Ciaran Brosnan crossing the finishing line after winning the Penn Relays Championship of America relay.
WEST ORANGE — Ciaran Brosnan, a West Orange resident, has recently committed to the University of Virginia, where he will be joining the track team this year with his older brother, Shane.
Brosnan attended West Orange High School, where he was a NJ top 50 freshman lacrosse player. As a sophomore in 2023-24, he began running and joined the track team.
Brosnan transferred to Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains in his junior year, stepping up his athletic pursuits. As a senior this year, he focused on the indoor track season.
Within a few races, his training paid off with a big win in Staten Island, where he set an Irish national record for the 600 meters Indoor U20 with a time of 1:19.95.
He and his teammates progressed during the season and earned a spot in the 4×800-meter relay final of the famed Millrose Games in New York City in January. Ciaran (pronounced “Keiran”) ran the anchor (fourth leg) and won the cat-and-mouse finish, where they set a state record.
They finished the indoor season at the High School Nationals in Boston in March in a near repeat of the previous relay, but this time, not only did Ciaran lead the team in winning, they also set a national record. They moved on to the outdoor season with a target on their backs. They won the international arcadia 4×800 in California in early April. Later that month, they qualified for the Penn Relays in Philadelphia. Yet again, Ciaran led his team on the fourth leg, and after they fell behind, he dug deep on the final stretch of the race to gain another coveted Penn Wheel for his school — a rare family double as he repeated what his older brother, Shane, did four years earlier.
Ciaran went on and showed his exploits in the individual races too, by winning the state Meet of Champions 800 meters in June.
Ciaran said he first started running because a couple of his friends were doing it to stay in shape for lacrosse. “I quickly fell in love with running and put my all into it,” said Ciaran, whose role models are his brother, Shane, “who has done big things in the sport,” his grandfather (Dennis Brosnan) and Olympian Brandon Miller.
Ciaran is looking forward to continuing his athletic and academic career at Virginia.
“The University of Virginia has everything I was looking for in a school – great academics, great athletics and a good student life,” said Ciaran, who is looking into media studies as a major. “My goals and expectations for college are to grow as a runner. I don’t just want to run fast, but I want to beat people when it matters. Some of my long-term goals are making it to the NCAA championship and to medal in the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) championship.”
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