By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

Quincy O’Connor’s first cross country season in Florida was a learning experience.

The New York native arrived in Celebration just one month before the start of the season, so he had to adjust to a different school, a different climate and a different coach for the next three months.

As the winner of the Orange Belt Conference championship (16:28) and eventually a top 14 runner (16:07) at the Class 3A state meet, it’s fair to say that O’Connor had a successful debut in Florida.

He is the Osceola News-Gazette’s Male Cross Country Athlete of the Year.

But, by his high standards, he still has some ground to cover.

“This year was a little different because I was on my own a lot of the time. I was working with a new coach and learning what techniques, what training regimen, was working, or not working,” he said.

O’Connor, said Storm assistant cross country coach Bart Roberts, possesses tremendous ability.

“He was three seconds short of (former Storm state champion Sean Blaney’s school record, 15:26) at the Poinciana Invitational,” Roberts said. “I tried, as much as a coach can, to let him know that during the race, but he usually is running alone out front; nobody is close enough to push him.”

O’Connor competed for a private school in New York with a strong cross country heritage.

He brought that knowledge to Florida. What he didn’t know was the formidable competition he would find in the Sunshine State.

“In the small, dual meets, the competition was pretty much the same as I had in New York,” he said.

“But, at the big meets, the competition was like 10 times better than in New York. It was a lot better.”

O’Connor had the third best time in Class 3A after the district meets in early November, but at the regional and state meets, his times ballooned by about a minute.

“I had an early-season problem with my shins, and it progressed all season, although I was able to run though it,” O’Connor said.

Roberts said a combination of nagging injuries and the length of Florida’s season may have caught up to the talented junior late in the year.

“He tweaked a couple of things. It was nothing major, but it probably played a role,” Roberts said.

What should be encouraging to O’Connor and his coach is that, even at less than full strength, he ran with the state’s best runners all season.

“I definitely learned some things this year, things that I can work on before next season.

“I’m looking forward to having a strong track season, then coming back and focusing on doing well at the state meet next year,” he said.