Hokies in Paris: Virginia tech marks strong presence at Olympics

After watching Cole Hocker stunningly win the men’s 1,500-meter race at the U.S. Olympic Trials and then seeing him cruise through the semifinal race at the Summer Olympics in Paris, Ben Thomas started wondering if his pupil might be on pace for a medal.

“Everyone [sports communicators and forecasters] was talking about everybody else,” Virginia Tech’s director of track and field programs said. “He [Cole] likes that, and I like that. It lets you stay outside the hype and lets you just focus on you.”

In the final, most competitors became winded because of the blistering pace. But Hocker’s performance was the breathtaker, as he sprinted to a gold medal in an Olympic record time of 3 minutes, 27.65 seconds.

In doing so, Hocker became Thomas’ first Olympic medalist. Thomas ’92, who graduated with a degree in English from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, recruited and coached Hocker while at the University of Oregon before Thomas returned to Blacksburg last year where he recently took over Virginia Tech’s track and field program following Dave Cianelli’s retirement.

Following the race, Thomas’ wife, Ann, captured a photo of her husband, who became emotional at what had transpired, and posted it on social media.

“After all that craziness, I just needed a minute,” Thomas said. “There were 77,000 people there, it was the hype and the race, and for me to have that kind of role, it’s been overwhelming. I just kind of wanted to soak it in internally.”

Thomas wasn’t the only Virginia Tech connection to the Olympics. Six current swimmers competed for their respec- tive countries, and Sergio Lopez Miro, Virginia Tech’s director of swimming and diving, coached the Iceland Swimming and Diving National Team. Four alumni athletes also competed for their respective countries. 

In addition, two alumni—Kaitlin Reese ’15 and James Morrison ’14—played instrumental roles in orchestrating the festivities at Team USA House, a central gathering place for U.S. fans, athletes, and athletes’ families.

Reese, who earned degrees in public relations and communication from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, helped with the planning of Team USA House activities through her position as an event manager for Wasserman Live, a division of Wasserman Media Group that focuses on live event production and operations across sports, music, entertainment, and culture.

“I was kind of shocked, but also excited that my boss, Kristin Devereaux [vice president, events for Wasserman Live], recognized my skills and talents would be of good use for this project,” Reese said. “It was rewarding to take a step back and soak it in and be like, ‘Oh, wow, my team and I are doing a once-in-a-lifetime thing.’I keep telling everyone that, but it truly was.”

Morrison, perhaps better known by his stage name “TMMPO,” has served as the in-venue DJ for Virginia Tech Athletics events since his graduation in 2014, handling the music for games, fan days, pregame festivities, and the department’s season-ending awards show, known as The Gobblers.

The Pamplin College of Business graduate and Reese had collaborated on many past projects, and his current role as the production director at Hill City Church DC, a nondenominational church in Alexandria, Virginia allowed him the flexibility to accept Reese’s invitation to be the Team USA House DJ.

“I was just humbled by the ask,” Morrison said. “That was enough for me. It’s really cool to see it all come to fruition, and coming from a military family, I bleed red, white and blue as much as I bleed maroon and orange. So this was a special ask for any magnitude of reasons, as it probably would be for anyone.”

The two of them even added a little Virginia Tech flair in Paris, occasionally playing the popular “Enter Sandman,” which serves as Hokie Nation’s national anthem, at Team USA House