More info on Steve Sherer's fight for place on U.S. Olympic squad

If you've read this week's edition, you know former Hornet track star Steve Sherer is on his way to Eugene, Ore. to run in the U.S. Olympic trials. Sherer will run the 1,500 meters, needing a top-three finish to earn his way to Beijing.

It won't be easy--he'll enter the race with what currently ranks as the seventh-fastest time in the seedings, which you can see here. (Sherer was placed sixth earlier this week; you can also see at that link that--I think--he's narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 800 meters as well. They take the top-30 and he appears to be around 35th.) Still, being the seventh-fastest guy in America in the 1,500 means that you are, regardless, one incredibly, incredibly fast dude.

What's most remarkable about Sherer's story is that he's pulled off that kind of accomplishment without the help of any kind of sponsorship or team. When I caught up with Sherer last July, he'd been living with fellow track star Nick Willis in Ann Arbor but essentially training alone. He was poised then to move to California and out of the Michigan winters (which were just a bit unsuitable for outdoor training), and while he's since found someone he refers to as "an advisor" in this interview with LetsRun.com, he's still designing his own training schedule, working out alone, and paying his own way. (That's an excellent and highly recommended interview, by the way.)

For the world of big-time track, that seems to be just about unheard of, which is why it was apparently a shock to those who follow the sport when Sherer ran a 3:56 the first week of February at an indoor meet at the University of Washington.

Here's to hoping Steve just keeps on shocking people all the way to China.