J.P. Bolwahnn is untraditional: in his mid-30s, he’s a business-administration student at the University of San Diego, where he also plays football.

“There’s no other 35-year-old playing running back in college football right now,” he says with a laugh.

Bolwahnn is also a Level 1 Seminar Staff member, a member of Mike Burgener’s team for CrossFit Olympic Lifting Trainer Courses, and a trainer at CrossFit USD.

“He’s an outstanding leader,” says USD head football coach Ron Caragher. “Everything he’s done carries over from his past. It gives him a platform when he speaks to his teammates. He’s well respected. He has some of that CrossFit coaching mentality when he’s on the field, when he speaks to his teammates.”

What Bolwahnn enjoys most, he says, is helping others: “Just pushing people to their limits and having them realize they can go above and beyond what they previously perceived.”

To register for a CrossFit Level 1 Seminar, visit CrossFit.com.