Past and present Big 12 athletes heading to Paris
Past and present Big 12 athletes heading to Paris
Dozens of current or graduated athletes from the Big 12 conference will be in Paris over the next few weeks, ready to participate in the Summer 2024 Olympics.
Ranging from steeplechase to shooting, these athletes will only get one shot to make it on a Paris podium.
BYU
Conner Mantz: Qualified for the Olympics marathon by placing first in the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Marathon Runners in February. Mantz ran track and cross country at BYU, winning the 2020 and 2021 NCAA Division I Cross-Country National Championships. He ran for BYU from 2017-2021.
James Corrigan: Will participate in the steeplechase event in Paris after qualifying with a time of 8:13:87, which is nearly 2 seconds below the Olympic standard of 8:15:00. Corrigan is a current student at BYU.
Jimmer Fredette: Jimmer and his 3×3 team, Miami, were selected to represent Team USA in the 3×3 tournament in Paris. He played basketball for BYU from 2007 to 2011, leading the Cougars to a 2010 NCAA Tournament victory and a year later to the school’s first Sweet 16 appearance in 30 years.
Rory Linkletter: Linkletter will be running in the Olympics men’s marathon for team Canada. Originally from Alberta, he ran for BYU from 2015-19, graduating in political science with a minor in communications.
Whittni Orton Morgan: Morgan will be running the 5000m race in Paris after a chain of fortunate events made her fifth-place finish at the U.S. Olympic Trials enough to head to Europe. Two fellow track and field athletes, Elle St. Pierre and Parker Valby (who finished 3rd and 4th at the Trials) decided to run different events, opening the 5000m spot to Morgan. She qualifies for the event due to her World Ranking’s quota. Morgan was a student at BYU from 2017-2021 and earned 13 state champion titles in high school: three in basketball, two in volleyball, four in track (for the 800m, 1600m and 3200m), and four in cross country.
Kenneth Rooks: Rooks will be joining Corrigan and Wayment in the steeplechase event in Paris after placing first in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in June. He is the same runner that won last year’s National Championship after falling on the track early in the race. Rooks qualified with a time of 8:21, beating teammate James Corrigan by 5 seconds. He participated in track and field for BYU from 2018-23.
Stephanie Rovetti: Rovetti will be playing in the Women’s Rugby Sevens for Team USA. She was a student at BYU from 2010-14, playing basketball and rugby, helping lead the team to a Sweet 16 appearance in 2014 and earning a spot on the 2014 WCC Commissioner’s Bronze Honor Roll. She also attended Fresno State where she played rugby and earned MVP honors. She participated in the 2023 and 2019 women’s Pan American Games.
Courtney Wayment: BYU alum Wayment qualified to compete in the steeplechase event at the Paris Olympics after placing second in the USATF Olympic Trials in June, running a career best 9:06.50. This will be Wayment’s first Olympic Games after she narrowly missed the cutoff for the 2021 Games. She ran for BYU from 2016-22, holding two current program records and winning four national championships: the 3000m steeplechase, indoor 5000m, indoor 3000m, and the distance medley relay all in 2022.
Clayton Young: Young qualified to participate in the Olympics marathon with teammate, training partner, and friend, Connor Mantz, finishing second at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in February. An American Fork native, he ran for BYU from 2015-19, winning the 10000m at the 2019 NCAA D1 Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
University of Utah
No athletes from the U of U will be participating on Team USA, but several women will be in Paris representing other countries.
Josefine Eriksen: Eriksen will be representing Norway in the women’s 4x400m relay. She graduated from the U with second-team All-American Honors, finishing as the Ute’s all-time outdoor leader in the 100m, 200m, 400m, and 800m. Also breaking school records in the 4x100m, 4x400m, and 4x800m relay races.
Michelle Plouffe: Plouffe will represent Canada as part of the 3×3 women’s basketball team. This will not be her first Olympic Games as she competed with the five-on-five Canadian team in the 2012 and 2016 Games. Plouffe was a student at Utah from 2010-14 and is a three-time All-Pac-12 selection member.
Paige Crozon: Crozon has been a part of the Canadian 3×3 national team since 2019 and played at the U from 2012-17. She and her team won silver in the 2022 FIBA 3×3 World Cup and this will be her first Olympic Games appearance.
Kim Gaucher: A 2002-06 Alum of the U, Gaucher will be the head coach for Canada’s 3×3 women’s team which includes her two fellow former Utes. Gaucher competed for Canada in the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Olympic Games. Gaucher was part of the gold-medal winning Canadian team at the 2015 FIBA AmeriCup and Pan American Games.
