Olympic Athletes to Watch: Nikki Hiltz and Dom Parrish

By Jondi Gumz

Locals who watch the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris can keep an eye out for Aptos High School alum Nikki Hiltz, competing in the 1500 meter race.

Teammates are Emily Mckay and Elle St. Pierre.

The rules allow 45 athletes to qualify.

Heats begin Tuesday, Aug. 6 at 10:05 a.m. Paris time with the repechage round Aug. 7 at 12:35 p.m., semi-finals Aug. 8 at 7:25 p.m. and final Saturday, Aug. 10 at 8:25 p.m.

Faith Kipyegon of Kenya has a world record in this event: 3:49:04.

Hiltz’ best time: 3:55.33 in the Olympic trials in June, becoming he U.S champion.

At Aptos High, Hiltz’ best time — as a sophomore — was 4:26.13.

Tom Hiltz, Nikki’s father, frequently posts updates on Facebook.

Aptos Times has not yet heard of any Olympics watch parties for Nikki Hiltz, but if we do, we will let our readers know.

Hiltz is not the only athlete from Santa Cruz County participating.

Scotts Valley High School alum Dom Parrish, who won a gold medal in the 2022 World Championships, will compete for the U.S. at 53 kilograms.

She is one of 16 wrestlers representing the U.S.

Qualification rounds and repechage rounds in her weight class are scheduled Wednesday, Aug. 7, starting at 11:30 a.m. with another repechage round and medal matches on Thursday, Aug. 8.

Parrish has been training at Beaver Dam RTC in Corvallis, Oregon.

Keep in mind Paris is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time and 9 hours ahead of Pacfic time.

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For more times, see olympics.com/en/paris-2024/schedule