Former NAU Standouts Seek Olympic Team Berths

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. Former National Champion Lopez Lomong will begin his quest to make the 2008 United States Olympic team this week at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. Lomong is scheduled to run July 3 in the quarterfinals for the 1,500m, an event he is considered among the contenders for the three Olympic team berths. Everything is going pretty well for the Trials coming up, said Lomong. I am healthy and everything is going well. Lomong is among three athletes with ties to NAU at the Olympic Trials, including decathlete Lysias Bubba Edmonds and David Paul. Edmonds competed for the Lumberjacks from 2002-05 in both track and field and football, while Paul is a NAU graduate student who serves as a volunteer assistant coach for the track and field team. He competed at Eastern Washington and currently trains under NAU assistant Mohamad Saatara. Former NAU Head Coach Ron Mann is also a member of the track and field staff. I am going to take it round by round, said Lomong of his strategy. I am running pretty good. You have to get out and stay out of trouble. I am learning with all the big guys out there. I am very excited. Lomong was granted his United States citizenship last summer, officially recognized at his swearing last July 6 in Syracuse, New York. The 1,500m finals are scheduled for the one-year anniversary. It would mean a lot not just for me but the people who have helped me through, my school and the community, said Lomong. It is my first Olympic Trials here and to make the team would be very big for me. Lomong qualified with the Olympic A qualifying mark in the 1500-meter run May 19 at the adidas Track Classic, finishing fourth in a personal-best 3:36.36 behind two-time Olympic medalist and 2007 1500 World Champion Bernard Lagat, Nick Willis and Kevin Sullivan. Lomong, who was a nine-time Big Sky Conference champion, will be joined at the Trials by Bubba Edmonds, an unlikely qualifier in the decathlon. Edmonds, an All-Big Sky performer for the NAU track and field team for three seasons and letterwinner on the football team, ranks fourth for the 55-meter and 60-meter hurdles in all-time program history. Training with 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist Nick Hysong, Edmonds set his sights on the decathlon. He competed in the event for the first time in 10 years at the Ultimate Track and Field Decathlon in Newberg, Ore., earlier this month, finishing second with 7,722 points and earning a berth in the upcoming Olympic Trials. The decathlon is an athletic event combining 10 track and field events. Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all events. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not by the position achieved. I plan on doing well, said Edmonds, who is training with the NAU coaching staff this week to make final preparations. It was my first full decathlon. I have high expectations on improving on all my sprints. I am not sure what is going to happen. Edmonds, who won the Arizona 4A state championship in the 110-meter hurdles and was named Student-Athlete of the Year at Moon Valley High, had his career at NAU ended by a code on conduct violation. My life has turned around, said Edmonds. My life was off track as far as school and everything was concerned. I got my life on track. I knew what I was capable of and I was not going to stop. It took God to get me back on track. The decathlon started on June 29 with the 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m events. Name, Years at NAU, Event Lysias Bubba Edmonds, 2002-05, Decathlon - Former Track and Field Standout Lopez Lomong, 2005-07, 1,500m - Two-time National Champion and Five-time All-American. David Paul, NAU Student, Volunteer Coach, Hammer - Competed at Eastern Washington; Trains under NAU assistant Mohamad Saatara. Others Potential Olympians with NAU Ties Kyle Landry, Basketball, Canada, Student-Athlete, 2004-08 - Scheduled to compete in team tryouts Ron Mann, Assistant Coach, United States, Head Coach, 1980-04 Amin Nikfar, Throws, Iran, Volunteer Assistant - Competed at Cal; Trains under NAU assistant Mohamad Saatara. Anna Soderberg, Throws, Sweden, Student-Athlete, 1993-97