Sophomore business major, Johnathan “Johnny” Olmsted, broke both personal and university records during his wildly successful 2023 track & field season. Earning first place in the SCAC Conference Championships (400m) and SCAC Newcomer of the Year award, Olmsted has worked tirelessly to get to where he is today.
In only his second dedicated season, Olmsted trained entirely alone for most of the year at MacArthur High School.
Olmsted said, “[The training] can be tough mentally because you want others to push you, you want others to give you support, whatever it is. But it was definitely a struggle just because you have to keep yourself to that standard.”
Olmsted had two volunteer sprint coaches who would assist him in his training as needed.
“It was definitely a little bit unorthodox but you know, one way or another we got it done,”commented Olmsted.
Olmsted broke his personal record twice and the university record three times.
“His 48.39 seconds at the Abilene Christian University’s Oliver Jackson Twilight Meet was amazing and his fastest of the year,” Coach Nick, the coach of the Cross Country and Track and Field program, said. “At the Conference Championships he was seeded fifth and he ended up winning the whole thing. It was definitely an ESPN highlight film as he beat the favorite from Colorado College.”
The track & field team being comprised of only 10 members makes practice rather difficult. However, Johnny’s success affected the team positively and helped attract other athletes to the University of Dallas.
“He has sparked a lot of interest and more positive vibes on the team. His positive attitude has rubbed off a bit with his great work ethic,” Coach Nick continued. “He even excelled in the classroom helping our men’s team receive NCAA All-American status, one of only three teams to receive this in the conference.”
The honor of receiving the SCAC Newcomer of the Year award surprised Olmsted who learned of it through a friend over the summer.
Olmstead said, “It was a really fun season and I’m glad the coaches were able to see how hard I worked and the dedication I put into it.”
Olmsted would like to thank his parents and his close friends for the support they have given him. He is particularly grateful to his dad.
“He’s the one person that’s pushed me my whole entire life just to achieve what I want to do. And always taught me no matter what I’m doing to always give 100% and be a team athlete, team first player,” Olmsted shared. “He’s someone that has given me the tools to work with to be able to push myself, achieve new standards and try to rise above everybody I go against.”
Olmsted is first and foremost a basketball player. He contributed greatly to the team his freshman year and runs to supplement his training for basketball.
“[Track] is just a healthy thing for me to do to have a secondary sport to take my mind off things and reset throughout the offseason,” Olmsted clarified.
Track assists his improvement on the basketball court in speed, agility and plyometrics. Olmsted thus has big plans for his upcoming basketball and track seasons. He hopes to lead the basketball team to the championships and bring home a win.
Additionally, Olmsted’s long term goal for track & field is to become an All-American and make the national team. We Crusaders are confident in him and give him our full support for his goals during his remaining time here.
Olmsted’s success in track & field is surely a sign of all he will accomplish in his remaining time at the University of Dallas.