "Without them (O'Neil and his family and friends), I would've been done before."
Crittenden, who took fourth at World Championships last year, credited O'Neil with strategizing a change in the warm-up plan to set him up for success in each of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials' three races. The Phoenix resident ran a personal-best time of 12.93 seconds to take second place in the finals and record the 13th-best time in world history.
"It was insane," said O'Neil, who also coached two-time Olympic hurdler Devon Allen. "I didn't think our warm-up looked amazing. I thought we were going to be a force to be reckoned with in the final, but when the gun went off, he stumbled coming out and I thought, 'Oh, we're in trouble.' And then he gathered himself, and he can close better than anyone in the world. He ran the last half of that race brilliantly."
To realize his dream, Crittenden was a GameStop employee, warehouse worker and substitute teacher before joining Phoenix-based nonprofit organization G Road as he and his wife expect their first child in three weeks.
With fellow qualifiers Grant Holloway (12.83) and Daniel Roberts (12.96), the race marked the first time ever that the three American qualifiers all ran the 110 hurdles in less than 13 seconds.
"If I can do it in practice, it's time to do it in a race," Crittenden said of his training with O'Neil. "Since my last race in Jamaica at the end of May, my training's been lights out. Consistent training."
O'Neil watched the race from the Hayward Field mezzanine, where he asked a fan if he minded that he stood to record the final. The fan seemed put off by the request and begrudgingly allowed it. When the race finished and O'Neil yelled, "Let's go!," the fan asked if O'Neil was Crittenden's coach. Told yes, he said he came to the meet to watch Crittenden race.
"It sent chills," said O'Neil, who received 150 well-wishing text messages on the eve of the final.
O'Neil thanked GCU senior associate athletic director Anthony Martinez and GCU assistant athletic director of sports performance Zach Farrel for their support of the club, beyond his fulfilling experience as a Lopes assistant coach with head coach Tom Flood and associate head coach Todd Lehman.
"It feels like home," O'Neil said of GCU. "We feel welcome. It's been an unbelievably great experience. I can't imagine it being any better. From our GCU athlete standpoint, the kids here are amazing."
Oloyede just became GCU first All-American first-team member with a fourth-place finish in the hammer throw at NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships earlier in June, when he threw a personal best of 75.29 meters (247 feet).
The Phoenix native's best throw at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials of 74.32 meters (243 feet, 10 inches) came on his third attempt, which he needed to reach the finals. He scratched on three attempts there, but his previous best was still good to enough earn seventh place. The top three finishers qualified for the Olympics.
Oloyede, a North Canyon HIgh School graduate, also used a throw of 74.66 meters in the qualifying round, which was the fourth best of that day's action.
Smith progressively improved his times throughout the U.S. Olympic Team Trails, moving from a round of heats to the semifinals to a nine-man finals televised live by NBC on Sunday.Â
With a tough draw in Lane 1, Smith was in ninth after the first six hurdles but surged past four competitors to take fifth place with a career-best time of 49.18 seconds. The three Olympic qualifiers cracked 48 seconds with a 1.36-second gap between Smith and the third spot.
Smith, a Mesa Westwood High School graduate, ran sub-50 times for GCU four times this spring and lowered his personal best to 48.97 seconds two weeks prior to trials in an Edmonton, Canada, meet.Â
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Crittenden, who was hurt for the 2016 and 2020 trials, punched his Olympic ticket in the 110-meter hurdles as an unsponsored athlete. The Phoenix resident has been training for six years with O'Neil, the founder of Phoenix Track Club that works out at GCU's track and performance center."He never lost faith in me and kept me getting up every day to do it," Crittenden said of O'Neil in a press conference in Eugene, Oregon. "Without them (O'Neil and his family and friends), I would've been done before."
Crittenden, who took fourth at World Championships last year, credited O'Neil with strategizing a change in the warm-up plan to set him up for success in each of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials' three races. The Phoenix resident ran a personal-best time of 12.93 seconds to take second place in the finals and record the 13th-best time in world history.
"It was insane," said O'Neil, who also coached two-time Olympic hurdler Devon Allen. "I didn't think our warm-up looked amazing. I thought we were going to be a force to be reckoned with in the final, but when the gun went off, he stumbled coming out and I thought, 'Oh, we're in trouble.' And then he gathered himself, and he can close better than anyone in the world. He ran the last half of that race brilliantly."
To realize his dream, Crittenden was a GameStop employee, warehouse worker and substitute teacher before joining Phoenix-based nonprofit organization G Road as he and his wife expect their first child in three weeks.
With fellow qualifiers Grant Holloway (12.83) and Daniel Roberts (12.96), the race marked the first time ever that the three American qualifiers all ran the 110 hurdles in less than 13 seconds.
"If I can do it in practice, it's time to do it in a race," Crittenden said of his training with O'Neil. "Since my last race in Jamaica at the end of May, my training's been lights out. Consistent training."
O'Neil watched the race from the Hayward Field mezzanine, where he asked a fan if he minded that he stood to record the final. The fan seemed put off by the request and begrudgingly allowed it. When the race finished and O'Neil yelled, "Let's go!," the fan asked if O'Neil was Crittenden's coach. Told yes, he said he came to the meet to watch Crittenden race.
"It sent chills," said O'Neil, who received 150 well-wishing text messages on the eve of the final.
O'Neil thanked GCU senior associate athletic director Anthony Martinez and GCU assistant athletic director of sports performance Zach Farrel for their support of the club, beyond his fulfilling experience as a Lopes assistant coach with head coach Tom Flood and associate head coach Todd Lehman.
"It feels like home," O'Neil said of GCU. "We feel welcome. It's been an unbelievably great experience. I can't imagine it being any better. From our GCU athlete standpoint, the kids here are amazing."
Oloyede, Smith reach finals
Oloyede and Smith, who are GCU graduate students, performed at an elite national level to reach the finals of their events Sunday, when Oloyede took seventh place in the hammer throw and Smith finished fifth in the 400-meter hurdles.Oloyede just became GCU first All-American first-team member with a fourth-place finish in the hammer throw at NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships earlier in June, when he threw a personal best of 75.29 meters (247 feet).The Phoenix native's best throw at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials of 74.32 meters (243 feet, 10 inches) came on his third attempt, which he needed to reach the finals. He scratched on three attempts there, but his previous best was still good to enough earn seventh place. The top three finishers qualified for the Olympics.
Oloyede, a North Canyon HIgh School graduate, also used a throw of 74.66 meters in the qualifying round, which was the fourth best of that day's action.
Smith progressively improved his times throughout the U.S. Olympic Team Trails, moving from a round of heats to the semifinals to a nine-man finals televised live by NBC on Sunday. With a tough draw in Lane 1, Smith was in ninth after the first six hurdles but surged past four competitors to take fifth place with a career-best time of 49.18 seconds. The three Olympic qualifiers cracked 48 seconds with a 1.36-second gap between Smith and the third spot.
Smith, a Mesa Westwood High School graduate, ran sub-50 times for GCU four times this spring and lowered his personal best to 48.97 seconds two weeks prior to trials in an Edmonton, Canada, meet.Â
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