Steady gains puts Palatine's O'Brien among state's best

Palatine junior Kelly O'Brien didn't waste much time in establishing herself as one of the best.

As a freshman, O'Brien was an alternate for Palatine at the 2012 Class 3A state meet and watched the race from the sidelines.

One year later, O'Brien was not only in the race but ended the day with a state medal. She finished sixth at last year's Class 3A state meet.

It was quite a leap forward for O'Brien, and it didn't stop there as she earned two more state medals at the Class 3A state track meet in May.

"We've had girls place that high as sophomores," said Palatine Joe Parks of O'Brien's rapid rise. "But they were almost always running at the state cross country meet as a freshman, or at the very least they ran at the state track meet as freshman.

"I know she didn't go in thinking that she was going to end the season as an all-state runner."

But that is exactly what happened, after O'Brien put in a strong summer of training, soaked in the knowledge from the senior leaders on her team and started to believe in her abilities.

"I was completely confused," said O'Brien after her big state finish in cross country. "I was freaking out because I had never done anything like that before. It was completely new to me and there were a lot of emotions."

O'Brien started her journey to the state podium with a strong summer of work and started to believe she could run with the varsity crew.

She credited a lot of her growth to senior leaders Liz Cox, Cassidy McPherson, and Jessica Lincoln.

And O'Brien continued to gain confidence as she started to inch her way up in the lineup. It all fed into her taking third at the Mid-Suburban League meet.

"We knew there was some ability from her summer workouts," said Parks. "It was just a real smooth progression; she kept building as we went on. But placing that high at the conference meet was when it started to turn. She started to see herself as one of the elites in conference, and she built on that."

O'Brien followed her conference race by taking third, and second on the team, at the Palatine regional. But she returned to high gear at the Schaumburg sectional with a third-place finish.

O'Brien then kicked it into high gear at the state meet, jumping out to a strong start and grinding out the middle before closing hard.

"The start was really important," said O'Brien. "We focused a lot on that and getting ahead of the crowd."

But the finish was just as important as she made a strong move between 400 and 600 meters remaining to secure her high finish.

"She saw an opportunity to get some people," said Parks. "She ate up a lot of places. She is a gamer and she wants to win."

O'Brien continued her success in the spring, contributing to a third -place finish Palatine's 3,200 relay and then coming back to secure a second-place finish in the 1,600.

Her rapid rise even surprised some of her teammates.

"I didn't see it coming," said Palatine senior Amy Kieliszewski, who finished in 39th place at state as the Pirates' second runner. "It was like, 'Where did this girl come from?' But she is so good and I'm excited to see where she goes from here."

Palatine won the MSL title and followed with regional and sectional wins before finishing fourth at the state meet. And despite losing three of its top seven runners the Pirates have reloaded and once again will push for a high state finish.

O'Brien will be a big part of the Pirates attack that will feature Kieliszewski, senior Kara Burton and junior Sabina Yosif.

"The exciting thing is there is still a lot for her to learn," added Parks, "and the good thing is she will put the work in."

A steady rain did not slow down the Palatine runners on an early Labor Day morning workout at Deer Grove East Forest Preserve. O'Brien took a moment after the grueling workout to consider how far she had come and what she still would like to accomplish.

"The main focus is on the team," said O'Brien, "We have big goals. But it is a little easier this year. I know what form I need to have, I know what mindset I need to have, and I know what parts of each race I need to work."