Law student prepares for Olympic trials
Former cross country standout J.T. Service faces elite competition
By Cecile Nguyen
Issue date: 10/25/07 Section: Sports
Originally published: 10/24/07 at 11:24 PM PSTLast update: 10/24/07 at 11:42 PM PST
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"J.T. is a real student of the sport," said McGlynn. "He does a lot of research and will often pick his dad's brain."
McGlynn has been acting as somewhat of a coach for Service during his training for the trials.
"He will sometimes come to me with questions about injuries, and we have been talking about his most recent injury," said McGlynn.
McGlynn is no stranger to the coaching scene -- he currently coaches Jim Sorenson, the world master's (40 and over division) record holder in both the 800 and 1500 meter events. After training with Service, McGlynn believes Service has the potential to place in the top 20 next week.
"The first time I noticed his potential was last year at the San Jose Half Marathon," said McGlynn. "Up until that point, he hadn't beaten me. I think if he runs the second half of the race well next week, he can break 2:20:00 and place in the top 20."
Placing in the top 20 in the event is harder than it sounds. According to McGlynn, roughly 5,000 individuals feel they have the chance to qualify for the trials. This year, only about 150 qualified and 130 will be racing. Among those racing will be the 2004 Olympic Silver medalist, Meb Keflezighi, two-time Olympic team member Alan Culpepper and former Stanford standout Ryan Hall, who ran his first marathon in 2:08:24.
Service would certainly be content to share their company in the top 20 finishers.
"I think that if there's such a thing as the darkest horse, that would probably be me," Service said with a laugh. "I don't have a great chance, but the great thing about the marathon is that everyone lines up on the same line and races the same distance. It's a long race and weird things happen so, hey, who knows?"
Contact Cecile Nguyen at (408) 551 1918 or cnguyen@scu.edu.
McGlynn has been acting as somewhat of a coach for Service during his training for the trials.
"He will sometimes come to me with questions about injuries, and we have been talking about his most recent injury," said McGlynn.
McGlynn is no stranger to the coaching scene -- he currently coaches Jim Sorenson, the world master's (40 and over division) record holder in both the 800 and 1500 meter events. After training with Service, McGlynn believes Service has the potential to place in the top 20 next week.
"The first time I noticed his potential was last year at the San Jose Half Marathon," said McGlynn. "Up until that point, he hadn't beaten me. I think if he runs the second half of the race well next week, he can break 2:20:00 and place in the top 20."
Placing in the top 20 in the event is harder than it sounds. According to McGlynn, roughly 5,000 individuals feel they have the chance to qualify for the trials. This year, only about 150 qualified and 130 will be racing. Among those racing will be the 2004 Olympic Silver medalist, Meb Keflezighi, two-time Olympic team member Alan Culpepper and former Stanford standout Ryan Hall, who ran his first marathon in 2:08:24.
Service would certainly be content to share their company in the top 20 finishers.
"I think that if there's such a thing as the darkest horse, that would probably be me," Service said with a laugh. "I don't have a great chance, but the great thing about the marathon is that everyone lines up on the same line and races the same distance. It's a long race and weird things happen so, hey, who knows?"
Contact Cecile Nguyen at (408) 551 1918 or cnguyen@scu.edu.
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