Two more local athletes qualify for Olympic Swim Trials

Two more local athletes - one on land, one in the water - have qualified for the Olympic Trials as the nation’s athletes compete for coveted spots on U.S. teams that will compete in Rio de Janeiro this summer.

Analy High School graduate Jon Knox, now a 20-year-old sophomore swimmer at the University of Southern California, qualified for the trials last weekend in the 100-meter backstroke.

The Press Democrat’s All-Empire swimmer of the year in 2014, Knox swam a time of 57.01 at the Mission Viejo Swim Meet of Champions.

He came into the meet just .01 off the Olympic Trials cut, but was able to boost his performance enough to book his ticket to Omaha.

Knox is the first local male swimmer to qualify for the 2016 trials.

He joins Sonoma County swimmers Rebecca Baxley, Piper Brockley, Allie Davis, Maya DiRado, Molly Hannis and Riley Scott in the quest for Olympic glory.

The 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for swimming will be June 26 through July 3 in Omaha, Neb., at the CenturyLink Center.

Another local product, 2007 Maria Carrillo graduate Alia Gray, has qualified for the Olympic Trials in the 10,000-meter run.

Gray, who attended college at Chico State, moved one step closer to the Olympics over the weekend at the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford’s Cobb Track & Angell Field. Gray finished in 18th in 31:59.23.

She broke the 32-minute mark for the first time and bested her personal record by 30 seconds in the race.

The leading women’s American time in the 10,000 meters is 31:52.94 by Laura Thweatt of Boulder, Colo.

Track and field Olympic trials will be July 1-10 in Eugene, Ore.

An All-Empire runner in high school, Gray also earned the California Collegiate Athletic Association Women’s Runner of the Year honors in 2011 at Santa Rosa’s Spring Lake, taking home the individual title with a time of 21:07.1.

The Olympic Games will be Aug. 5-21 in Brazil, where more than 10,500 athletes from 204 nations are expected to compete in 28 sports.

You can reach Lori A. Carter at 521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @loriacarter.