University of Minnesota Athletics
O'Brien Honored with Sportsmanship Award
11/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
By Ellen Larson, Athletic Communications Student Intern
MINNEAPOLIS -- University of Minnesota redshirt sophomore Patty O'Brien has been named Minnesota's 2016 Big Ten Women's Cross Country Sportsmanship Award recipient. One member of each of the conference's 14 women's cross country programs receives the annual award from the B1G.
The student-athletes who receive the award have distinguished themselves by demonstrating sportsmanship and ethical behavior. They must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of a sports setting.
"It's kind of cliche to say, but Patty is just a super blue-collar hard worker," said head coach Sarah Hopkins. "She does everything right. There's never a time when I think she could be giving more. She sleeps well, she eats well, she trains hard, she recovers well, she's in the training room. She just does all those little things.
"She's a great leader. People watch the way she does things, and she does it all the right way. She's an awesome spirit and a great personality. She makes practice fun. She keeps it light-hearted but also knows when to work hard. She brings a great energy to our team."
O'Brien has competed in five races this year, most recently placing seventh among the Gophers and 61st overall at the Big Ten Conference Championship. She ran her season-best at the Nuttycombe Invitational in Wisconsin, finishing with a time of 22:09.3. O'Brien has consistently finished in the Gophers' top seven runners and will represent Minnesota at the NCAA Midwest Regional this Friday.
"Patty works hard, and she did a good job last year; she made the Big Ten team but didn't make the regional team, and this year she's made another step forward to make the regional team," Hopkins said. "On any given day she can be a scorer for us and a good example for other people. She keeps working her way up. The sky is the limit for what she can do as her career keeps building."
O'Brien, a native of Maplewood, Minn., is an elementary education major, but she comes from a family of athletes. Her sister Mary played soccer at the U, and her brother Jim played hockey for the U and in the NHL. Her competitive spirit runs deep.
"She just wants it so bad," Hopkins said. "I think it's just been instilled in her since she was young and she's always been a hard worker. From the time she was little, she was taught to go out there and compete and try to beat people. She wants to be good so badly that she's willing to do all those little things. You can just tell every time she races or every time she practices, she just wants to be good and she wants to help the team and she wants to PR.
"That's the spirit Patty brings and that's just how she's always been in her outside life and in her running life, too. She's just always trying to do things the right way."
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Players Mentioned
