By: Melody Wallace
If you have happened upon the Sports section of the Messenger-Inquirer in the past few months, chances are you caught a glimpse of the ponytail-clad Whitney O’Bryan on the cover. With arms pumping and cheeks flushed, O’Bryan has managed to become an Owensboro favorite in cross country. This year alone, she has broken both school and personal running records, impressing not only her coaches, but those on a collegiate level as well. As a young girl who once relished art and creativity, running was not always Whitney’s passion. She recalls Eastview Elementary School friend Erin Wallace challenging her to race across the basketball court and the frustration she felt not being able to beat her. When three of her elementary friends joined the Daviess County Middle School cross country team in sixth grade, Whitney decided to run with them. “I didn’t even know what cross country was…I didn’t even have running shorts to wear.” She admits that she didn’t really like running at first because it was hard, but at the 2007 Daviess County Invitational she experienced her first taste of success. Now, as a senior, she is looking forward to the next stage of her athletic and academic future.
To look at Whitney’s slender, athletic build one would think that she has always been a naturally gifted runner. “God blessed me with natural ability in some ways, but I don’t know if (when I was younger) it was natural ability or good coaching.” Whitney is referring to coaches Shelly and Dylan Hammons, who still maintain a positive relationship with her and are present at many of her races. Shelly Hammons recalls with pride that Whitney “was good as a sixth grader, but had gained the miles, strength and confidence of a well-developed runner by eighth grade.” Her eighth grade year proved to be a pivotal one as she began training with DCHS Coach Mark Fortney. During her freshman year, she placed third at the KHSAA 3A state, “not realizing what a big deal it was to be on the state meet roster at such a young age.” She followed this performance with third place state finishes in 2010 and 2011, a second place finish her 2012 junior year, and finally a state championship in 2013. Ever the humble athlete, she believes that, “It’s by God’s strength, not mine, that I’m able to achieve (my goals).” It is actually that humble confidence in her abilities that drives her success. When asked if she ever felt as though she wanted to quit running, Whitney responded, “There have been times that I have been stubborn and didn’t understand what my coach’s plans were for me…I was more concerned about what was best for Whitney, not what was best for the team. That attitude had to go before I could accomplish anything.”
Whitney has certainly seen her share of accomplishments this year, both on and off the field. As the youngest senior in the district, she maintains an unweighted GPA of 3.9, and was awarded the Kentucky Citizenship Award for good sportsmanship. That attitude is evidenced by the healthy competition and camaraderie she has in the other senior girls like Amelia Reynolds, Kelly Boling, Abby Eades, and Kate Duty. These relationships have helped spur her desire to represent DCHS on the course. Whitney knew as soon as she started high school that she wanted to run in college. She began looking at the times of friends at other schools and asking about their official visits. She found herself driven to have those kinds of times…“where people asked your fastest time and their jaw kind of dropped a little bit.” She wanted to do more than expected, and she did. On September 21, Whitney came in third place with a time of 17:51 at the Trinity Valkyrie Invitational in Louisville, breaking the 1998 school record. It was after that race that prospective college coaches began calling. On September 28, Whitney won the 3-mile Palatine Invitational with a time of 17:20, setting a new personal record. After that race, Whitney says that the number of colleges that started talking to her doubled due to the fact that she had two really good races back to back.
Although Whitney finds the idea of going to a “running college,” such as: Oregon, the University of Colorado, or Stanford intriguing, she values her relationship with her family and finds herself pondering college options closer to home. She is excited about a little more independence, but her biggest fear about going to college is that she may get homesick and miss the little things, like her step-dad’s hot cocoa and foot rubs, her younger sister’s sweet little notes, and her mom comforting her when she is sick. Still amidst official and unofficial college visits, she is trying to narrow down her options. While she has spoken to over forty college coaches, Whitney has learned that college decisions involve many factors like distance from home, financial commitments, and academic programs. She has visited several campuses including Western Kentucky University, Butler University, and Xavier University. She has also taken one official visit to the University of Mississippi, and has more scheduled to Lipscomb University, the University of Louisville, and the University of Kentucky. When asked if she ever considered running professionally or had any Olympic dreams, she feels that both of those avenues would require a lot more training and faster times than she has now, so she would prefer to go the collegiate route first. She has “other ambitions and desires than just to run,” such as pursuing a career as a pediatric Physician’s Assistant, a goal that she keeps at the forefront of her mind as she evaluates what each college has to offer. With her unwavering faith and competitive drive, it is certain that Whitney will be successful in whatever goals she sets to accomplish.