Yale's Olympians at Athens 2004

as of July 26, 2004

Eleni Benson '04
Greek Soccer Team
Eleni, a sweeper, took 2003-04 off from Yale to compete for a spot on the Greek National Team. She plans to return to Yale for her senior campaign this fall. She is a native of Willington, Conn.

George Gleason '01
U.S Virgin Islands Swimming Team
George, who swam at Sydney Olympics in 2000, earned numerous honors as a freestyler and backstroker for the Bulldogs. He owns the Yale records in the 200 free (1:36.74), 200 back (1:44.73) and 400 IM (3:50.11). He was second team All-Ivy twice and won the Harold Ulen Award for most career points at EISLs. Gleason was also Verizon District I Academic All-Amercian, Verizon Second Team Academic All-American and Academic All-Ivy.

Sada Jacobson '04
U.S. Fencing Team
Sada (SAY-da) was NCAA Sabre Champion in 2001 and 2002 before leaving school to train for the Olympics. Originally in the class of 2004, she will return to Yale this fall to begin her junior year. She is from Atlanta, Ga.

Isabelle Kinsolving '02
U.S. Sailing Team
Isabelle, a New York City native, was a team captain and helped the team qualify for both the women's nationals and co-ed nationals her senior year. This will be her first Olympic games.

Patricia Miranda (Law School)
U.S. Wrestling Team
Yale gave her permission to put her law studies on hold so she could make the team going to Athens. She's won two world championship silver medals since and has been featured in Time magazine.

Kate O'Neill '03
U.S. Track & Field Team
Kate, a Milton, Mass., native, finished third at the July 16 U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento to qualify for the 10,000-meter event at Athens. Her twin sister, Laura, ran the same race but did not qualify. The twins had the most decorated careers in the history of Yale cross country and track. They combined for 11 All-America honors and became the first athletes to share the Nellie Pratt Elliot Award, the most prestigious athletic award given to a senior female at Yale. Kate, who rewrote the Yale record books, won eight Heptagonal track championships and a pair of ECAC titles while earning three All-America honors. She currently owns the school records in the indoor 3,000 and 5,000 and the outdoor 5,000 and 10,000. She also anchored the last leg of Yale's NCAA qualifying distance medley relay team that broke the school record in 2003. Kate, who had a 3.6 GPA in history, qualified for two individual events and one relay at the 2003 indoor NCAAs, while no other Ivy school had a female athlete competing.

Celita Schutz '90
U.S. Judo Team
Celita (sa-LEET-a) was a varsity women's soccer and basketball player at Yale. She qualified for the Olympic Team Trials in multiple categories and will make her third (1996, 2000) Olympic Games appearance this summer.

Matt Taylor '92
U.S. Canoe & Kayak Team
Matt, an Atlanta native who is on the Slalom National A Team Men's C-2, was not a varsity athlete at Yale.

Josh West `98
Great Britain Men's Eight Crew
Josh, a Santa Fe, NM., native, came to Yale as a complete novice and worked his way into the varsity boat. Since then he has earned a world silver medal in the coxless four (2002 and 2003) and was fifth in the eight (2001), rowing with the Great Britain national program. Also has World cup bronze medal in Milan and silver medal in Munich (2003). He moved into the men's eight in 2004 after the GB National Team Trials and competed in the men's eight at the season- opening World Cup in Poland. Josh was raised in the USand began rowing as a Yale freshman, where he studied geology and international studies. He moved to Cambridge to further his studies where, as the tallest man ever to row in the event, he twice won the Boat Race from four attempts. He is now studying for a PhD in Earth Sciences at Gonville and Caius College.

Mark Young `68
Personal Coach for Kate O'Neill (U.S. Track Team)
Mark, the head coach for the Yale women's cross country and track & field teams, is not part of the U.S. Team staff at Athens but has been working with his former All-American and her twin Laura since they graduated.

Note: Anna Mahon, who qualified for the 2004 Olympics women's hammer competition on the U.S. team, is a volunteer throwing events coach for Yale track & field and an English teacher at Amity High School.

compiled by Steve Conn (steven.conn@yale.edu), Assistant AD/Sports Publicity