Shannon KeoughWith the departure of the former head coach of the cross country team, a new coach, Tom O’Hora, took over the position for track and field to lead the team through a “promising” year.
The team is looking forward to some more All-Americans to continue the Cabrini tradition.
“We lost a lot of good athletes,” O’Hora said. “But we should do fine. There are some good runners.”
O’Hora has been with the school for 27 years. He originally managed and worked with the track team until he brought Williams to Cabrini.
After head coach James Williams left two weeks ago, O’Hora took back the lead role.
O’Hora typically works with distance runners, but is working with the sprinters along with assistant coach Angelo Brooker.
“I hope that the coaches will be encouraging and communicate with the team,” Quiana Volney, sophomore business administration major, said. “There is potential for improvement from last year, and I hope that the season will go well.”
Coming from last year’s Indoors National Collegiate Athletic Association championship, O’Hora hopes to continue the pattern and bring another championship to Cabrini. Freshman like Shatievah Lewis, Danica Giddens and Tyler Rooke are hopefuls to bring some new energy to the team.
“You can’t depend on the freshmen to replace the seniors that left,” O’Hora said. “Yet I hope for them to contribute and expect the entire team to do very well.”
Not all of the runners will train under O’Hora. Dana Nardello, sprinter, is working with Booker.
“We’ve discussed a lot of different training strategies for the upcoming season,” Nardello, junior special education major, said. “I’m excited to see how it will turn out this season.”
Track and field has seen many All-Americans. With about 20 altogether, coach O’Hora hopes to continue the tradition of the team. The team members agree that with “time and dedication” the team will have a good season.
“My expectations for the team as a whole is that everyone does their best,” Nardello said. “Our biggest competition is ourselves; we have to work hard in practice and hopefully we’ll be able to make it back to the Eastern College Athletic Conference and NCAAs like previous years.”
The team only had its first meeting on Monday, Nov. 16. They are still encouraging those not already signed up and who want to run to join. O’Hora is looking forward to getting organized and getting the season underway.
“I’m looking forward to the season,” Nardello said. “Track season is always exciting to see what everyone can do and how we can improve.”
