ALAMOSA, Colo— Adams State University Director of Cross Country and Track & Field
Damon Martin announced the signing of four student athletes that will join his squads starting in 2021. The four athletes all committed on Wednesday, which was the National Letter of Intent (NLI) Signing Day.
"First and foremost, I would like to give a big shout out to Coach
Sadie Baker for her incredible work on this early group of signees. Coach Baker has done a fantastic job of being relentless in recruiting these student athletes," said Martin.
The four runners who represent Ireland, California and Illinois include:
Ava O'Connor – Laois, Ireland
O'Connor enters and has had a standout career as a middle-distance runner that includes international competition. She finished seventh in the 1,500-meter European Youth Olympics in Baku, Azerbaijan in July and won the Youth Nations Cup in Dublin in the 1,5000-meter.
She also won several national junior titles and at the Athletics Ireland Juvenile Star Awards in 2020, she received two prestigious awards, the Offaly Award and the Breda Synott Award and had the best performance at the Youth Nations Cup.
In September, this year O'Connor set a new club record of 4:55 in the mile. The record had been held by Pauline Curley witch she set in 2002.
O'Connor boasts personal bests of 2:11 in the 800, 4:26 in the 1,5000-meter and 4:55 in the mile.
In addition to running, O'Connor had competed at the Irish Dancing World Championships in 2016.
Although she hasn't finalized what she will major in while at Adams State, she is very interested in communication media studies and teacher education.
"I am very impressed with Ava O'Connor's accomplishments thus far, she is an exceptionally coached athlete under the direction of Coach Damian Lawlor of the Tullamore Harriers," said Martin. "She has a great range of success from middle distances to cross country. I am most excited about her competitive spirit, as she seems to always be in the mix at the front. Ava has best marks of 2:11 for 800 meters and 4:26 for 1500 meters with one more season to lower those before embarking on her Grizzly career."
Fiona Hawkins – Newbury Park, Calif.
Hawkins will embark on her Grizzly career after competing at Newbury Park High School where she won the 2019 California Division II State Championship with her team. She posted personal bests of 4:56.01 in the 1,600-meter, 16:53.7 in the 3-mile and 17:58.5 in the 5,000-meter.
While at Adams State, Hawkins plans to major in biochemistry.
"We are excited to have Fiona Hawkins join the Adams State family; she is a top tier student that has helped lead her high school program to win the 2019 California State Cross Country Championship. Her times are impressive; but when you consider her track marks are from her sophomore year, you realize that much bigger things are in store for Fiona," Coach Martin noted. "Fiona is coached by Adams State alum Sean Brosnan."
Roisin Treacy – Dublin, Ireland
Roisin Treacy comes from Ireland and will make an impact on the squad as she as won several championships in the steeplechase, the 1,500-meters, and the 800-meters. She has posed personal bests of 10:25 in the 3,000-meter, 4:51 in the 1,500-meter and 5:06 in the 1,5000-meter steeplechase.
In addition to being a standout runner, Treacy has competed hockey and has been a national champion in tetrathlon which encompasses swimming, horse riding, shooting and running.
While at Adams State, she plans on majoring in biology.
"Roisin Treacy is coming to Adams State from county Wicklow, Ireland with an exceptional steeplechase resume as she won the all-Ireland school's championship in 2018," Coach Martin explained. "I am excited about her personal best of 5:06 in the 1500-meter steeplechase, just days ahead of her 17th birthday. As good of a runner as Roisin is, her academics stand just as impressive, she is one of a very small group of students in all of Ireland to earn perfect scores in her junior certification exams. Roisin will thrive here both academically and athletically."
MEGAN GARRETT – Charleston, Ill.
Garrett is a four-sport athlete for Charleston High School where she competed in soccer and volleyball along with track and cross country. She has won four letter from cross country and three in track thus far. She is a two-time All-State track selection, a three-time all-conference selection in track, two-time all-conference selection in cross country and a two-time state qualifier in cross country.
She has posted personal bests of 2:18 in the 800-meter run, 5:25 in the 1,600-meter run and 18:40 in the 3-mile runs.
At Adams State, Garrett intents to major in biology with an emphasis in pre-vet work.
"I could tell right away that Megan was a great fit as she instantly gelled with the team on her visit this fall. She finished 6th at the 2A Illinois state championships in 2018," said Coach Martin. "She is looking forward to completing her final year of high school and earning new personal bests. We are excited to help Megan continue her journey of chasing excellence here at Adams State."
"These ladies are extremely talented and a hardworking bunch, which will slide into our program seamlessly. They also check all the boxes as they are fast, smart, and great citizens in their communities," finalized Martin. "I look forward to our coaching staff helping them run down their dreams as they all are motivated to come in and make their individual imprint on our program's storied tradition."
