UW Oshkosh men’s track and field sprinter Davian Willems will head to Eugene, Oregon, to compete for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team as part of the Olympic trials held June 22 at the University of Oregon.

Willems, who owns UWO men’s track and field records in both the indoor 60-meter and outdoor 100-meter dashes, will race in round one of the 100-meter dash in the U.S. Olympic Team Track and Field Trials at 8:22 p.m. central time June 22.

UWO head track and field coach Justin Kinseth said that the program was excited to see Willems earn his way to the Olympic trials.

“Having dealt with hamstring injuries the past two seasons, Davian was finally able to showcase his true potential this season,” Kinseth said. “This is a monumental occasion for the UWO track and field program as our sprints squad has been shattering the record board these past few years. To qualify for the trials at such a young age only shows how much more Davian has left in store.”

Willems, a sophomore at UWO, earned two All-America honors during the 2023-24 track season by finishing as the national runner up for the indoor 60-meter dash and the outdoor 100-meter dash.

Willems set UWO’s indoor 60-meter mark March 9 when he finished the race in 6.71 seconds at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championship and broke the program’s 100-meter dash record with a time of 10.14 seconds during the UW-La Crosse Eagle Open May 10.

The 100-meter dash event at the U.S. Olympic Trials will feature 37 athletes, with the top-three finishers earning a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team. Willems and UW-La Crosse’s Sam Blaskowski are the only two athletes from the Division III level that are running in the event.

The Titans have sent four of its athletes to the Olympics, most recently sending Michael McPhail to the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympic Games for the 50-meter Prone Rifle event. Melissa Mueller pole vaulted at the 2000 Summer Olympics and Allison Pottinger was a member of the U.S. women’s curling team at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics. UWO’s first Olympian was Rodney Figueroa, who competed for Puerto Rico as a freestyle wrestler at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

The 2024 Summer Olympics will kick off July 26 in Paris, France, and will feature 329 events before the closing ceremony Aug. 11.