Wabash College Athletics

Henry J. 0'.Connell came to Wabash in the fall of 1971 from Wethersfield, Connecticut, and remains one of Wabash's all-time great distance runners. A fine student of biology and psychology, O'Connell went on to earn his masters degree from the University of Connecticut at Farmington. Henry was one of J. Owen Huntsman's final recruits at Wabash, who continued Wabash's bright tradition of all-American distance runners. A four-year letterman in both sports, O'Connell was a three-time Most Valuable Runner in cross country and was also the MVP of Wabash's track team. Captain of Wabash's cross country and track teams in his senior year, O'Connell was a two-time all-American harrier, earning that prestigious honor in both 1973 (eighth place) and 1974 (11th place). Henry was the ICC's Most Outstanding Performer in both 1973 and 1974. While at Wabash, O'Connell was active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Newman Center. He was honored with the Pete Vaughan Outstanding Senior Athlete Award in 1975 and received the Outstanding Athlete of America Award in 1973 and 1974. O'Connell's 1974 time of 25:10 on Wabash's five­ mile cross country course still stands as a Little Giant record. But O'Connell didn't mature as a distance runner until his graduation from Wabash. In fact, in 1980 he qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials, but did not make the finals, and in 1982 he won the Washington D.C. Mayor's Cup 15 kilometer race, beating more than 1,500 other runners along the way. Henry is now the Marketing and Sales Director for Upchurch Scientific in Oak Harbor, Washington, and continues his running career today.