Men's Track & Field 8/31/2016 4:23:00 PM

OCU alum to be guide runner in Paralympics

Wardwell heads to Rio with Schmidt

RIO DE JANEIRO – Oklahoma City University alum Kyle Wardwell has been chosen to aid U.S. runner Ivonne Marcela Mosquera-Schmidt in the 2016 Paralympic Games on Sept. 7-18.
Wardwell will serve as the guide runner for Schmidt, who is blind. Wardwell began training alongside Schmidt in May at Chula Vista, Calif., and helped her qualify for the Paralympics in the U.S. Paralympic Trials on June 30-July 2 in Charlotte, N.C.
Schmidt found herself among the Team USA qualifiers announced July 3. The Rio Paralympic Games are anticipated to be the largest ever with approximately 4,500 athletes with physical impairments from more than 165 countries expected to compete.
Wardwell applied and went through an interview process to become Schmidt's guide runner.
"This role I've taken on has been a wonderful growing experience, and I can't wait to see what myself, Ivonne and Team USA can do in Rio," Wardwell said. "I have learned so much about the challenges and hardships that so many athletes on the Paralympic team have had to face to get to where they are and have gained an appreciation for the adjustments and different training techniques that the athletes must follow due to their disabilities. I feel that I have always had a coaching mindset, and that the time I have spent working down here has helped me learn even more about the sport and about how to support athletes I coach and my fellow runners when they are in need."
Wardwell recently took sixth place in the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon half marathon with a time of 1 hour, 15 minutes, 47 seconds April 24. He placed between current Stars Reno Blum, who grabbed fifth, and Dylan Smith-Sutton, who was seventh in the 13.1-mile run.
"Kyle is a strong, smooth and intelligent runner," OCU coach Matt Aguero said. "That will make him perfect to be a guide runner."
With OCU, Wardwell became a three-time NAIA track & field all-American. He earned indoor all-American nods in the 3,000 meters and the mile plus an outdoor all-American nod in the 5,000 meters.
In cross country, Wardwell contributed to the Stars' first two national championship teams plus two conference title teams. OCU has won the past three NAIA men's cross country crowns. Wardwell became Sooner Athletic Conference runner of the week after he won the Oklahoma City Fall Classic on Sept. 21, 2013 at Eldon Lyon Park in Bethany, Okla.
Wardwell picked up NAIA scholar-athlete, academic all-SAC and SAC commissioner's honor roll accolades in cross country and track & field. He graduated with degrees in biomedical engineering from OU and chemistry from OCU.
Conor Holt, then the OCU coach, spotted Wardwell running unattached in cross country meets as a student at the University of Oklahoma. Wardwell had been coaching track at his alma mater, Norman North High School. Holt invited Wardwell to join the Stars that spring, and Wardwell did so in the fall of 2013.
Schmidt overcame cancer to make the Paralympics. Schmidt was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma in her bladder in July 2014. She underwent nearly a month of chemotherapy then surgery and recovered to run the 1,500 meters in the International Paralympic Committee World Championships in October 2015.
She set American records for totally blind women in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters in March 2014. Schmidt won gold in the 2009 Olympic Distance Paratriathlon World Championships in Australia and the 2013 Paratriathlon World Championships in London.

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Players Mentioned

Reno Blum: Senior

Dylan Smith-Sutton: Senior

Players Mentioned

Reno Blum
: Senior

Dylan Smith-Sutton
: Senior