Sophomore Finn O’Hara is a talented runner who recently broke the school’s record for the 5k.
O’Hara has grown up in Manchester with a family who inspired him to become passionate about running. Prior to running for the school’s track and cross-country teams, O’Hara would go on runs with his dad, Michael O’Hara, who ran at Marquette University, which is what originally sparked Finn's love for the sport. His Grandfather, Tom O’Hara, was also an extremely talented runner and impressive role model, as he held the world record for the mile for 10 years.
O’Hara started running for the school in seventh grade. He originally focused more on basketball but decided to do track in the winter instead, which lead to his shift in focus on running being his priority.
O’Hara’s most recent accomplishment was at the Dick Atkinson Meet at the Stanley Park cross country course in Westfield, on October 23, where he broke the school’s record and his own personal record for the 5k with a 16:41. He said he is hoping to drop even more time on this race to have a time of 16:30.
“Going into it I tried to keep the mentality that I could run well, so I went out hard in the beginning and ended up getting a PR and breaking the record,” he said.
O’Hara’s favorite events are the mile, which happens during the indoor and outdoor track seasons, and the 5k which happens during the cross-country season. He holds an impressive personal record for the mile of a 4:50 and is hoping to drop to a 4:30 this season.
In addition to his participation in the track and cross-country teams, O’Hara is a very involved student in the school community. He participates in journalism, debate team, math team, and science team. He said he hopes to go undefeated this debate season with his partner. His favorite subjects in school are math and science.
In O’Hara’s free time he enjoys going on hikes, playing basketball, and trying different sports.
It would seem that Finn has not only excelled at running, but at crafting a diverse and active high school experience as well.
