Timothy Dunne
 
Timothy Dunne
  
 
Jerome native looks to earn trip to Athens

By Kevin Colbert, Twin Falls (Idaho) Times-News

July 9, 2004

TWIN FALLS, Idaho - Many children wish day and night of making a trip to Anaheim, Calif. and Disneyland, a place where almost any dream can seemingly come to life.

Jerome native Timothy Dunne, however, is hoping his California fantasyland is about 400 miles north of the Magic Kingdom. And although Mickey and Minnie Mouse won't be in attendance this weekend to cheer him on at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials -- Track & Field in Sacramento, Dunne is still hopeful his dream for a berth in the Athens Olympics will come true.

"That would be incredible," Dunne said. "It's hard to even imagine."

Dunne, 25, will be competing in the open 800-meter run at the trials, and although the former University of Missouri track and field and cross country standout is not considered one of the favorites to advance to the Olympics, he's not that far off the pace. Dunne enters the event with the 20th best qualifying effort among the entries, but his time of 1:47:37 is less than two seconds behind the third-best qualifying time of 1:45.46. The top three finishers in Sacramento advance to Athens, assuming their runs meet Olympic qualifying standard times.

"I realize it would be a far cry for me to win," Dunne said. "But it is just a couple seconds. I know my training has prepared me to peak at the trials. Hopefully, I'll increase my (personal record) by quite a bit."

Maybe it's a good sign for Dunne that his 1:47:37, his personal best, was run on the very same Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex track that he'll be competing on today, and possibly Saturday and Monday. Dunne achieved that time during the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships, in which he finished ninth to secure All-American honors.

"It's definitely good to be going back," Dunne said. "I had a really good feeling when I got there before. It had a different feel -- fast. It's good to go back to a place I've had some success."

But Dunne, who led Jerome High School to four straight state track and field titles between 1995 and 1998, will have his work cut out for him. If he's to advance to Athens, he'll have to get through two grueling preliminary heats before advancing to the finals. Dunne, however, expects that his training over the past year could give him an edge over the competition.

"I prefer everyone goes out fast, in my heat as well," Dunne said. "If it's a fast pace, hopefully we'll be running some faster times so I can advance. Hopefully, with my strength training, a faster pace will take more out of them. A fast pace benefits me."

Dunne's training since the NCAA Championships has been geared to help him peak for the Olympic trials.

"I was training just like a 1,500 runner just to add strength throughout the indoor season and during the early outdoor season in the spring," said Dunne, a 1,500 section winner at the Stanford University (Calif.) Invitational this past March. "The last three weeks have been a lot of speed work, focusing strictly on the 800."

He appears to be on course for a good showing at the trials. In the past season, Dunne, who is sponsored by the New York Athletic Club, has a best time of 1:47.70.

"It's not as good as my record," Dunne said, "but I'm happy with it because I've been training towards peaking."

He's not the only one who thinks he's ready. Tim Dunne, his father, coached Timothy at Jerome and has been very impressed with his son's training over the past year.

"Some of the times he's been running -- like a 4:05 in the 1,600 -- that came as a surprise to me," the elder Dunne said.

Timothy Dunne hasn't been alone in his preparation for Sacramento. Dunne, who was a volunteer assistant at Missouri this past season, has been training with current and former athletes from that school, including 2002 USA Indoor Championship winner and former NCAA champion Derrick Peterson, who is seeded third for the 800 in the trials.

"I've been training with him since I've been there and since I graduated," Dunne said. "It's been awesome. Part of my decision to go (to Missouri) were the 800 runners there at the time and the history they have in that event."

While competing at Missouri, Dunne, who redshirted his junior year after patella tendinitis sidelined him for nine months, has added to the Tigers' middle-distance lore. His clocking at the 2003 NCAA Championships is good for fourth all-time at the school and he's tabulated 11 All-Big 12 honors and hauled in two Drake Relays titles in the 4x800 relay.

But Dunne knows the leap from college to facing some of the best athletes in the world is something he'll have to be prepared for.

"Our conference meet was as good as there is in the country," he said. "But there, there were only two or three top guys you had to go against. Now, you're going against guys that are top five in the country."

It's a welcome challenge for Dunne, and equally rewarding for those who have seen him go from little Jerome, Idaho to taking his best crack at Athens.

"I'm a proud papa," his father said. "It's been pretty exciting to see him mature, from the time he's run in the Hershey's meets all the way to the Olympic trials. He's ready."

 

 

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