Tabor Academy graduate and former Tabor correspondent for The Wanderer, Julia O’Rourke, is going the distance as a cross-country runner at Bowdoin College, even coming in 15thplace out of 398 runners recently, a personal best for her at 2:25:39, qualifying her to compete in the NCAA DIII Cross Country National Championships as senior co-captain of Bowdoin College.
The national championship in Wisconsin on November 17 was O’Rourke’s last collegiate cross-country race. She finished 117thout of 279 and ran 6:04-minute miles for the 6k race, despite the bitter cold temperatures in the 20s.
O’Rourke was a cross-country and spring track runner at Old Rochester Regional Junior High School and at Tabor Academy under coach Kelli McSweeney. Her first race was the Marion Mile started by Chris Adams, the Tabor Academy track coach and Spanish teacher, while O’Rourke was still at Sippican School!