Simone Plourde: Plourde transferred to Utah from BYU and will be running for team Canada after placing third at the Canada Track and Field trials last month. She was selected from her World Athletics points after not meeting the Olympic women’s qualifying standard and will run in the 1,500m race.
Emilia Nilsson Garip: Garip will represent Sweden in the women’s 3m springboard diving competition. She recently completed her first year at the U, finishing ninth at the NCAA championships and earning All-America honors in the 1m.
Other Big 12 athletes competing in Paris
There are over 100 current or former Big 12 athletes competing in the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
The schools with the most athletes participating are Arizona State (22), Texas Tech (12), BYU (10) and TCU (10), with 36 athletes participating in some sort of Track and Field event.
32 of the athletes will be playing for Team USA.
Below is a combined list of the remaining Big 12 athletes heading to Paris.
| Name | School | NCAA Sport | Olympic Sport | Country/Team |
| Ludvig Aberg | Texas Tech | Golf | Golf | Sweden |
| Temitope Adeshina | Texas Tech | Track and Field | Track and Field | Nigeria |
| Janine Beckie | Texas Tech | Soccer | Football | Canada |
| Rosemary Chukwuma | Texas Tech | Track and Field | Track and Field | Nigeria |
| Victoria Esson | Texas Tech | Soccer | Football | New Zealand |
| Andrew Hudson | Texas Tech | Track and Field | Track and Field | Jamaica |
| Alysha Johnson | Texas Tech | Track and Field | Track and Field | USA |
| Courtney Lindsey | Texas Tech | Track and Field | Track and Field | USA |
| Monae’ Nichols | Texas Tech | Track and Field | Track and Field | USA |
| Mito Pereira | Texas Tech | Golf | Golf | Chile |
| Shannon Tan | Texas Tech | Golf | Golf | Singapore |
| Ruth Usoro | Texas Tech | Track and Field | Track and Field | Nigeria |
| Daniela Alvarez | TCU | Beach Volleyball | Beach Volleyball | Spain |
| Rhaniska Gibbs | TCU | Swimming | Swimming | Bahamas |
| Stephanie Grundsoee | TCU | Shooting- Rifle | Shooting | Denmark |
| Anneli Maley | TCU | Basketball | Basketball- 3×3 | Australia |
| Tania Moreno Matveeva | TCU | Beach Volleyball | Beach Volleyball | Spain |
| Cam Norrie | TCU | Tennis | Tennis | Great Britain |
| Amy Okonkwo | TCU | Basketball | Basketball | Nigeria |
| Tomi Taiwo | TCU | Basketball | Basketball | Nigeria |
| Hailey Van Lilth | TCU | Basketball | Basketball- 3×3 | USA |
| Jadon Wuilliez | TCU | Swimming | Swimming | Antigua & Barbuda |
| Hunter Armstrong | West Virginia | Swimming | Swimming | USA |
| Kadeisha Buchanan | West Virginia | Soccer | Football | Canada |
| Amy Cashin | West Virginia | Track & Field | Track & Field | Australia |
| Ashley Lawrence | West Virginia | Soccer | Football | Canada |
| Ceili McCabe | West Virginia | Track & Field | Track & Field | Canada |
| Ivan Puskovitch | West Virginia | Swimming | Swimming | USA |
| Mary Tucker | West Virginia | Shooting- Rifle | Shooting | USA |
| Tiago Behar | Arizona State | Swimming | Swimming | Switzerland |
| Carlota Ciganda | Arizona State | Golf | Golf | Spain |
| Luguentz Dort | Arizona State | Basketball | Basketball | Canada |
| Alessandra Fanali | Arizona State | Golf | Golf | Italy |
| Alexandra Forsterling | Arizona State | Golf | Golf | Germany |
| Linn Grant | Arizona State | Golf | Golf | Sweden |
| Ilya Kharun | Arizona State | Swimming | Swimming | Canada |
| Desirae Krawczyk | Arizona State | Tennis | Tennis | USA |
| Beatrice Llano | Arizona State | Track & Field | Track & Field | Norway |
| Max McCusker | Arizona State | Swimming | Swimming | Ireland |
| Blaire McDowell | Arizona State | Water Polo | Water Polo | Canada |
