Olympian coaches lead their sprinters into fast company

Former Olympians Tonie Campbell and PhilAm Garcia spent their careers passing runners on the track. Now they are passing the torch to the next generation.

SWC head track coach Campbell and sprint coach Garcia have five Olympics and several World Track and Field Championship meets behind them. Garcia, who was a sprinter for Campbell six years ago, said he now hopes to bring out the best in his runners and show off their true potential.

Campbell was born in Los Angeles and attended Banning High School. He earned a full athletic scholarship to USC where he ran hurdles and relays.

He is still third all-time at USC in the 110-meter men's high hurdles with a time of 13.44 seconds.

He competed in three Olympic games-—Moscow in 1980, Los Angeles in 1984 and Seoul in 1988. He won a bronze medal in the 110-meter men's high hurdles in Seoul with a time of 13.38 seconds.

In 1992 Campbell returned to USC and earned a bachelor's degree in communications and served as an assistant track coach.

SWC athletes agree that coaching at a major university and competing in three Olympic games gives Campbell an edge that not many coaches have.
"He's very knowledgeable and he knows what it feels like to be in a big race," said sophomore sprinter Elliot Taylor.

When Campbell took over the SWC program in 2002 there were only 15 athletes on the team and seven qualified to run. Today there are 70 athletes in training and 45 qualified to compete.

Campbell said he has held the same principles for years, helping athletes develop into extraordinary runners and earning scholarships to four-year schools.
"I've given [them] a second opportunity to get colleges to look at them and to possibly get their education for free and that's the most important thing to me," he said.
After running for SWC from 2002-04, Garcia is back to help Campbell coach Jaguar sprinters.

Born in Torrance, California, Garcia moved to the Philippines when he was two years old. He then moved with his family to Guam where he resided for 19 years and developed into a world-class sprinter.

As a Guamanian citizen Garcia qualified to compete in the 1999 World Championships in Spain, the 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2001 World Championships in Canada.

In 2001 Southwestern's coaching staff and accessibility of the ARCO Olympic Training Center lured Garcia in to complete his training for the World Championships at SWC.
After earning an associate's degree in general education, Garcia began training athletes to help bring out their full potential.

While coaching at SWC, Garcia competed in the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2005 World Championships in Finland.

"My goal every year is to bring out the best in everyone," he said.

"He makes track into a career, he makes it so much more than just a fun hobby," said Olivia Juarez, a former Jaguar sprint star.

Even though Juarez suffers from asthma, with the help of Garcia's training, she has battled through it and now attends Humboldt University on a full athletic scholarship.

Garcia trained last year's SWC sprint phenom Curtis Mitchell, who is now at Texas A&M and training for the 2012 Olympics.

After all, for Campbell and Garcia life is not a marathon, it is a sprint.