UAlbany to Olympics - A Real Possibility

Joe Greene, a UAlbany junior, will compete Friday in the quarterfinals of the 400-meter hurdles at the U.S. Olympic team trials at the University of Oregon.

Greene, a two-time All-American, becomes the first track athlete to compete in the U.S. trials while enrolled at UAlbany.

"Oh, man, it feels awesome," he said. "This is a Division I program on the rise, and I knew from day one my freshman year that I was going to do something great with this program."

It's a satisfying conclusion to a frustrating season for Greene, who was slowed by a hamstring injury that kept him from reaching the NCAA championships for the third consecutive year.

He only qualified for the U.S. trials because of the school record time of 49.92 seconds he ran in last year's NCAA championships. He finished fourth.

"For me to still have the chance to go to the Olympics is awesome," he said.

But it's unlikely this year. Greene's best time is ranked 30th among those who are entered in the 400 hurdles this weekend.

Only the top three finishers, who also meet the Olympic qualifying standard, will make the U.S. team and travel to the Summer Games in Beijing.

The top seed, two-time Olympian James Carter, has a trials qualifying time of 47.72, more than two seconds faster than Greene.

Even Greene said he's just focused on being one of the 16 finishers to advance to the semifinals on Saturday. The final is on Sunday.

UAlbany track coach Roberto Vives, accompanying Greene to Oregon, said the experience can serve as a building block to win an NCAA title as a senior next year.

"He's been training consistently for the past seven weeks," Vives said. "He's capable of doing some good things."

Greene said he feels his balky hamstring is "close to 100 percent."

"I feel pretty good right now," he said. "I feel I can go out there and do something special."

Greene does have international experience, having run at the junior world championships in China two years ago. Still, his best chance of an Olympic bid could come at the 2012 Games in London. He said he wants to go professional after college.

"He's competing (this week) with some very experienced guys in their 30s and late 20s who have been out of college," Vives said. "The next (Olympics) is really his best shot."

Courtesy: MARK SINGELAIS