Saturday, June 12
Eugene, Ore.
Boise State
vs
NCAA Outdoor Championships - Day Four
O’Brien Earns Second All-American
6/12/2021 9:58:00 PM | Track & Field
EUGENE, Ore. – Boise State track and field runner, Clare O'Brien closed out her career with the Broncos in a strong fashion, finishing eighth in the 5,000-meters to secure her second All-American honor of the 2021 NCAA Track and Field Championships.
"It was an exciting way to end the year for us, said head coach Corey Ihmels. "I think it was a good lesson for our whole program. Things won't always go your way. Clare [O'Brien] was on the track, fell, and got back up and didn't panic. She got back in the race and ran fantastically and ended up being able to score another point and be first team All American. Really proud of the way she finished things off in a really tough year where things go wrong and we just got to keep pushing, keep fighting, and never give up."
O'Brien, who finished sixth in the 10,000m on Thursday, turned in a gutsy performance on the final day of competition. After falling early in the race, she steadily made up ground and climbed back into the race eventually rising as high as seventh before finishing eighth.
"I think that's something I told about the race it's probably one of the top five, coolest events that I've seen in track," said Ihmels. It looked like it was all over but she got back into it and it's all because of her perseverance."
O'Brien's career concludes with five All-American finishes including four outdoors.
"She's somebody that came in and obviously helped us kind of move things along," said Ihmels. "Obviously she wasn't on the ninth place team in cross country this year but she helped build that foundation with two sixth-place finishes and then to come here. It's not easy to score at the NCAA [Championships], and she's done it twice in two days. Just a great student, great person, great teammate. She's going to have a fantastic career outside of track and field and cross country and I'm excited to see what she does in the future. We hope to have a bunch more Clare's come through the door, over the next few years.
COMPETING BRONCOS
5,000m- 8. Clare O'Brien – 15:44.44
"It was an exciting way to end the year for us, said head coach Corey Ihmels. "I think it was a good lesson for our whole program. Things won't always go your way. Clare [O'Brien] was on the track, fell, and got back up and didn't panic. She got back in the race and ran fantastically and ended up being able to score another point and be first team All American. Really proud of the way she finished things off in a really tough year where things go wrong and we just got to keep pushing, keep fighting, and never give up."
O'Brien, who finished sixth in the 10,000m on Thursday, turned in a gutsy performance on the final day of competition. After falling early in the race, she steadily made up ground and climbed back into the race eventually rising as high as seventh before finishing eighth.
"I think that's something I told about the race it's probably one of the top five, coolest events that I've seen in track," said Ihmels. It looked like it was all over but she got back into it and it's all because of her perseverance."
O'Brien's career concludes with five All-American finishes including four outdoors.
"She's somebody that came in and obviously helped us kind of move things along," said Ihmels. "Obviously she wasn't on the ninth place team in cross country this year but she helped build that foundation with two sixth-place finishes and then to come here. It's not easy to score at the NCAA [Championships], and she's done it twice in two days. Just a great student, great person, great teammate. She's going to have a fantastic career outside of track and field and cross country and I'm excited to see what she does in the future. We hope to have a bunch more Clare's come through the door, over the next few years.
COMPETING BRONCOS
5,000m- 8. Clare O'Brien – 15:44.44
Players Mentioned
Distance
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