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Wayne Cavadi | NCAA.com | July 26, 2021

DII Report: Current and former DII student-athletes in the 2020 Olympics

USA Olympic men’s basketball team's March Madness highlights

There are more than 1,000 NCAA current and former athletes participating in the 2020 Olympics in Japan. Of those, let's take a look at the 44 DII athletes — that we know of right now — in Tokyo.

OLYMPICS: NCAA student-athletes at the Summer Olympics

Nine of the 2020 Olympians will compete for the United States, including Quanera Hayes (Track & Field) from Livingstone, Sarah Hildebrandt (Wrestling) of King, Carlin Isles (Rugby) and Katie Nageotte (Track & Field) from Ashland, and Joe Ryan (Baseball) from Stanislaus State. Canada is the next most represented country, with four former student-athletes.

Tal Erel from Lynn and Assaf Lowengart from Mansfield — two current DII student-athletes — will team up for Israel in baseball. Erel played sparingly this past season, but Lownegart had a solid season, hitting .290 with a 1.039 OPS and 11 home runs. Joe Ryan will play opposite them on the Team USA baseball squad. He last pitched for the Warriors in 2018, going 8-1 with a 1.65 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 98.1 innings. 

Track & Field is the most represented sport by a large margin with 14 on the list gearing up for one of the events. Baseball has four, while basketball has four. New Haven's Mihailo Vasic will play on Serbia's 3x3 team and Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe (Simon Fraser), Nicholas Kay (MSU Denver) and Dayshalee Salaman (Lincoln Memorial) are playing for Canada, Australia and Puerto Rico, respectively.

TEAM USA ROSTERS: Men's hoops | Women's hoops | Softball

The Northeast-10 has additional representation in Tokyo. Emily Record, named the first women's rugby coach in New Haven program history in May, will be one of the coaches for the Women's Rugby Sevens program in the Olympics. 

Current DII student-athletes in the 2020 Olympics

Name School Event Country
Steven Aimable Nova Southeastern Swimming & Diving Senegal
Benjamin Azamati West Texas A&M Track & Field Ghana
Tal Erel Lynn Baseball Israel
Nour Ettaieb Florida Tech Rowing Tunisia
Shaun Gill Texas A&M-Kingsville Track & Field Belize
Assaf Lowengart Mansfield Baseball Israel
Celina Marquez Nova Southeastern Swimming El Salvador
Karol Ostrowski Drury Swimming & Diving Poland
Daniela Passoni Cal State East Bay Water Polo South Africa

Former DII student-athletes participating in the 2020 Olympics

Name School Event Country
Bolade Ajomale Academy of Art Track & Field Canada
Perry Baker Fairmont State Rugby United States
Tia-Adana Belle Saint Augustine's Track & Field Barbados
Lindsey Butterworth Simon Fraser Track & Field Canada
Aoife Cooke Arkansas Tech Cross Country (Marathon) Ireland
Lara Dallman-Weiss Eckerd Sailing United States
Brandon Dickson Tusculum Baseball United States
Felix Duchampt Queens (NC) Triathlon Romania
Ziad Elsissy Wayne State (MI) Fencing Egypt
Amanda Fama Concordia (CA) Softball Italy
Eilish Flanagan Adams State Cross Country, Track & Field Ireland
Maha Haddioui Lynn Golf Morocco
Quanera Hayes Livingstone Track & Field United States
Arnoldo Herrera Northern Michigan Swimming & Diving Costa Rica
Sarah Hildebrandt King  Wrestling United States
Carlin Isles Ashland Rugby United States
Rellie Kaputin West Texas A&M Track & Field Papua New Guinea
Nicholas Kay MSU Denver Men's Basketball Australia
Anabel Knoll Queens (NC) Triathlon Germany
Marius Kusch Queens (NC) Swimming & Diving Germany
Sagan Maddalena Alaska Fairbanks Rifle United States
Emmanuel Matadi Minnesota State Track & Field Liberia
Katie Nageotte Ashland Track & Field United States
Hanneke Oosterwegel Northern State Track & Field Netherlands
Daisy Osakue Angelo State Track & Field Italy
Juan Joel Pacheco Orozco East Central Track & Field (Marathon) Mexico
Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe Simon Fraser Women's Basketball Canada
Cheyenne Rova Minnesota State Swimming & Diving Fiji
Shawn Rowe Saint Augustine's Track & Field Jamaica
Joe Ryan Stanislaus State Baseball United States
Dayshalee Salaman Lincoln Memorial Women's Basketball Puerto Rico
Alex Sobers Emmanuel College Swimming & Diving Barbados
Mihailo Vasic New Haven Basketball (3x3) Serbia
Natalie Wideman California (PA) Softball Canada
Kevon Williams New Mexico Highlands Rugby United States

See anyone we missed? Please don't be afraid to let us know.

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