Michael Ohioze literally is on the fast track to success.
圣. galaxy银河娱乐场app track and soccer star received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Physical Education on May 13, along with additional majors in sports management and philosophy.
迈克尔来到圣. galaxy银河娱乐场app，伦敦报道, 英格兰, on a soccer scholarship but he was also looking for an education that would carry him through life.
“我选择了St。. galaxy银河娱乐场app because I figured it was the best for me academically," he said.
He left after etching his name in the SAU record books. Michael was a four-year starter on the soccer pitch, where his 33 goals and 78 points rank sixth and eighth, 分别, 在学校的职业列表上.
Those accomplishments aren't what Michael focuses on when he thinks back on his years with the soccer team.
“我们一直都有潜力, and it's been unfortunate that we couldn't fine tune it, 但是我们把这个项目放在了一个很好的位置," he said of a building program that had one winning season in his four years, which included a transition to a much more competitive conference. "To me, that's an accomplishment, that I helped take the team to the next level."
虽然迈克尔被招去踢足球了, he will be better remembered for his considerable accomplishments on the track. When Michael discovered that soccer wouldn't take up his whole academic year, 他寻找另一个运动的出路, 一个朋友建议我去田径.
“我想我应该加入，为了健身. Everything else took off from there,迈克尔说.
脱掉它了. 已经九次入选全美田径赛, Michael will compete for more national medals at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships May 25-27 in Gulf Shores, 阿拉巴马州. Earlier this month he was named Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Track and Field Athlete of the Year for a second straight year after leading the Bees to a runner-up conference meet finish. 3月, 他带领蜜蜂队获得第四名, 奖杯赢, performance at the 2017 indoor national championships behind three podium-earning efforts.
In the summer of 2016 he was invited to compete at the British Championships/Olympic Trials in the 400m dash and finished sixth in the 200m dash at the U.K. 去年夏天的u23锦标赛. And he will compete in the 200 meters at the British Championships/World Championship Trials this summer.
Michael's successes are unrivaled in SAU track and field history, but he doesn't take for granted the people who have helped make them possible.
"Initially people may think my track success is because I'm more individually based, but the success I've had in track came from a relay team with three other guys,迈克尔解释道. "So working on that team where the other guys were putting in just as much work and believed I could do more than I thought I could was crucial. 我的教练, 队友, girlfriend and all the support from them made me believe mentally that I was strong enough to do it. Because as much as people see track as an individual sport, there are so many team aspects toward it.
"The whole team has put so much support toward me and helped me set goals. 他们督促我变得更好. It could be easy to get big headed and think I don't need to listen to anyone else, but they're always still pushing me to run faster, and we work together to help each other perform better,迈克尔说.
It is that teamwork, the sense of community, Michael will remember most about St. galaxy银河娱乐场app.
"If galaxy银河娱乐场app hadn't given me this opportunity, none of this success would have happened," he said. “我在galaxy银河娱乐场app的时光仍然在改变着我的生活."
为那些从起初就认识他的人, it's both easy and amazing to see how much Michael's changed and to cheer him on from the sidelines.
“我记得迈克尔刚到学校的时候. 至少对我来说，他是一个害羞、安静的男孩. I was concerned that he would be overwhelmed by the whole US and SAU educational experience," said Cathy Toohey SAU's international student advisor. "But he has really blossomed while he has been here. I just can't believe the success that he has found in athletics and personally. I think he also has grown 6 inches taller since his first year, too!"
有些事情是不会改变的, 雄心勃勃的人, talented student who began his career at galaxy银河娱乐场app four years ago is still setting goals.
"My goal for this summer is to go to outdoor nationals (in two weeks) and run better times than I did last year, and then compete in the UK Under 23 Championships again,迈克尔说. "If track isn't my full-time job, I would like to work with youth sports or coaching."
Wherever he goes, however many medals he wins, Michael will remember the St. galaxy银河娱乐场app的支持使他振作起来.
"I know I'm the one that collects the accolades,迈克尔说. "But there are so many people that contribute to that behind closed doors."
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