The Olympic Path: From NCAA Division I to Team USA
As the top breeding ground for Olympic athletes from the United States, it’s no surprise that the USA track and field team is filled with former NCAA Division I athletes. From Bryce Hoppel to Michael Norman, to Sha'Carri Richardson, to Courtney Wayment, USATF wouldn’t be much without NCAA athletes. However, not all of these athletes entered college with the same prominence they have today. Let’s take a look at some athletes that were good high schoolers, but became the greats that we know today through their collegiate years and beyond.
Graham Blanks, Harvard University, 5000 meters
A newly minted olympic athlete awaiting his first Games in Paris, Harvard University’s Graham Blanks sneaked onto the men's 5000 meter team with a fourth place finish at the Olympic Trials, just behind North Carolina’s Parker Wolfe. However, since Wolfe hadn’t secured the Olympic standard of 13:05, Blanks stepped up to fill the third roster spot, having previously run faster than 13:05.
While Blanks had proven to be a strong competitor in high school with a 4:15 mile, he was hardly the top athlete in the class of 2020. Nico Young (Northern Arizona University, 2024 USA 10,000m Olympian) had run 13:50 in the 5000 in his senior year, along with Cole Sprout and Leo Daschbach running 4:02 and 3:59 miles respectively, leaving Blanks without the same level of national recognition before joining Harvard in the fall of 2020.
As the years went on, Blanks developed into one of the strongest athletes in NCAA history. After dominating the Ivy League for a couple years, he began racking up All-American honors in the cross country, indoor, and outdoor seasons of his junior year. His time for a championship came his senior year when he won the NCAA cross country title - not bad for someone who finished 28th at the high school national championships four years prior. A week later he followed this performance up with a 13:03 indoor 5000 at Boston University, a then-NCAA record and Olympic standard. Blanks looks to build on this success in Paris in the coming weeks and is a true example of elite collegiate development in the distance events.
James Corrigan, Brigham Young University, 3000 meters steeplechase
Having just finished his sophomore year at BYU after a two-year mission in Madagascar, James Corrigan is on a new mission: the Paris Olympics. Coming out of high school, Corrigan was very good, but with the likes of Cole Hocker (University of Oregon, 2024 USA 1500m Olympian) and Charles Hicks in his graduating class, he was far from the class of the field. With high school personal bests of 9:13 over 3200 meters and 4:23 over 1600, Corrigan was not pegged as the next steeplechase Olympian. Nevertheless, Coach Ed Eyestone took a chance on him and Corrigan committed to BYU.
Coming into the Olympic Trials, James Corrigan didn’t have the Olympic standard, an NCAA title, or even first team All-American. With just a ninth place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, practically no one had Corrigan making the Olympic squad. But still, Corrigan went on to Oregon and made the trials final. While his chances of making the team were still bleak, Corrigan delivered, crossing the line in third place. Now that he had a tentative spot on the team, he’d need to provide a massive performance of 8:15 or better to get on the plane to Paris. And so, on June 29th, Corrigan stepped onto the historic Franklin Field and delivered a performance of 8:13.87. Not only was this under the Olympic standard, but it was the fastest time ever run by a collegian in the steeplechase. Corrigan is proof that it’s important to never miss a day because then you’ll never miss the day when everything goes right.
Allie Wilson, Monmouth University, 800 meters
Having advanced from a 2:11 800-meter PB in college to 1:57 at this past Diamond League meet, Allie Wilson’s meteoric rise has made her into a top-level competitor in the US middle distances. Her high school performances were strong, but Wilson was far from the top athlete in the country. Wilson’s best high school wins were a pair of Delaware County titles in the 1600 and 800. Having committed to Monmouth University, the expectation was never to be at the pinnacle of women's NCAA middle distance, let alone to qualify for an Olympic team. Nevertheless, Wilson strung together PB after PB, cutting nine seconds off of her 800 best and finishing her collegiate career with a pair of First Team All-American honors. She then went pro with the Atlanta Track Club. At her first Olympic trials she finished sixth. Now at 28, with plenty of experience, she secured second place and a trip to the Paris Olympics. Once again, Wilson proves that with consistent training and focus, anything is possible.
A lesson to be learned from highlighting these outstanding athletes is that it doesn't matter where you start, with some hard work and perseverance your goals are never out of reach.
Follow the results from these athletes and the many other track and field Olympians competing in Paris here.
Looking to get your collegiate recruitment journey started? Book an advising session with one of our experienced Recruitment Advisors you will not only better understand your options but you'll know how to make them happen.
Processing your application
There was an error sending the email, please try again