DEDICATION: Lawrence O’Hara leads the Poly track team with his intense commitment and skill.
By Skylar Rains, Staff Writer
Although he isn’t your conventional track athlete, Lawrence O’Hara (12) is one of the main contributors to Poly’s prestigious track and field team. He competes in both shot-put and discus, two field events that require great strength and technique. He boasts impressive personal records: 59 feet and 5 inches in shot-put and 163 feet and 10 inches for discus. He ranks 7th in state and his personal victories have contributed greatly to the Poly’s success.
There’s no doubt that he is whole-heartedly dedicated to the sport; on any given weekday you can find him starting off his day with around two hours of weight lifting, and later spending another two and a half hours practicing his technique after school at track practice. This dedication does not stop on the track—on the weekends he spends three to four hours at the gym to work on building up important muscle groups.
O’Hara’s journey has not been an easy one. During his junior year he had to decide whether or not to continue playing for Poly’s football team. This was a very difficult decision for him. He explained his reasoning, stating “I was doing very well for shot-put, and all I could think of was I would love to play football for this coach [Dennis Brown] and work in this program, but if I get hurt then my track season senior year is done, and so I had to quit and it was kind of tough.” Ultimately he chose to commit his time fully to track, and the sacrifice has paid off. He has more time to perfect his craft and less risk of an injury that could put an end to his track career.
It is undeniable that O’Hara possesses a great passion for shot-put and discus. He is extremely passionate about his events. “Just being in the ring for a about a minute and then having to do the best you can in one moment-it puts so much stress and pressure on you and sometimes it makes you go insane,” he said. The insanity is a good thing in his case, as this feeling is what drives O’Hara to perform his best in the ring and put so much time into being the best he can possibly be in the sport.
O’Hara has been recruited by Stanford, Westpoint, University of California (UC) San Diego, UC Irvine and Arizona State University. He has recently committed to UC Irvine, and plans to compete in shot-put, the hammer throw and hopefully discus next season.