St. John's University Athletics
#RedinRio: St. John's 2016 Rio Olympics Preview
8/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
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QUEENS, N.Y. -- St. John's will be well-represented at this summer's 2016 Rio Olympic Games as four Red Storm alumni will compete for three different countries over the next three weeks. St. John's will also have three coaches/managers participating in the 31st Summer Olympiad.
The 2016 St. John's Olympic cohort features a combination of former Red Storm track & field and fencing student-athletes, as well as two current coaches. The St. John's fencing and track & field teams have been a major part of the Olympics in recent years, sending at least a pair of St. John's alumni to each of the last two Summer Olympics.
Former St. John's fencers Dagmara Wozniak and Daryl Homer will compete in the women's and men's saber competitions, respectively, for Team USA. They will be joined by current Red Storm Head Coach Yury Gelman, who will be heading to his fifth-straight Olympics with USA Fencing. On the track, Priscilla Frederick (high jump) and Jane Vongvorachoti (marathon) will compete for Antigua and Barbuda and Thailand, respectively, while alumnus Marsha (Henry) Horan will serve as the Head Manager for Team USA Track & Field. Current Red Storm Sprints and Hurdles Coach Aliann Pompey will join the Guyanese track & field staff as an assistant manager.
Coverage of the Red Storm in Rio can be found on Twitter by following @StJohnsRedStorm or by using the hashtag #RedinRio. The 2016 Rio Olympic Games will be broadcast live on the NBC family of networks.
Fencing
Yury Gelman (United States)
Gelman will be traveling to his fifth-straight Olympics as one of the U.S. Olympic Fencing Team's few select coaches. At the 2012 London Games, Gelman coached St. John's alums Wozniak and Homer in women's individual saber and men's individual saber, respectively. Four years prior, Gelman led the men's saber team to its best-ever finish as they took home the silver medal. At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Gelman guided the men's saber team to a fourth place finish. In his first Summer Olympics, Gelman coached St. John's alum Keeth Smart in the men's individual saber competition. A member of the U.S. Fencing Hall of Fame, Gelman has been at the helm at St. John's for 21 years and has led the Red Storm to one national championship (2001) and five second-place finishes at the NCAA Championships. He has had more than 100 All-Americans and 22 individual NCAA Champions during his time at St. John's, more than any other school during that period.
Dagmara Wozniak (United States)
Wozniak will be making her third-straight appearance at the Olympic Games. She served as a replacement athlete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, before making her debut at the 2012 London Games. She finished in eighth place in women's individual saber at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Currently ranked as the No. 3 U.S. fencer, Wozniak most recently won gold with the women's saber team at the 2016 Pan American Senior Championships. At the 2015 Pan American Games, she brought home the gold medal in both the women's individual and team saber competitions. At St. John's, Wozniak was a four-time All-American and earned two bronze medals at the NCAA Championships.
Daryl Homer (United States)
Homer will be making his second trip to the Olympics after making his debut at the 2012 London Games. He competed in the men's individual saber competition finishing in sixth place, which was the highest by an American since 1984. The Bronx, N.Y., native also competed in the saber team event finishing in eighth place. Homer is currently the No. 2 ranked American fencer and was the first American male to win a medal (silver) in saber at the Senior World Championships in 2015. Homer was a four-time NCAA All-American at St. John's and graduated with a marketing degree in 2013. He won the NCAA Championship in 2010 and 2011 in the men's saber competition, going a combined 168-22 in bouts during that time span.
Track & Field
Marsha (Henry) Horan (United States)
Horan makes her Olympic debut as Team USA's Women's Track & Field Head Manager. She is a 17-year veteran coach who has now served as a Team USA staff manager for 12 international junior and senior teams, including the last two IAAF World Championships. Horan holds a variety of positions with USA Track & Field (USATF) as she represents women's track & field on the USATF Women's Executive Committee and serves as the Women's Standards Chair. Horan long jumped and tripled jumped for St. John's in the early 1990's and ranks among the best in program history.
Aliann Pompey (Guyana)
Pompey, a four-time Olympian, will make her first appearance as a staff member for Guyana after running the 400-meter in the past four Olympics games. The Georgetown, Guyana, native will represent her home country as a team manager this year in Rio. The former NCAA 400-meter champion and current St. John's sprints and hurdles coach ran a personal best time of 50.71 seconds in the 2009 World Track Championships.
Priscilla Frederick (Antigua and Barbuda)
Frederick is set to make her Olympic debut in Rio as the 2012 St. John's graduate will compete in the high jump for Antigua and Barbuda. The four-time collegiate All-American owns both the St. John's indoor and outdoor high jump records as well as the Antigua and Barbuda national record. Frederick set her personal best height of 1.91 meters last summer, winning a silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games while representing Antigua and Barbuda.
Jane Vongvorachoti (Thailand)
Vongvorachoti will make her Olympic debut when she runs the marathon for Thailand. She became the first Thai distance runner to ever qualify for the Olympics after qualifying in Houston earlier this year. She is an 11-time Thailand national record holder, including the half-marathon and marathon races. The New Hyde Park, N.Y., native ran track and field and played soccer during her time at St. John's.
The 2016 Rio Summer Olympics begin on Aug. 5 and runs through Aug. 21 and all events will be live streamed on nbcolympics.com. A full schedule of the Red Storm Olympians in action is listed below.
Dagmara Wozniak
| Event | Date | Time | Channel |
| Women's individual saber | Monday, Aug. 8 | 8 a.m. | NBCSN and nbcolympics.com |
| Women's team saber | Saturday, Aug. 13 | 9 a.m. | MSNBC and nbcolympics.com |
| Event | Date | Time | Channel |
| Men's individual saber | Wednesday, Aug. 10 | 12 p.m. | NBCSN and nbcolympics.com |
Jane Vongvorachoti
Priscilla Frederick
| Event | Date | Time | Channel |
| Women's marathon | Sunday, Aug. 14 | 8:30 a.m. | NBCSN and nbcolympics.com |
| Event | Date | Time | Channel |
| Women's high jump (Qualifications) | Thursday, Aug. 18 | 9 a.m. | nbcolympics.com |
| Women's high jump (Final) | Saturday, Aug. 20 | 7:30 p.m. | nbcolympics.com |
Players Mentioned