| Ralford Mullings | Arizona State | Track & Field | Track & Field | Jamaica |
| Azahara Muñoz | Arizona State | Golf | Golf | Spain |
| Dubem Nwachukwu | Arizona State | Track & Field | Track & Field | Nigeria |
| David Puig | Arizona State | Golf | Golf | Spain |
| Jon Rahm | Arizona State | Golf | Golf | Spain |
| Gabi Rennie | Arizona State | Soccer | Football | New Zealand |
| Bente Rogge | Arizona State | Water Polo | Water Polo | Netherlands |
| Lleke Rogge | Arizona State | Water Polo | Water Polo | Netherlands |
| Mia Rycraw | Arizona State | Water Polo | Water Polo | France |
| Tolu Young | Arizona State | Swimming | Swimming | Fiji |
| Kevin Yu | Arizona State | Golf | Golf | Chinese Taipei |
| Chase Budinger | Arizona | Basketball | Beach Volleyball | USA |
| Josh Green | Arizona | Basketball | Basketball | Australia |
| Bianca Pagdanganan | Arizona | Golf | Golf | Philippines |
| Delaney Schnell | Arizona | Diving | Diving | USA |
| Bridget Carleton | Iowa State | Basketball | Basketball | Canada |
| George Conditt IV | Iowa State | Basketball | Basketball | Puerto Rico |
| Melvin Ejim | Iowa State | Basketball | Basketball | Canada |
| Tyrese Haliburton | Iowa State | Basketball | Basketball | USA |
| Lauren Mansfield | Iowa State | Basketball | Basketball- 3×3 | Australia |
| Wyndham Clark | Oklahoma State | Golf | Golf | USA |
| Jacob Fincham-Dukes | Oklahoma State | Track & Field | Track & Field | Great Britain |
| Gabija Galvydyte | Oklahoma State | Track & Field | Track & Field | Lithuania |
| Ieva Gumbs | Oklahoma State | Track & Field | Track & Field | Lithuania |
| Viktor Hovland | Oklahoma State | Golf | Golf | Norway |
| Chase Jackson | Oklahoma State | Track & Field | Track & Field | USA |
| Alex Noren | Oklahoma State | Golf | Golf | Sweden |
| Maja Stark | Oklahoma State | Golf | Golf | Sweden |
| Kristoffer Ventura | Oklahoma State | Golf | Golf | Norway |
| Valerie Constien | Colorado | Track & Field | Track & Field | USA |
| Pascual Di Tella | Colorado | Fencing | Fencing | Argentina |
| Morgan Pearson | Colorado | Track & Field | Triathlon | USA |
| Derrick White | Colorado | Basketball | Basketball | USA |
| Anette Echikunwoke | Cincinnati | Track & Field | Track & Field | USA |
| Vanessa Gilles | Cincinnati | Soccer | Football | Canada |
| Jordan Thompson | Cincinnati | Volleyball | Volleyball | USA |
| Nathaniel Ezekiel | Baylor | Track & Field | Track & Field | Nigeria |
| Brittney Griner | Baylor | Basketball | Basketball | USA |
| Ackera Nugent | Baylor | Track & Field | Track & Field | Jamaica |
| Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi | Baylor | Track & Field | Track & Field | Nigeria |
| Avery Skinner | Baylor | Volleyball | Volleyball | USA |
| Kristy Wallace | Baylor | Basketball | Basketball | Australia |
| Tristan Evelyn | Houston | Track & Field | Track & Field | Barbados |
| Louie Hinchliffe | Houston | Track & Field | Track & Field | Great Britain |
| Elizabeth Jimenez | Houston | Swimming | Swimming | Dominican Republic |
| Shaun Maswanganyi | Houston | Track & Field | Track & Field | South Africa |
| Cecilia Tamayo-Garza | Houston | Track & Field | Track & Field | Mexico |
| Joel Embiid | Kansas | Basketball | Basketball | USA |
| Bryce Hoppel | Kansas | Track & Field | Track & Field | USA |
| Leticia Romero | Kansas State | Basketball | Basketball | Spain |
| Murphy Sheaff | Kansas State | Soccer | Football | New Zealand |
| Malachi Esdale | UCF | Rugby | Rugby | USA |
| Sarai Linder | UCF | Soccer | Soccer | Germany |
| Julie Poulsen | UCF | Rowing | Rowing | Denmark |
| Viktorija Senkute | UCF | Rowing | Rowing | Lithuania |
| Kristen Thomas | UCF | Rugby | Rugby | USA |