Ocean City's Renee Tomlin Runs Today in Olympic Trials

Update: Renee Tomlin compete today in the 1,500-meter run at the Olympic Trials. Tomlin is seeded 18th of about 30 runners in the event. Television coverage of the event is scheduled for 9 to 11 p.m. on NBCSN (Channel 28 on the local Comcast network), though it doesn't appear that today's preliminary rounds of the 1,500 will be part of the lineup. The preliminary heats in the 1,500 are scheduled to begin at 6:50 p.m. EST (look for a preview and live updates on the Runners World website). The following article was first posted earlier this month.

__________

A young woman who grew up running the Boardwalk, bridges and streets of Ocean City will compete later this month for a chance to compete in the Olympic Games in London.

Renee Tomlin will run in the 1,500-meter event at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., on June 28.

Tomlin qualified for the Trials by running a 4:11.31 on June 1 in a USA Track & Field event at New York City's Icahn Stadium. She will compete against about 30 other women for the chance to represent the United States at the Olympic Games. The top three will qualify for the Olympics.

Tomlin is a 2006 graduate of Ocean City High School, 2010 graduate of Georgetown University and former member of the Ocean City Beach Patrol. She spent much of her youth as a member of the Ocean City C-Cerpants Swim Club — before taking a break to try high school track.

The decision was a fateful one — she won a state title in the 800 meters as a sophomore and added three more state titles (in the 800 or 1,600) by the time she graduated.

Tomlin's success continued at Georgetown University, where she won seven Big East Conference championships and earned four All-American honors.

Tomlin is finishing up course work for a master's degree in linguistics at Georgetown, while living in Annandale, N.J., and training with the New Jersey-New York Track Club under coach Frank Gagliano.

She will compete at 800 meters in a meet this weekend in Pennsylvania in a bid to run in another event at the Olympic Trials.

Tomlin's June 1 qualifying time for the Olympics was the fastest of her career at 1,500 meters but still about six seconds off the top seeds for the Olympic Trials — a substantial but not insurmountable gap.

Tomlin said one of her inspirations came from watching Jenny Barringer Simpson give the Americans a rare victory in the 1,500 at the world championships last year.

"She came charging down the line," Tomlin said. "You could see the look on her face. You can surprise yourself."

Tomlin will do her best to surprise herself and the nation later this month in Oregon. Competition at the Trials will include preliminary races that will narrow the field before a final heat. The first heats will be on June 28. Follow Tomlin here:

• Look for coverage of the Olympic Trials in track and field on NBC.
• Follow the Olympic Trials online at Flotrack.org.
• Read a .