Aminat Olowora sets the pace and leaves the field far behind her at the PCAC cross-country championship as she breaks the women’s 5k state record for the second year in a row, clocking in at 16:11. Photo by Mary York.
Cross-country phenomenon Aminat Olowora destroyed the California record last fall. She obliterated the record again last week. She may be headed to the Olympics next year.
Olowora’s time of 16:11 at the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference championship set a new record for state community colleges, a record she set herself last season at the California Cross-Country Championship in Fresno, California, where she became the first woman to break the 17 minute barrier. She won the PCAC race by an astonishing 2:59.
David Flores claimed second place for SWC on the men’s course with a time of 20:57. He clipped heals with the pack leader, Cuyamaca College standout Oscar Soto, for most of the race, narrowly missing the top spot by six seconds.
It was Olowora, however, who got the crowd’s heart racing as she flew around the course, a veritable Mercury. Another state title is next and a shot at the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is on the horizon. She would likely run for her native Nigeria.
“She has set her eyes on achieving the Olympic qualifying time,” said her coach, Dr. Duro Agbede. “So we still have a lot of work to do. Everything we are doing right now is in transition for her effort to qualify for the 2016 Olympic games.”
Olowora would not be the first Olympian to call SWC home. Anthony Campbell, SWC’s track and field coach, who said he is processing the paperwork for her to apply for the 2016 Olympic Team, is a three-time Olympian.
“Aminat Olowora is definitely an Olympian,” he said. “I’m working on contacting her national governing body which controls the process of who makes the Olympic team.”
Campbell competed in the 1980, ’84 and ’88 Olympics, winning a bronze metal in Seoul, South Korea in 1988. Former SWC student and assistant track coach Philam Garcia ran the 100 meters in the 2004 Athens Olympics representing Guam. Agbede is also an Olympian.
Luck, good coaching and opportunity go a long way in making an Olympian, Campbell said, but there are a few shared characteristics that separate them from the rest of the pack.
“Tenacity,” he said. “Training, the ability to set goals and to reevaluate those goals.”
In Olowora’s case, “modest” could also be added to that list, attributing her record-breaking time to the familiarity of the track.
“I think it was a good time, but this is my campus and my course,” she said. “I run it every day, so I’m used to it.”
November 2014 female California Athlete of the Month, Olowora holds three state titles in track and field. She is also an A student.
“It’s hard work,” she said. “If you work hard, you’ll be surprised by your performance.”
With the Southern California championship and the California state championship looming this month, and hopes for the Olympics next year, Olowora seems to have her work cut out for her.
“She’s been setting records in every race and now our goal is to set another record at the regional and another record at the state championship,” said Agbede. “She has brought the name of SWC beyond any other athlete. She has brought the name of SWC to the highest level that any athlete has ever taken Southwestern.”
