For Howard's Oliver, Great Leaps Forward

David Oliver has posted three of the world's top five times in the 110-meter hurdles this season, including 12.95 seconds in May.

EUGENE, Ore. -- David Oliver couldn't believe the turn his life had taken. He had graduated from Howard University with a bachelor's degree in marketing for this? He found himself bunking in an Orlando house with three other track athletes, one of whom was sleeping in the living room. They were so broke, they never turned on the air conditioning or used the dishwasher.

Oliver recalls buying five-pound bags of rice at Wal-Mart and pancake mix that required only water, and eating cereal all day long. He drove a rickety 1992 Chevy that sometimes got him to practice without stalling, but usually didn't. And then, once he arrived for his daily training under legendary, old-school coach Brooks Johnson, things got really tough. During Oliver's first practice under Johnson in 2004, the coach demanded nine 300-yard sprints, broken up into three sets.

After each set, Oliver stepped to the side of the track and vomited.



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SU's House looking to qualify in long jump

Southern University sophomore Jason House was a last-minute addition to the pool of high jumpers competing for three spots on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team.

House, the 2008 Southwestern Athletic Conference champion in the high jump both indoors and outdoors, gets his first chance to claim a spot tonight when qualifying for the men’s high jump at the Olympic trials begins at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. The high jump is slated to get under way at 9:25 p.m. CDT.

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Sprinter headed to Olympic time trials

Since the seventh grade, Romulus' Landria Buckley has been excelling in track. Now this soon to be junior at Howard University in Washington D.C. is headed to the July 6 Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon. "In the beginning of the year my goal was to run under 13.3 seconds and qualify for regionals," Buckley said. "I surprised myself and made to nationals and ran 13.24 in the 100-meter hurdles."

She said that the adjustment from high school to college was different. For her she had to continue to work hard and really hit the weight room. The workouts are a lot harder and a lot more," she said. "The competition ends up being the best in the country."

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