West Hartford’s O’Connor Receives Liberty League Honor

WEST HARTFORD, CT — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) student-athlete Grant O'Connor of West Hartford has been named the Liberty League Men's Cross Country Runner of the Year.

A junior, O'Connor (a Hall High graduate) capped the 2017 season with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championship Meet, running the 8K course in 24:19.3 to earn National All-America for the second straight year. Nationals was hosted by Principia College at the North Farm Facility in Elsah, Ill.

The week before at the NCAA Men's Cross Country Atlantic Regional Championship Meet, O'Connor led the Engineers to a second-place finish and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship by running the 8K course in a 4:53 pace for a total time of 24:14.5. He held the lead throughout and won by almost five seconds. The victory was his fourth straight, including setting the meet and course record at the Liberty League Championship with a time of 24:55.9 in late October.

In addition to earning Runner of the Year, O'Connor, an electrical engineering major, earned Liberty League Performer of the Week five times, Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year and conference All-Academic honors.

Contributed photo and press release