This is nail-biting time around the Hood household, and training for Abilene Christian University's track season does not even start for another two weeks.

Once more tonight, Don D. Hood, ACU's track and field coach, and his three daughters will huddle around the 36-inch television set in their living room and cheer on an ACU athlete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Hood's wife, Rachel, will likely saunter in and out but will join the cheerleading when the track events appear on the screen.

Tonight, that includes Jamaican sprinter Richard Phillips in the 100-meter hurdle semifinals.

Phillips, who has since transferred from ACU to George Mason, is just one of four Olympians this year with ties to ACU's successful program. None is American. And yet Hood does not feel the least bit conflicted rooting against the Americans -- in these few instances.

"Once you get to know those guys," Hood said Tuesday, "it's more about the people. I think that's especially true in track and field, as well as gymnastics. My heart swells when the U.S. does something, but I really love it when our athletes (at ACU) perform well."

On Tuesday night, Hood and family watched 33-year-old Jamaican Delloreen Ennis-London fall a mere .01 seconds shy of a bronze medal in the women's 100-meter hurdles finals. Hood already knew Ennis-London had finished fifth because the event in Beijing took place Tuesday morning, Central time, and Hood was glued to the Internet then.

He cannot phone the athletes in China, but he can feel their vibes.

Ennis-London's 12.65 clocking actually matched that of fourth-place finisher Damu Cherry of the United States. Canadian Priscilla Lopes-Schliep was third in 12.64. Ennis-London came within a breath of becoming ACU's first Olympic medal winner in track and field since Albert Lawrence and Greg Meghoo won the silver for Jamaica in the 400-meter relays in 1984.

The last American-born track star from ACU to win a medal was Earl Young in 1960. No Jamaican female athlete -- and no former ACU female student-athlete -- has won an Olympic medal. Ennis-London came just that close to clearing all of those hurdles.

Ennis-London last performed for ACU in 1999. Marvin Essor departed the university in spring 2005 but still resides in Abilene. He'll be a part of Jamaica's 1,600-meter men's relay. Wanda Hutson, about to enter her junior year at ACU, will compete for Trinidad & Tobago in the Olympic's women's 1,600-meter relay. Essor and Hutson's events are still to come.

"Essor has the best chance of coming home with a medal," Hood said. "But I don't really have a favorite. It's just a lot of fun to have that many in one Olympics. Delloreen ran a very good race. She's not that great of a sprinter. She's got great technique and is an aggressive hurdler, but she had to hit it perfectly to do much better than she did."

Hood knows the world is getting smaller. His track program lures top athletes from all over the world. As he puts it, "The borders have almost disappeared in track and field."

And yet, there's no question the Olympians with ACU ties have heightened the anticipation for the Sept. 2 start of training for the Wildcats' track season.

"Absolutely, it's motivating," Hood said. "These Olympics are proof that the athletes who come to school here have the potential to continue to compete after they have departed here. If they stay healthy and take care of themselves, they can go on to succeed at a high level."

Even on the world's greatest stage -- much to the amusement of those huddled around the 36-inch screen in the Hood's living room.