Westmoor hurdler Brendan O’Connell gets second chance

O’Connell tested positive for COVID on April 3 — three days after Westmoor’s senior prom and two days before the PAL trials.

O’Connell missed his chance to qualify for the PAL finals and ultimately the Central Coast Section championships, but a waiver was granted and O’Connell would be allowed to run in the PAL finals — as long as he tested negative before the race.

After quarantining at home for 12 days, that negative test came around 2:30 p.m. Friday and O’Connell was slotted into the finals of the 110 and 300 hurdles races, running in the No. 8 lane in both races at the PAL championships Saturday at Woodside High School. The field events begin at 4 p.m. and the running finals start at 5 p.m.

“I got the golden ticket,” O’Connell said.

O’Connell had pointed to this season as one to leave his mark. His sophomore year was wiped out by COVID. Last season, he finished second to teammate Brevan Rohde in PAL 110 hurdle final.

O’Connell wanted to go out with a bang his senior year.

“[This past offseason was] the hardest I’ve worked the last four years,” O’Connell said. “I took a week off and was right back at it, (training) six days a week with this season on my mind.

“My times improved a lot. I put the money in the bank and now I’m cashing checks.”

O’Connell steadily dropped his times in both hurdle races this season, peaking with personal records April 6 in a dual meet at Menlo-Atherton, running a 15.77 in the 110 and a 41.83 in the 300. He was the top seed in the 110 and was the second-fastest qualifier in the 300 coming into the trials April 5.

But then came the prom and, like many other schools in San Mateo County, a surge of COVID swept through the school.

“All the track kids were at the same table (at the prom) and they all tested positive,” said Ron DiMaggio, longtime Westmoor track and cross country coach. “I had to scratch 27 [athletes] from all four divisions for the trials — boys’ frosh-soph, girls’ frosh-soph, boys’ varsity and girls’ varsity.”

As soon as he tested positive, O’Connell knew his postseason was in jeopardy.

“I was panicking a little bit,” O’Connell said. “As soon as I tested positive, I called Coach DiMaggio. If there was any way for me to get into the finals, he was the man to do it.”

With 43 years coaching under his belt and one of the deans of PAL track, DiMaggio knew there was a way to get O’Connell into the finals.

“Our league does grant medical waivers. … This has been in our bylaws forever,” DiMaggio said. “When you’re looking for a waiver, the injury can’t be track related. You can’t (get a waiver) if you pulled your hamstring during training. You can get a waiver for a death in the family or been in a car accident.”

DiMaggio said once he applied for a waiver, the rest of the track and field coaches vote on it — with the stipulation O’Connell tested negative before the race.

At that point, O’Connell was pretty confident he could run in the finals.

“I’m very familiar with a lot of the coaches in the league,” O’Connell said. “I think they respect me and the work I’ve put in.”

Plus, DiMaggio said one of the goals of the league championships is to make sure the best athletes from the PAL are represented at the CCS championships.

Because DiMaggio filed the waiver before the trials, the eighth place finisher in each race was conditional as it would be the spot the O’Connell would fill. In the 110 hurdles, that leaves Capuchino’s Josh Tolentino on the outside and in the 300 hurdles, Aragon’s Erik Dodge was cut.

O’Connell said at his worst he felt like he had a bad cold, but at the beginning of this week, he started to feel better. Over the last couple of days he has done some backyard training, but he doesn’t really know what to expect when he takes the track Saturday.

He’ll certainly have his work cut out for him in capturing a PAL title. Hillsdale’s Zach Leighton qualified first in both hurdles races. He was the No. 2 seed in the 110 during the regular season, behind O’Connell, but was No. 1 in the 300 hurdles.

“It’s going to be after the first race when I’m going to find out (how I feel). We don’t even know how many events I’m going to run,” said O’Connell, who in addition to running the hurdles is also a member of the Rams’ 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams.

“It’s kind of a game-time decision,” O’Connell continued. “But I’m excited to go and compete.”

Said DiMaggio: “He’s pretty talented. He should advance (to the CCS trials next week).”

Double up

Not only are O’Connell and Leighton looking to produce double gold in the hurdles at the PAL championships, it is a recurring theme throughout the finals.

One of the most anticipated doubles comes from El Camino’s Yutaka Roberts, who is not only the best 400-800 runner in the PAL, he tops CCS in both of those races.

On the girls’ side, Burlingame’s Cora Haggarty is the top qualifier in both the 200 and 400, while Menlo-Atherton middle distance runner Tatum Olesen is the one to beat in the 800 and 1,600. Half Moon Bay’s Kamryn Lamprecht will attempt to do the same in the girls’ 100 and 300 hurdle races as the top qualifier.

When it come to the fastest runners in the PAL, Capuchino’s Jax Bonney and Jefferson’s Brooklyn Daniel are looking to leave their mark. Both were the top qualifiers in the 100 and both were No. 2 in the 200.

Isaac Nishimoto of Capuchino and Woodside’s Luke Buddie will attempt two of the more difficult doubles. Nishimoto captured the triple jump championship last week and will try to add the long jump title to his resume as the fifth qualifier.

Buddie won the high jump competition last week and will compete against Nishimoto for the long jump title as well, an event where Menlo-Atherton’s Johnnie Barbie is the No. 1 qualifier.

Aragon’s Dodge, who is the favorite in the pole vault, will look to pull the upset as the No. 2 qualifier in the 110 hurdles.