The Fightin’ Irish in Rio

More than 10,000 athletes from around the world have gathered in Rio de Janeiro to compete in the Olympic Games. Among them are three hopeful SHC alumni: Danny Barrett ’08 (Rugby), Shannon Rowbury ’02 (Track & Field), and Nate Ngo ’06 (Men’s Volleyball, Technical Coordinator). 

More than 10,000 athletes from around the world have gathered in Rio de Janeiro to compete in the Olympic Games. Among them are three hopeful SHC alumni: Danny Barrett ’08 (Rugby), Shannon Rowbury ’02 (Track & Field), and Nate Ngo ’06 (Men’s Volleyball, Technical Coordinator). They represent the US and the Fightin’ Irish in this year’s games.

Rugby returns to the Olympic games for the first time in 92 years, making it an historic moment for Danny Barrett ’08, a veteran USA Men’s Eagles Sevens star. The SHC and Cal alumnus has played the prop position with the Eagles since 2014. Learn more about Danny and his journey to the Olympics in this Cal video.

Shannon Rowbury ’02 with SHC Track & Field, Cross Country Coach Andy Chan

Track & Field standout Shannon Rowbury ’02 credits her first sport, Irish Dancing, as the foundation of her success as a professional runner. Since she made the transition to running during her time at SHC, Shannon has broken the American 1500m record, one that stood for more than three decades, and she is the second-fastest miler in American history. Rio marks Shannon’s third Olympic appearance, having placed sixth and seventh at the 2012 games in London and the 2008 games in Beijing. Learn more about Shannon and her stellar running career.

SHC will also be represented on the coaching side with Nate Ngo ’06 serving as Technical Coordinator for the Men’s Volleyball team. Nate joined the US Men’s National Team in 2015 after a successful tenure as assistant coach for the women’s volleyball team at the University of Portland. Armed with a master’s degree in statistics from the University of Nebraska, his expertise in both the technical and technological side of competitive volleyball will serve Team USA well. Nate recently shared with SHC, “My purpose as the technical coordinator is to identify and help us see the areas of strength or weakness in other teams so that we can prepare for them. My job isn’t necessarily to find answers, but to help us see better—it’s really about bringing clarity to what we do.” Learn more about Nate’s journey to the Olympics.

On behalf of the entire SHC community, best of luck to our Fightin’ Irish in Rio. We are ready to cheer you on—Go Irish!

SHC’s use of the term Olympics and Olympic Games logos and imagery is not for commercial purposes.

Nate Ngo ’02

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