Long journey from Walla Walla to Rio

Like a lot of athletes, Josh Priester had Olympic dreams growing up.

The 2000 Walla Walla High School graduate competed in the decathlon from eighth grade through high school and continued on through college. Though he was good, he wasn’t quite Olympic caliber.

So he turned his energy to the other side of the sport — coaching — where he finally punched his ticket to the Olympic Games.

“Obviously, I was never at the level I would need to be to make the Olympic Games,” Priester said. “Ever since I was in high school, I knew I wanted to get into coaching. This is special.”

Priester is headed to the Rio Games as the personal coach of heptathlete Barbara Nwaba, who won the event at the U.S. Olympic Trials last month in Eugene.

“It’s definitely surreal,” Priester said. “Even after Barb crossed the finish line in Eugene to win, it still took a long time to sink in. I’m still in coach mode, still in compete mode. Maybe it will sink in when she marches in the opening ceremony.”

Nwaba, who was fifth at the 2012 Olympic Trials, won the event in July with 6,494 points. She won the high jump and was among the top three in five of the seven events. The Olympic heptathlon begins Aug. 12.

Nwaba, 27, said Priester’s confidence in her has helped her reach her goal of being an Olympian.

“He believed in me,” Nwaba said. “I always wanted to go to the Olympics, I just didn’t know what event. I never thought I would be going in the heptathlon. He loves the multi events, but it has taken time for me to appreciate the event. It was humble beginnings, but I have no regrets. I think it was meant to be. It keeps you fresh, you are never bored and you are always learning.”

Even after winning in Eugene, Nwaba said it took time for the Olympic flame to ignite.

“I was taking a victory lap and I could hear my mom’s (Blessing) voice,” Nwaba said. “I didn’t even know she was there. That’s when it hit. That was very cool. And to be at Hayward (Field), they cheer you on no matter who you are or what event you are in. It’s magical.”

While Nwaba is a full member of the U.S. Olympic delegation, Priester is not. As a personal coach, he will receive credentials for Nwaba’s event, but won’t get to partake in other Olympic team activities.

“It’s a lot of politics,” Priester said. “The Olympics are the biggest spectacle on Earth every four years. I’m happy to be a part of it, no matter how big the part.”

From athlete to coach

After leaving high school, Priester attended Lane Community College in Eugene, which had a strong tradition in combined events. He then went to George Fox University in Newberg, Ore., where he qualified for the Division III championships twice and was an All-American his senior year.

Priester’s next stop was the United States Sports Academy in Alabama, where he earned his master’s in sports science/sports management. He then returned to George Fox, where he coached for two years before heading to California.

“I got a job offer from UC Santa Barbara in 2008, and that’s when I ran into Barb when she was a sophomore in college,” Priester said. “Our first conversation was, ‘Have you thought about the heptathlon?’ At the time, she was a sprinter and a hurdler. Sometimes, you take these risks.”

It wasn’t pretty at first. Nwaba’s first attempt at throwing the javelin was about 87 feet, and her long jump was under 16 feet.

She still struggles a bit with the long jump, but not much else. She cleared 6 feet, 2 3/4 inches in the high jump at the Olympic Trials, had a time of 13.65 seconds in the 100 hurdles and threw 46-5 1/2 in the shot put. She also ran a 24.17 in the 200 and threw the dreaded javelin 161-4 for the second-best mark in the event.

“At the level she is now, there really isn’t a bad event,” Priester said. “She’s a 50-foot shot putter and a 2:07 800 runner. But the one she thinks about most is the long jump. She’s not as consistent as she’d like to be.”

Nwaba was just hitting her stride when she graduated from UC Santa Barbara. She was worried she wouldn’t have anywhere to train, but Priester was on top of that too.

In 2012, he was the driving force behind getting the Santa Barbara Track Club up and running. The program’s youth club has more than 100 members, and the club also trains elite athletes.

Nwaba is part of that elite group, as are Lindsay Lettow and Lindsay Schwartz, who last weekend won silver and bronze medals at the Thorpe Cup in Fayetteville, Ark.

“We built it from the ground up,” Priester said. “We have a lot of contributors from all over the country, including Walla Walla. We are still growing and trying to figure some things out. I was a full-time NCAA track and field coach who gave it up to pursue this. We hold our practices at Westmont College, where I also coach.”

He helped coach Westmont’s Becky Collier to an NAIA national heptathlon title in May.

Nwaba and the Santa Barbara Track Club will get a spot in the limelight during the Olympics when NBC airs a profile piece Aug. 11 on her run to Rio.

“That is tremendous for her and our track club,” Priester said.

The Olympics officially start Friday with the opening ceremony, and Nwaba and Priester won’t be in Rio alone. Her mom will be going, as will Priester’s parents, Jeff and Kathy, who still live in Walla Walla. Priester’s wife, Nicole, who is finishing her internship in psychology at California Lutheran University, won’t be able to make the trip.

“It will be a tremendous experience,” Jeff Priester said. “At the Olympic Trials, I was more rattled than when Josh competed. We have been to three world events, but nothing compares to this.”

This story was originally published August 4, 2016 at 3:56 PM with the headline "Long journey from Walla Walla to Rio."