This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Kyle Kepler, the University of Utah women's track coach, was my most faithful correspondent during the Olympics and I'm fairly sure no Utahn enjoyed watching the Olympics from home more than he did. Kepler had good looks at about a dozen Olympic distance runners on the McCarthey Family Track & Field on the Utah campus, as they used altitude training in preparation for Rio. As he said, "Don't think I don't use that in recruiting." Beyond that element, he just liked watching the runners train and then prepare for Rio. Members of the Nike Oregon Project and the Bowerman Track Club also spent time on BYU's track, while living in Park City. Matthew Centrowitz won the 1,500 meters, becoming the first American to do so in 108 years. Evan Jager took the silver medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Galen Rupp earned the bronze in the marathon after finishing fifth in the 10,000 meters. And several women's runners performed well, including marathoners Shalane Flanagan and Amy Hastings Cragg, who personally worked with Kepler one day before the Bowerman coaches arrived from Oregon. The runners appreciated being able to use the Ute facility and Alberto Salazar of the Nike Oregon Project spent time talking with Phil McCarthey, the venue's benefactor. So the experience gave Kepler a connection to the Games, and he closely followed all of the distance runners in Rio – including star Mo Farah, who had worked out in Utah in advance of the 2012 Games. Centrowitz became an especially interesting story, considering his historic showing. "If you are around a particular sport enough, you know just by they way they look or do certain things that someone is special and he's one of those guys," Kepler wrote in an email. Kepler cited Centrowitz's "supreme confidence," the ability to shake off a subpar workout and maintain belief in himself. "You put that with his type of talent and the result is usually pretty good," he said. – Kurt Kragthorpe