Notebook: Modesto native Nicole Warwick talks college career, Olympic trials, turning pro
Nicole Warwick will watch the 2024 Olympics with a new appreciation for the participants.
She was almost one of them.
The Modesto native and Modesto Christian graduate nearly qualified for the Olympic games in the long jump, narrowly missing the qualifying mark at the Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore. in late June.
Fresh off wrapping up her track and field career at Azusa Pacific University, Warwick made it to the finals andfinished sixth. The top three qualified for Paris.
After seeing how close she was to the top of the track and field world, Warwick is as motivated as ever.
“It feels so much more personal to me than ever before,” she said. “Watching the Olympics will serve as great motivation moving forward in my career as an aspiring Olympian, rather than simply watching it as a true bystander.”
Warwick consistently performed over the first few rounds of the Olympic trials and in the finals, posted a 21-8 ¼, but she was nearly done with track after undergrad.
She went to Azusa Pacific University along with her twin sister Megan after successful high school careers at Modesto Christian. Megan is now a physician’s assistant but during their college careers, they both participated in the heptathlon.
Warwick competed at APU for five seasons as an undergraduate student and two as a graduate student. She was injured and granted a medical redshirt year by the NCAA and also earned an extra year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After her first few college seasons weren’t as successful as she thought they would be, not reaching the goals she set for herself took a toll on her mental health. She has continued to work through them in therapy and has found ways to separate herself from the sport, a practice athletes at the highest level learn to do in their own time. A conversation with her coach is what brought her back to the sport for her final two seasons.
“My fifth year when I wanted to quit I actually had a conversation with my coach and he was like, ‘How about you just come back and just finish out your last year?’” Warwick recalled. “He was like, ‘Just finish it out on a good note. You don’t need to worry about being a national champion. Just have some fun.’ That helped me go into my fifth year having a better perspective and led to me being more successful and falling back in love with it.”
Her sixth season is when she says things picked up, but everything came together this past season. By the end of her career, she was a 2023 NCAA Indoor National Champion in the pentathlon, a national champion in the indoor and outdoor long jump, a multi-time All-American, PacWest Champion and an All-Conference honoree.
“It was very rewarding,” she said. “I think the last six years were difficult. It was a grind … I kind of had lost sight of my potential. I lost belief in myself. And so then being able to see it happen was very rewarding. It was very encouraging and it was motivating to keep going like I’ve turned the corner. Let’s keep it rolling.”
Now she’s looking to keep that momentum going into the pro ranks. After narrowly missing out on her first Olympics, she will continue working with that goal in mind.
After competing in the heptathlon during her college career, she is dedicating all of her time to the long jump.
She already knows what’s next. Hiring an agent, searching for sponsors, and an endless amount of workouts. Then competitions during the indoor and outdoor seasons. She plans to kick off the 2025 season at a Bronze Level outdoor meet in Finland in February.
Warwick says she aims to compete in professional meets all over to put her name on the map. She is not sponsored, but that is how some of the biggest names in track and field got their start. Allie Wilson, who will run the 800 in Paris, started unsponsored, running for the love of the sport. Some unsponsored athletes balance jobs with workouts and competitions, paying out of pocket until they earn sponsorships.
“You go through this unsponsored season. It’s a process, it’s a journey,” Warwick said. “People are afraid to not take that leap of faith but it can work out really well.”
She is working towards the next track and field World Championships, which happens every two years. Similar to the Olympics, she will attend the qualifiers and then, if everything works out, the main event.
No athlete’s journey is the same, and Warwick is an example of that. She is also an example to athletes from Modesto that chasing your dream is worth the journey.
“My journey has been so different,” she said. “You think of college and you think four years and if you go pro, you go right after. You go D-I, go to a big school, you’re the superstar and you go pro. … That happens, but there’s so many other athletes whose journey is like mine. … If you love it enough, go for it.”
Modesto-born athlete competing in Paris Olympics
Modesto-born swimmer Erika Connolly punched her ticket to Paris, overcoming a herniated disk in her back to earn a spot on the women’s 4x100 freestyle relay team. She’s competing in her second Olympic games after claiming silver and bronze medals in 2020. Connolly told NBC affiliate WBIR in Knoxville that “three were weeks when I could barely get up and move. That was a new challenge I hadn’t experienced before.”
At the Olympic Team Trials, she improved her finishing time four times and won a swim-off with training partner Catie Deloof by 0.04 seconds to qualify.
Connolly was born in Modesto and swam for Ripon Aquatics in her early years. She moved to North Carolina and eventually swam for the University of Tennessee where, according to the Volunteers athletics website, she earned 22 All-America honors and won 18 SEC gold medals.
Spring athletes receive All-State recognition by CalHi Sports
Stanislaus District baseball and softball players received high honors from CalHi Sports in the site’s postseason awards. Several local spring stars were recognized among California’s best for their contributions during the spring 2024 season. Players were given all-state first through third team, all-state medium and small schools and all-state underclass honors.
Here are the Stanislaus District athletes who made All-State teams:
Baseball
All-State First Team
- TP Wentworth, Central Catholic (outfield)
All-State Medium Schools
- TP Wentworth, Central Catholic (1st team multi purpose – hitting/pitching)
- Landon Schutte, Oakdale (2nd team multi purpose – hitting/pitching)
All-State Small Schools
- Dawson Downs, Ripon (1st team infield)
- Grant Sonke, Ripon Christian (1st team infield)
- Caleb Wilson, Hughson (1st team multi purpose)
- Max Mankins, Hughson (2nd team multi purpose – hitting/pitching)
All-State Underclass
Sophomores
- Landon Schutte, Oakdale (1st team multi-purpose – hitting/pitching)
Softball
All-State Second Team
- Raegen Everett, Oakdale (multi-purpose – hitting/pitching)
All-State Third Team
- Kailey Estes, Gregori (pitcher)
All-State Medium Schools
- Raegen Everett, Oakdale (1st team pitcher)
- Presley Barnes, Oakdale (2nd team catcher)
All-State Small Schools
- Kharime Caratachea, Ripon (1st team pitcher)
- Mariah Avila, Orestimba (1st team infield)
- Ava Hernandez, Big Valley Christian (1st team multi-purpose – hitting/pitching)
All-State Underclass
Juniors
- Jazmarie Robertes, Central Catholic (1st team infield)
Modesto Christian guards continue to have impressive summers
Modesto Christian guards Gavin Sykes and Myles Jones continue performing on summer circuits against some of the top competition in the nation. Sykes, a first-team all-district guard as a junior who led the Crusaders in scoring, kept up his hot summer with West Coast Elite and added a pair of Division I offers to Sam Houston State and Southern Utah University.
Jones finished his sophomore campaign as the team’s second-leading scorer and a second-team all-district guard. He has been playing recently with Jalen Green Elite and after a string of solid all-around performances earned offers from Weber State University and the University of Montana in a span of three days.
Both will return for the Crusaders who are looking to win their fourth straight Division I Sac-Joaquin Section title this winter.
CalHi Sports says Central Catholic has “winning in its DNA”
CalHi Sports recently named its top 25 schools with “Winning in their DNA” and Central Catholic was one of just two Sac-Joaquin Section football programs to crack the top 10. According to Cal-Hi Sports, the Raiders had the second-longest win streak in state history, 62 in a row from 2001 to 2005, under legendary coach Mike Glines and have gone 467-162-9 since 1968 for a 74.1 win mark. In 2023, head coach Roger Canepa, a four-time CIF state champion coach, became the winningest coach in section history, earning his 283rd victory.
