It’s in the field of local athletics that we find one of the finest examples of the seanfhocal ‘briseann an dúchas trí shúile an chait.’
Shane Brosnan, age 16, is the son of Castleisland native, Seamus Brosnan. He lives in West Orange, New Jersey and runs with his local Union Catholic High School there.
He’s a junior in High School – the Irish equivalent of fifth year and will be a senior in sixth year come September.
Meet of Champions
In the USA, the high school students from 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th year all run against each other regardless of age.
He came third in the 1600M in NJ state Meet of Champions in June with an impressive time of 4:09, which is the equivalent of a 3:51 1500M.
Later that day he ran with his school relay team and won the NJ state championship.
He qualified for the USA Nationals and ran on the same track as the USA Olympic Trials at Hayward Stadium in Oregon.
All American Title
They came third in the relay and Shane was given the prestigious title of All American in doing so. His individual ranking in the 1600M places him in the top 11 juniors in the USA.
He also has run a 1:55 in the 800M. What’s more impressive and hopeful is that he will be running all the same high school races again next season.
And the briseann an dúchas bit is revealed in the fact that Shane is a member of An Riocht Athletic Club – a facility which was co-founded by his grandfather, Denis Brosnan.
First Race for An Ríocht
While recently on holiday in Ireland, Shane ran his first official race for An Riocht, and in doing so won the Munster U-20s in the 3000M.
Hopefully, this will be the first of many races in an An Riocht/Irish jersey.
Shane and dad Séamus and grand-dad Denis were joined by another An Ríocht AC founder member, Denis McSweeney for a unique photograph with Munster and All-American medals dangling from Shane’s neck.
The Tokyo Connection
His coach in the US, Mike McCabe, coached Sydney McLoughlin when she competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics when she was just a junior in the high school.
In Tokyo last week, she won the women’s 400M hurdles and in doing so broke the World Record.
Good man Shane. Briseann an dúchas.
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