Photo courtesy of George Mason

Ryan McCoy was twice an All-American in the triple jump for George Mason and will compete in the U.S. Olympic trials tonight.

How are you going to spend your Fourth of July? Having a cookout, perhaps, or going to see the fireworks?

Ryan McCoy has you beat. The William Fleming graduate will be competing tonight in the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Ore.

"Chance of a lifetime," McCoy said recently in a phone interview from George Mason University, where he has been training for the trials. "I can't believe I'm getting a chance to go.

"This is my dream. ... I'm actually going to the Olympic trials."

McCoy, who graduated from George Mason in May, is seeded 22nd in the prelims with a jump of 52 feet, 8¹₄ inches that he recorded last year.

This is the fourth consecutive trials in which a William Fleming graduate will compete in the triple jump. Monica Cabbler competed in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 trials.

Today won't be the first time McCoy has tested himself against the nation's best. He was seventh at the 2007 USA indoor championships.

"He's definitely a student of the sport," George Mason assistant coach Abigi Id-Deen said. "He watches film. We watch some together, and he watches on his own."

Ryan McCoy

Jumping is a family tradition for the McCoys. McCoy learned to jump from his father, Daryl, who was a Group AAA champ in the long jump at William Fleming before joining the track and field team at East Carolina.

McCoy's older brother Darryl was an Atlantic 10 champ in the long jump at Virginia Tech.

McCoy twice won the Group AA indoor title in the triple jump. As a William Fleming senior, he won the Nike Indoor Nationals crown (48-3 ¹₂).

"He worked hard on his jumping," Fleming coach Rudy Dillard said. "He would do the little extra work at home with his father."

Father still knows best.

"I still use some of his advice," McCoy, 22, said of his dad. "He's always ... pushing me to do good. I think he gets more excited than I do when I jump good."

McCoy has twice earned All-America honors at George Mason in the hop-step-and-jump event, which requires technique, leg strength and speed.

So McCoy spends time in the weight room as well as on the track.

"He has the strength to do the event," Id-Deen said. "You have to suspend, basically, on one leg, for each phase of your triple jump."

The 5-foot-11, 150-pound McCoy has had an injury-plagued career at George Mason, including groin and hamstring injuries.

"I've never had a season where I haven't had an injury," he said. "Every time I get going, I get hurt and I get a setback. ... I've kind of been in a slump because I've been hurt."

"The triple jump is really hard on you, hard on your legs, so you get a lot of injuries," McCoy's father said. "If he could just go a whole season without being injured, there's no telling what he could do."

McCoy has had some notable achievements at George Mason, though.

He took eighth at the NCAA indoor championships in 2005 and 2007. In 2006, he won the IC4A outdoor championship (52-5 ¹₂).

As a fifth-year senior this year, he finished second at the IC4A meet for the second time in his career.

He finished sixth at the NCAA East Regional championships (52-2 ³₄) before concluding his college career at the NCAA outdoor championships.

McCoy is looking for a graphic-design job now that he has graduated. He also would like to continue training in his event.

McCoy might indeed improve as he gets older. He will be an underdog today against the standout post-collegians in the field.

"I'm still doing a whole bunch of stuff wrong," McCoy said. "I've got a whole lot of room for improvement."

But McCoy said he won't be anxious today.

"I don't really get nervous anymore when I compete," he said. "I've done it so many times."