Eleven Arizona track and field athletes will compete in this summer's Olympic trials in hopes of punching their ticket to Athens for the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Head coach Fred Harvey says his Wildcats have their work cut out for them.
"Quite frankly, all of them, in my opinion, are underdogs to make the team," Harvey said. "The Olympic trials are of such a high caliber that even the favorites going in have to be ready on that day. If you're not geared on that particular moment, you won't make the team."
The coaching staff is giving these athletes every advantage in order to prepare them for the Olympic trials.
"We have a program that understands the ultimate goal is making an Olympic team," Harvey said. "As a coaching staff, we will do the things it takes to be ready for our national championships and the Olympic trials, as well.
Harvey said the coaching staff chooses which events to participate in with the goal of letting UA athletes face world-class competition.
"We try to do some things to prepare them for (the Olympic trials so it will) be old hat for them when they get to there."
Sophomore distance runner Robert Cheseret hopes to cap off his stellar season by qualifying for the trials - not with the United States, but as a member of his native Kenyan team.
"Concerning the Olympics, I think you have to compete with the country of your citizenship, so right now I (will) still run for Kenya," said Cheseret, who hopes to qualify in either the 5,000- or 10,000-meter runs.
Senior and fellow distance runner Kyle Goklish has worked on the smaller aspects of training in preparation for the Olympic trials.
"Actually, training has become more focused, and I've personally been concentrating on eating habits and doing the little things that make reaching my goal a lot easier," Goklish said. "If do make it that level, that would be one of my ultimate goals."
Goklish is careful to keep everything in perspective.
"Right now, there is not really any pressure and I just practice and have fun running," he said. "If I do not get there, it is not a total failure, because I have four years to gain more experience."
For redshirt junior and pole vaulter Kevin Opalka, preparation for the Olympic trials has been a couple of seasons in the making.
"To tell you the truth, the most dramatic changes I made were last year in the spring," Opalka said. "A lot of times (that means) mentally preparing for meets; a lot of times it is outside of the time spent with coaching staff and teammates."
Opalka said he realizes this is the first of many opportunities to qualify for the Olympics.
"You improve and set a time, and hopefully when it is all said and done you achieve the goals you plan on," he said. "Another four years will definitely give me training and more experience. In the men's pole vault, (athletes) in mid- to late-20s and early 30s are very successful. I feel like my career is just beginning."
Senior sprinter Jevon Mason, a contender in the men's 400-meters, isn't focusing so much on the Olympics as he is on the steps that will take him there.
"Qualifying for Olympic trials and the Olympics is every American track athlete's biggest stage," said Mason, a San Antonio native. "My mindset is to get into the Olympic trials by any means necessary. I try to take it one step at a time and get qualified first."
Like Mason, redshirt junior pole vaulter Connie Jerz is concentrating on individual performances leading up to the summer games.
"I don't really have goals as far as making it to certain meets or as coming in as a top performer," Jerz said. "My goals are just to perform well. If my performance will place me in a good position, that's great, but that's not necessarily one of my goals."
Despite tying for third place at this year's NCAA Indoor Championships with a personal best height of 13 feet, 7 inches, Jerz is still unsatisfied.
"It's all about technique and I have a long way to go with that," Jerz said.
For junior Sharifa Jones, who has already qualified in the long jump, her collegiate career takes precedence over an Olympic appearance.
"I am first trying to make NCAA Outdoor Championships and, if I am healthy, hopefully making the Olympic team," Jones said.
Pole-vaulter Amy Linnen is representing the minority, as she decided to redshirt this semester to dedicate the entire season to Olympic training.
"I'm not trying to peak for an NCAA meet," said Linnen, who is currently training in Kansas. "I'm trying to peak at Olympic Trial meet in July - the NCAA national meet would be in May or June.
"I think the four years of college has prepared me for this. Competing at the national level and at the USA Nationals has prepared me for this."
Sophomore sprinter Angel Perkins hopes her previous experience in the Olympic trials will give her an edge over her competition.
"The last Olympic trials was in 2000 and I made it and tried out," Perkins said. "But being 15 years old, I didn't know what to expect and I was scared. But it was an experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life."
Coming off a hamstring injury in 2003, Perkins said she returns to the trials stronger and more prepared.
Sophomore Rachel Varner, ranked second nationally in the discus, hopes to use this season's momentum to qualify for the Olympic trials.
"It's always been my dream, but it's more real now, like I can do this," Varner said. "I'm going to go into it having fun." Also contending in the Olympic trials are junior thrower Sean Shields and junior middle distance runner Jonah Maiyo.
Maiyo, a Kenya native and transfer from Central Arizona College, won the junior college national title in both 2002 and 2003 in the 1,500 meters. In 2002, Maiyo was named the 2002 Most Valuable Athlete at CAC.
Shields, a competitor in the shot put and discus, was a two-time All-American in 2003. Shields finished sixth at the 2003 NCAA Indoor Championships and 10th at NCAA Outdoor Championships, while coming in second in the 2003 Pac-10 Championships in the discus.