By Michael Bauer
mbauer@morningsun.net
Posted Nov. 16, 2015 at 10:42 PM
Pittsburg, Kan.
Jenny O’Bryan’s cross country career has included many firsts, and that’s not just including first-place finishes at meets.
The senior at St. Paul high school was a part of the first cross country varsity squad during her freshman season. A year later, she became the first individual cross country state champion from St. Paul, winning the Class 1A State Title for three consecutive years. This past season, the Indians took third place as a team in Wamego, the first such honor for the program.
Now, she has become the first cross country runner from St. Paul to run at the collegiate level.
On Monday, O’Bryan signed her letter of intent to run at the division I level, signing with the University of Tulsa.
O’Bryan will run cross country and track for the Golden Hurricane.
“I’m really excited to be competing at the division I level,” O’Bryan said. “That’s something that I never imagined would be possible. They also have great academics, and I’ll be surrounded by good people academically as well. The team was really welcoming. The coaches were nice too.”
O’Bryan chose Tulsa over other division I schools, including Oklahoma State, Kansas and Kansas State.
"When I compared (the other schools) to Tulsa, everything just felt right,” O’Bryan said of her decision to choose Tulsa. “Nowhere else felt like Tulsa.”
She also feels comfortable about the distance from home.
“I wanted to get a little bit away from home, but not too far away,” O’Bryan said. “I want to be able to come home if something happens.”
O’Bryan won the 2015 State Championship Meet in a time of 20:06.10, beating out Robyn Selzer of Wallace County by 24 seconds.
The Indians finished third as a team with 50 points, beating out Tescott by 14 points for a state trophy.
Centralia and Greeley County both finished second and first, respectively.O’Bryan says she’ll miss competing at state the most in her cross country career.
“The state meets are certainly a lot of fun,” O’Bryan said. “I also made a lot of friends from surrounding schools that we’ve gotten really close to as far high school and athletics.”
At the 2015 Class 1A Regional meet, O’Bryan was first in a time of 20:19.41, helping her team to a first place finish with 29 points.In track, O’Bryan will be running long distance.
mbauer@morningsun.net
Posted Nov. 16, 2015 at 10:42 PM
Pittsburg, Kan.
Jenny O’Bryan’s cross country career has included many firsts, and that’s not just including first-place finishes at meets.
The senior at St. Paul high school was a part of the first cross country varsity squad during her freshman season. A year later, she became the first individual cross country state champion from St. Paul, winning the Class 1A State Title for three consecutive years. This past season, the Indians took third place as a team in Wamego, the first such honor for the program.
Now, she has become the first cross country runner from St. Paul to run at the collegiate level.
On Monday, O’Bryan signed her letter of intent to run at the division I level, signing with the University of Tulsa.
O’Bryan will run cross country and track for the Golden Hurricane.
“I’m really excited to be competing at the division I level,” O’Bryan said. “That’s something that I never imagined would be possible. They also have great academics, and I’ll be surrounded by good people academically as well. The team was really welcoming. The coaches were nice too.”
O’Bryan chose Tulsa over other division I schools, including Oklahoma State, Kansas and Kansas State.
"When I compared (the other schools) to Tulsa, everything just felt right,” O’Bryan said of her decision to choose Tulsa. “Nowhere else felt like Tulsa.”
She also feels comfortable about the distance from home.
“I wanted to get a little bit away from home, but not too far away,” O’Bryan said. “I want to be able to come home if something happens.”
O’Bryan won the 2015 State Championship Meet in a time of 20:06.10, beating out Robyn Selzer of Wallace County by 24 seconds.
The Indians finished third as a team with 50 points, beating out Tescott by 14 points for a state trophy.
Centralia and Greeley County both finished second and first, respectively.O’Bryan says she’ll miss competing at state the most in her cross country career.
“The state meets are certainly a lot of fun,” O’Bryan said. “I also made a lot of friends from surrounding schools that we’ve gotten really close to as far high school and athletics.”
At the 2015 Class 1A Regional meet, O’Bryan was first in a time of 20:19.41, helping her team to a first place finish with 29 points.In track, O’Bryan will be running long distance.