West Orange resident Shane Brosnan, middle, poses with, from left, his grandparents Catherine and Denis Brosnan and his parents Tracey and Séamus Brosnan.
WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange resident Shane Brosnan has committed to Harvard University, where he will join the track team in August.
Brosnan went to West Orange High School as a freshman and sophomore. He then went to Union Catholic in Scotch Plains as a junior and is now a senior.
Brosnan started his senior year in September for cross–country. Within a few races he smashed the 23-year-old Union County record while winning the county championship. He and his teammates progressed to the state group finals, where he won again to lead the team to its first group win ever. This qualified them for the New Jersey state Meet of Champions, where Brosnan came in third in the state and led his team to its first-ever state win.
From there, they qualified for the Garmin RunningLane Championships in Alabama, the unofficial national high school championships, where they beat all expectations in what was the fastest 5K high school race ever run in U.S. history. Brosnan ran 14:25 to get 13th place and lead the team to fourth in the nation. This was a great achievement for a small school.
Brosnan went on to qualify for the national individual cross-country championship by placing fifth of more than 300 runners in the Northeast region. From there, Brosnan ran in San Diego, Calif., at the Eastbay National Championships, where he exceeded expectations yet again and finished seventh in the nation, gaining All-American status. It was a great finish to a great season. College-wise Brosnan received interest from Ivy League and other Division I colleges for both his athletic and academic abilities.
Photo Courtesy of Séamus Brosnan
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