Raevyn Rogers continues to prove what may at first seem impossible is, in fact, possible.
As though running the fastest freshman time in the 800 meter in NCAA history (1:59.71) and winning the Pac-12 and NCAA Championships in 2015 weren’t enough, the sophomore from Houston has qualified for the Olympic Trials in July – a feat she once considered impossible.
In an interview with NCAA.com after Oregon’s outdoor sweep of the championships last year, head coach Robert Johnson had just one thing to say of Rogers.
“Look out world for Raevyn Rogers,” Johnson said.
Jump forward to this year, and the 5-foot-9 middle-distance specialist has proved to be a key member, not just in solo events, but as part of the women’s 4×400 relay team.
At the Penn Relays on April 28-30, her 4×400 relay team, including Ashante Horsley, Deajah Stevens and Brooke Feldmeier, won the event with the seventh-fastest time in the NCAA this year. Rogers anchored the team and ran the fastest leg of the group, 51.29.
The win earned the Ducks their third Penn Wheel of the weekend after winning the sprint medley and the women’s 4×100 team scored wins.
Her performance was also enough to earn the title of Athlete of the Meet for women’s relays.
“If we’re going to travel that far,” Rogers said, “then we’ve got to put on a good show.”
After a packed April schedule with the Pepsi Invitational, Oregon Relays and Penn Relays, Rogers took this past weekend’s Oregon Twilight off.
“This year has really been a time crunch with the Olympic year, and then just the season rolling by super fast,” Rogers said.
With the last regular season meet out of the way, Rogers will compete in the Pac-12 Championships in Seattle next weekend. Assuming she qualifies, she will then make her way to the NCAA preliminaries at the end of May and the championships in June. After that, it’s on to the Olympic Trials.
For Rogers, the outdoor season has flown by faster than she imagined. So, to keep things on track, she said she will “just continue to trust in the training to slow everything down.”
“My goals are to make the Olympic team,” Rogers said, “and to just represent my country and my family and my school the best that I can.”