South Kitsap athletic director Ed Santos said that one of his former pupils, Drew Polley, will compete in Saturday morning’s Olympic Trials in Houston.

Polley, a 2004 South graduate, who later ran cross country and track at Washington State University, is a member of the Hanson-Brooks Distance Project, a group based in Rochester Hills, Mich., that aims to develop young American runners. Polley said brothers Keith and Kevin Hanson started the project in 1999 when American distance runners began to lag behind other countries after being successful in the ’70s and ’80s.

In 2003, Seattle-based Brooks Running Shoes signed on as a partner. Brooks provides financial incentives for qualifying for major races, fast times and high places.

The Hanson brothers provide room and board and health care for its stable of a dozen runners, and also allow them to work as many as 25 hours per week at one of their four running-apparel stores in the Detroit area to earn extra money.

This is not Polley’s first major event. In April 2010, he finished 16th in the Boston Marathon in 2 hours, 16 minutes and 36 seconds.