UNH's Olympian in Training

J.P. Kepka works as a member of the sports medicine team at UNH and as an athletic trainer helps the school's athletes prepare for and deal with competition against other Division 1 collegiate athletes across the country.

Kepka knows more than a thing or two about competing at the highest levels: He's a two-time Olympian and won a bronze medal for short track speed skating as a member of the United States 5000-meter relay team in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino Italy.

Kepka, 32, was born in St. Louis, Mo. where he started skating at age five. At first, his parents saw a sign at a local ice rink for free speed skating lessons and decided to offer J.P. his first chance. It wasn't very popular in St. Louis, as there were only three main clubs in the entire state.

Each weekend from October through the end of March, J.P. traveled around the Midwest to competitions, and eventually worked his way up to the U.S. Junior Championships, Senior Championships, and ultimately the Olympics.

"We would skate pretty much five days a week on club ice," said Kepka.

He skated in St. Louis from ages five to 14, and then moved to train at the U.S. Olympic Education Center in Marquette, Mich. This is where Kepka worked with his developmental group, trained with them, and he was there for two years.

After two years J.P. was invited to train with the national team in Colorado Springs, which led him on a seven-year adventure of intense training and preparation for the Olympics.

Paying for skating was the catch, since there is no collegiate short track speed skating in the U.S. An alternative was being a resident athlete at the Olympic training centers; you had your training tuition paid for during your time.

As for school, J.P. mentions the time commitment as a factor standing in his way of his education, but he was okay with it because he knew he wanted to make it to the Olympics.

Kepka would be on the road competing at six World Cups a year, two weeks at a time, which led to zero consistency for attendance at a school.

"That's when I took time off of school, because I figured school's always going to be there, but you can only compete at that level for so long," Kepka said.

J.P. made the full transition away from school in 2004, after being in the 2002 Olympics, which allowed him a full time training period for his 2006 appearance in Torino.

An essential member of Kepka's relay team was the familiar face, Apolo Anton Ohno.

Ohno is now retired as well, but had claimed a total of eight medals in the Winter Olympics throughout his career. Ohno has two gold, two silver, and four bronze medals.

"What was hard training with the national team when Apolo was there, it was pretty much you were there to help him," Kepksa said. "If he got better you got better."

"It's an individual sport, you train as a team, but you're pretty much there for him," J.P. said. "It made sense, but it was frustrating."

An interesting experience for sure. Kepka still came home with a bronze Olympic medal.

Training for the Olympics J.P. and his team got one month off a year and it was just like a full time job.

"I guess when it really sank in was when you're doing opening ceremonies," he said. "Once you walk in you're like 'wow, this is it.'"

Salt Lake City was a lot of fun for J.P. since it was in the states, and he compares it to a getting-your-feet-wet Olympics in comparison to Torino. When it came to 2006, J.P. was familiar with his opponents and it was a more serious competition.

J.P. met his wife, another Olympian, as a part of being in the close-knit speed skating family. Caroline Hallisey-Kepka competed on the '98, '02, and '06 women's short track speed skating Olympic teams, so she was ahead of J.P. but they eventually crossed paths.

"She beat me there," Kepka said.

"It was hard, but it was nice to have someone who had the same goals and visions as you so you could share that with somebody," Caroline said.

Deciding when to stop came when J.P. won the bronze medal in '06, but didn't get the chance to race individually at the games. Kepka then retired from Olympic skating after the 2006 games.

"A medal is great, but everyone's like 'oh it's just a relay medal?'" he said with a laugh.

Then, while skating in the summer of 2008, J.P. cut through his posterior tibial tendon (a tendon that runs behind the inside bump on the ankle). Kepka missed an entire season but made it back just in time for the Olympic trials in 2010.

Since he had missed a full training season due to his injury, competing in the trials that year was difficult and he fell short.

"When I was done I realized I just need a mental break," J.P. said. "I'm just going to take a little bit of time away and still try and stay in shape."

"Adapting into normal life other than being an athlete, that was challenging, it still is." said Caroline speaking for both her and J.P. on their retirements.

Being reeled into UNH was an easy decision for J.P. since he knew he wanted to go back to school full time once he was done skating.

"I could put all my motivation all on one thing," he said. "Being injured a few times, working with athletic trainers, I wanted to still be involved with athletics."

"I had family that had gone to UNH before, and we knew it was reputable," Caroline said.

A 2013 UNH graduate, J.P. now works with men's soccer, track and field, and cross-country as an assistant athletic trainer. The last two years he worked with the women's volleyball team.

"He was an athlete himself, so he can really connect with all the athletes," said Sydney Duncan, a student athletic trainer who worked alongside Kepka during the fall 2015 semester.

"I had no idea he was in the Olympics. Because of the sense of humor he has, it was hard to believe anything he was saying at first, but then I looked him up on YouTube and thought it was so cool!," Duncan said. "I love how he doesn't make a big deal about it and flaunt it to everybody. It's funny just to hear him say 'Hey, I was in the Olympics. I'm kind of a big deal."

As for still skating J.P. gets on the ice "here and there." There are not too many clubs nearby, so J.P. doesn't get much time back on the ice.

J.P. and Caroline have a three-year-old daughter, Joanna. The Kepkas want her to do something sports-related, but plan to support and be happy about whatever she chooses to do.

"It would be great if she wanted to skate," J.P. said. "I would support her as much as I can, but I'm not going to push her one way or the other. I also know it's a job and if that's not what she wants I'm not going to force her to do something like that."

In the future, J.P. will continue to live as an Olympic medal holder. Working at UNH as an athletic trainer has always been a dream, and he is very happy with the way things worked out.

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