On Friday, May 2, 2019, Council Rock South senior Collin Ochs was recognized for committing to continue his track career at the University of Rhode Island. To view photos of the recognition breakfast, please visit the Photo Gallery at the following link: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/p775859561
Collin Ochs – The University of Rhode Island (Track & Field)
Major: Civil Engineering
Final list of colleges: URI, Penn State, Lehigh, Northeastern, Boston University
Reasons for choosing URI: “I loved the team culture and competitive nature. I also like the emphasis URI was putting into the engineering program.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in track at the collegiate level? “I began thinking about it during the spring of freshman year. Coaches began reaching out to me sophomore year, and I began serious talks and took my visits the spring/summer of junior year.”
Coach Paul Wilson says: “Colin’s leadership skills – he took a group of three other kids who were good in their own right but not nearly of the same caliber, and they won a state medal in the 4x800 relay. They were seventh. He did a lot of work to do that. That definitely showed a great deal of leadership on his part. At the state meet level, you have to qualify for the finals, so you run on Friday and then you run on Saturday. Colin also was part of the 800 meters, so he actually ran two 800-meter races on Friday and then came back and ran two more on Saturday. Each of his relay legs were faster than any of his open legs. That’s not always surprising because you run into it, but they were significantly faster than his times in the individual event which – at least in my way of thinking – goes a long way to show that he really supported his teammates. These are his friends, so of course, he wants to do well for them and be successful. It’s not like he sacrificed his individual event because he did very well there also, but he certainly wasn’t thinking about the effect running hard in the relay would have on his ability to run well in the open 800. That shows his dedication to his teammates.
“In addition, to be able to do those things, you have to be a very talented kid. Talent is one part of the equation, and the other is how hard you work at developing your skills and that kind of thing. In running, I guess the skill is conditioning – how good a shape can you get yourself into, and he worked very hard at that.”
About Collin:
Favorite food: Crab Legs
Favorite movie: Shawshank Redemption
Favorite music: Country
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