Team USA is just about set for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Learn more about the athletes who will be leading our country, who were born right here in the Show-Me State.
Zach Garrett first picked up a homemade bow his grandfather made him when he was barely five years old. He was a bronze medalist at the 2014 U.S. National Target Championships, and silver medal winner at the U.S. Open that same year. He attended Wellington-Napoleon High School and currently lives in Chula Vista, CA.
Edward King graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2011, and thrived in both his military and athletic endeavors as a member of the United States National Rowing Team. After rowing with the lightweight men’s four this past summer at the World Championships, King and his U.S. teammates now turn their attention to the 2016 Olympics.
Brittany Borman tried nearly every event by the time she entered Festus High School and earned a scholarship to UCLA, where she was ready to follow in her childhood idol Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s footsteps as a heptathlete. Borman transferred to Oklahoma, winning back-to-back NCAA national titles in 2011 and 2012 and becoming a three-time Big 12 outdoor champ in the javelin … Her father played football at Southeast Missouri State.
Gwen Berry was the victim of sloppy paper work which caused her a suspension right up until trials when she reported the use of an inhaler containing the prohibited substance Vilanterol Trifenatate. According to multiple reports, Berry didn’t even test positive, but she admitted in her paperwork that she was taking a banned substance. She will be a strong contender in the Hammer Throw.
Courtney Frerichs and Colleen Quigley will make up 2/3 of the U.S. 3000m Steeplechase. Read more on their qualifying
Deanna is a 2011 graduate of Troy Buchanan who was born in St. Charles and currently lives in Moscow Mills. Her accomplishments are impressive, including 2015 USATF Outdoor Championships, 2nd (hammer throw), 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships, 1st (hammer throw) and 2015 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships, 1st (hammer throw), 3rd (discus throw) while at Southern Illinois.
31 year old Michael Rodgers attended Berkeley High School in St. Louis where he ran varsity track and played varsity basketball for the Bulldogs. He later attended Lindenwood University and Oklahoma Baptist University where he was a 10-time NAIA national champion from 2005-2007. Rodgers still holds the NAIA Indoor 60m record with a 6.65.
Murphy Troy majored in Physics at USC and has excelled on the court. He helped the U.S. Men win the 2015 FIVB World Cup and qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games. He was also named 2011 AVCA Men’s Division I-II National Player of the Year and MPSF Player of the Year.
J’den Cox has excelled in wrestling since his days at Hickman High School in Columbia. He was the first Missouri wrestler to accomplish the feat of claiming four state titles in four different weight classes. He’s a two-time NCAA champion and three-time All-American for Mizzou and finished fourth in 2016 U.S. Open.
