Olympics Schedule | How to Watch
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Rio better be ready: The Lobos are bringing a pack to this year’s Olympics.
Five University of New Mexico alumni and one head coach are competing against the world’s best on the biggest international stage as they head to the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
| Lobos at the 2016 Olympics |
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Wednesday, August 3 |
Former Lobo student-athletes Cameron Bairstow (Australia, basketball), Gavin Green (Malaysia, golf), Courtney Frerichs (United State, athletics), Jarrin Solomon (Trinidad and Tobago, athletics) and Ross Millington (Great Britain, athletics) are all looking for gold during the 19-day games in Brazil.
Joining that group will be current UNM women’s soccer head coach Heather Dyche, who is assisting the U.S. Women’s National Team in Rio de Janeiro.
Dyche, who is entering her second year at the helm of Lobo women’s soccer, will see the first action of the Olympics, as the US opens group play on Wednesday, August 3 vs. New Zealand at 4 p.m. MT at Mineirão Stadium in Belo Horizonte.
The US will also take on France on August 6 and Colombia on August 9 in group play. Bracket play starts Friday, August 12 with the quarterfinals round, with the semifinals on Tuesday, August 16 and the medal games on Friday, August 19.
Bairstow, who was named as Second Team All-American by Sports Illustrated after capping a UNM career in which he scored 1,239 points, makes his Olympic debut with Australia on Saturday, August 6.
Australia will take on five games in group play at Carioca Arena 1 in Rio de Janeiro. Australia opens with France at 11:15 a.m. MT on August 6, followed by Serbia on Monday, August 8; the United States on Wednesday, August 10; China on Friday, August, 12; and Venezuela on Sunday, August 14.
The quarterfinals start Wednesday, August 17, with the semifinals on Friday, August 19 and the medal games on Sunday, August 21.
Green, who was a three-time All-American selection and a member of the prestigious All-Nicklaus team in 2015 for the Lobos, opens the first of four rounds of golf on Thursday, August 11.
A native of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Green will play all four round on successive days, finishing with the medal round on Sunday, August 14.
Lobo track & field has a large contingent of athletes competing at Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, including one NCAA championship and a defending Olympic bronze medalist.
Frerichs, the 2016 NCAA champion and NCAA record holder in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, competes in the preliminary round of her speciality on Saturday, August 13 at 7:05 p.m. MT.
In a year in which she’s won two NCAA titles — one with the Lobo women’s cross country team and once individually in the steeplechase — Frerichs has a shot to continue her stellar campaign.
The finals of the steeplechase are two days later, at 8:15 a.m. MT on Monday, August 15.
Solomon, an All-American for New Mexico in the 400-meter dash, has already competed in the Olympics, earning bronze in the 4×400 meter relay for Trinidad and Tobago at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
The Albuquerque native will look to make it back-to-back in the 4×400 when he runs the prelims on Friday, August 19. The finals of the 4×400 are the following day, starting at 7:35 p.m. MT on Saturday, August 20.
Millington, the New Mexico record holder in the 3,000-meter run and five-time All-Mountain West honoree, competes on just one day, racing in the men’s 10,000-meter run on at 6:26 p.m. on Saturday, August 13.