Ivy@50 Profile: Kate O’Neill
They ran together in high school and at Yale — literally finishing within a second of one another on numerous occasions. Now Kate O’Neill hopes to run with twin sister Laura once again — this time at the Olympic Games.
“We’re really good at pushing each other in workouts,” says Kate O’Neill of her twin, Laura. “I would not have made it as far without a constant training partner. Laura motivates me.”
They pushed each other to a total of 13 All-America selections and twin CoSIDA Academic All-America women’s cross-country/track and field first-team selections. They also set Heptagonals (the Ivy League’s track and field championship) records in different events. Laura won the 10,000 meters three times, while Kate won the 5,000 meters three times. The pair was named the most outstanding performers at the 2003 Outdoor Heps.
In addition, Kate won the Connecticut NCAA Woman of the Year Award and was a Honda Award cross country finalist for her consistent senior season. She placed second in the NCAA Cross Country Championship, second in the NCAA Indoor 5000 meters, and second in the NCAA Outdoor 10,000-meter championship. She then placed second in the USA 10,000-meter championship and then qualified for the Olympics at the Trials.
Kate’s fondest Olympic memory is the Opening Ceremony. “I don’t know what other experience like that I could have in my life — with so many people from all over the world.”
Her race did not go as she would have liked. She finished 21st with a time slower than she had run earlier in the year and felt somewhat intimidated by the competition, as she remembers, “I wasn’t going for a top-10 finish. I felt the whole front pack was out of my league.”
But O’Neill believes women distance runners get better in their late 20s and early 30s and expects her best Olympic performance is yet to come.
O’Neill’s complete profile can be found at Ivy@50.
