Road to Rio: Two more Mountaineers earn bids

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Two more former West Virginia athletes have punched their tickets to the Rio Olympics after their respective countries announced more team members. Former Mountaineer women's basketball player Natalie Burton and former track standout Jessica O'Connell will both be making their Olympic debuts in Rio for their respective countries, Burton for Australia and O'Connell for Canada.



Burton, a 6-foot-5 center for Australia, has played with the Opals national team since 2013. She was a part of Australia’s 2015 FIBA Oceania Championship team that defeated New Zealand to punch a ticket to Rio. In the latest FIBA world rankings, Australia ranks second globally behind Team USA. Burton is one of seven first-time Olympians on this year's squad.

At West Virginia, Burton averaged 2.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in 119 games. Her 52.8 career field goal percentage ranks her as the second best in West Virginia history. She graduated in 2012.

O'Connell, who ran mid-distance while at West Virginia, placed third out of 17 runners in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:00.90, just 0.48 seconds shy of winning the race at the Canadian trials. Andrea Seccafien won the race, crossing the finish line in 16:00.42, and Sasha Gollish took second with a time of 16:00.65.