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SOUTH BEND ― Living her best life as a Notre Dame track and field athlete – the busier, the better – keeps Jadin O’Brien from dwelling on one day.
The day she knows is coming. The day when everything changes. Forever.
Noie: How did one group of Notre Dame football fans plan to spend a spring game Saturday?
The day she takes one last look around Loftus Center and remembers all the struggles, all the successes, all the tears of joy and the tears of pain and the sacrifices made over the last five years. The day she walks out the door no longer Jadin O’Brien, Notre Dame track and field standout who in March became the first in NCAA history to win three straight pentathlons, the individual who stands among the few in school history to do all that she’s done.
Noie: Where is all this going for Notre Dame track and field standout Jadin O'Brien?
That day, she leaves a proud piece of her life behind.
With that day coming, the 22-year-old Pewaukee, Wisc., native does all she can to keep busy. To keep her mind from drifting. Another workout? Yes. A spring meet last weekend in College Station, Texas, that required a 6 a.m. wake-up call and long day of travel? Yes. More workouts, more training, more lifts. More. Anything to stay in the now.
To stay away from one day.
“Oh, my gosh, I really don’t want to think about that,” O’Brien said. “I’ll probably be crying. I’m going to be flooded with emotion. It goes so fast. You don’t realize it until it’s done.”
In 2020, the former three-time track and field most valuable player at Divine Savior Holy Angels High School in suburban Milwaukee walked into Loftus Center. She envisioned succeeding in pentathlon. Running those 60m hurdles faster than anyone. Putting the shot further than everyone. Soaring in long jump and high jump and having more in the tank to finish the pentathlon’s five events with a smoking time in the 800.
O’Brien gazed then to the indoor facility’s east wall. Painted on the cinder blocks of the building in blue and white was “Go Irish.” On that day, in that building, the young O’Brien decided to leave a legacy at Notre Dame.
She had no road map, no vision as to how that might occur. She just believed that it would.
She has individual championship medals and rings and plaques and trophies, but she also has so much more. She has wisdom. She has knowledge. She has experience and an understanding of how to face fear and flourish. How to set aside injury and insecurity and be the best. Be a great athlete, that was important. Be a great person? That was most important.
Touch the lives of others in ways you didn’t think possible.
“Who I was as a freshman to who I am now, people say you change in college,” she said. “I’m a completely different person in the best way. I was an all-around person, not athlete.”
O’Brien has grown physically and spiritually. Grown mentally and emotionally. Found an inner strength she never thought she’d find. Leaned into resolve instead of resignation. Found determination that dominated doubt. As much as she told herself that she could do this or would do that, she wondered. Would she? Could she?
Daily phone calls home to her mother were routine with one question became the crux of conversations.
Can you tell me that it’s going to be OK?
Leslie O’Brien would tell her daughter that yes, everything would be OK. Even today, all those years and all those meets and all those medals later, O’Brien won’t go more than a day in asking her mother that question. She knows the answer but always needs to hear the answer.
Needs affirmation to go and be great. In the classroom. In the athletic arena. In life.
“The shift in my mental maturity has come a long way,” O’Brien said. “It’s crazy to see the progression. I was a little dweeb back in the day.
“I came to Notre Dame a girl and I’m leaving a woman. I couldn’t ask for much more.”
That’s because she did more than she ever dreamed of doing. Tomorrow’s track and field standouts will one day dream of becoming the next Jadin O’Brien.
“She’s not only one of the best Notre Dame athletes of all time, but one of the best ambassadors for the university and possibly the best of all time,” said Notre Dame track and field assistant coach Rodney Zuyderwyk. “She was such a part of the university.”
O’Brien shared a story that that she heard somewhere along her athletics way. A story of being thankful for life. A story of reflection. A story of gratitude. A story of you as an adult, or as a 22-year-old soon-to be 23 and a Double Domer, on a walk with a younger you.
Holding that young person’s hand. Sharing with them about what the years ahead would hold.
What would O’Brien say to her 5-year-old self?
What would she say to that silent, withdrawn 5-year-old who for years battled PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections). That girl who struggled with life every single day. The girl who didn’t know if she wanted to live. She wanted to harm herself. She wanted to harm others. Life was darkness. Life was a depression.
Life was so overwhelming that her family didn’t know if O’Brien would find her way through.
“My life as a little girl was very different,” she said. “What would I say to her? You’re going to be OK.”
As much as O’Brien dreads that final walk with Loftus in her rearview, she’s going to be OK. She’s finishing the spring track and field season. She’s sorting through endorsement deals in preparation for turning pro. She’s going to chase dreams along avenues she never thought possible.
It’s not about what O’Brien has done, and she’s done a lot. It’s about what’s next. Always.
“I’m confident that whatever I end up doing, I’ll make a difference,” she said. “It will be cool.”
Cool, but O’Brien still will run hot. For her, slow is a four-letter word. She doesn’t plan to dial it down. Or back. She wants to do in the next phase of life what she’s done at Notre Dame ― max it out. Everything. Every hour of every day.
That last day in Loftus is coming. For as much as O’Brien insists that she’s not ready for it, she is. Deep down, it’s who she is.
“It’s going to be a beautiful end,” she said, “to an incredible story.”
Indeed, everything will be OK.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame standout Jadin O'Brien makes pentathlon three-peat look easy
Continue reading...
The day she knows is coming. The day when everything changes. Forever.
Noie: How did one group of Notre Dame football fans plan to spend a spring game Saturday?
The day she takes one last look around Loftus Center and remembers all the struggles, all the successes, all the tears of joy and the tears of pain and the sacrifices made over the last five years. The day she walks out the door no longer Jadin O’Brien, Notre Dame track and field standout who in March became the first in NCAA history to win three straight pentathlons, the individual who stands among the few in school history to do all that she’s done.
Noie: Where is all this going for Notre Dame track and field standout Jadin O'Brien?
That day, she leaves a proud piece of her life behind.
With that day coming, the 22-year-old Pewaukee, Wisc., native does all she can to keep busy. To keep her mind from drifting. Another workout? Yes. A spring meet last weekend in College Station, Texas, that required a 6 a.m. wake-up call and long day of travel? Yes. More workouts, more training, more lifts. More. Anything to stay in the now.
To stay away from one day.
“Oh, my gosh, I really don’t want to think about that,” O’Brien said. “I’ll probably be crying. I’m going to be flooded with emotion. It goes so fast. You don’t realize it until it’s done.”
In 2020, the former three-time track and field most valuable player at Divine Savior Holy Angels High School in suburban Milwaukee walked into Loftus Center. She envisioned succeeding in pentathlon. Running those 60m hurdles faster than anyone. Putting the shot further than everyone. Soaring in long jump and high jump and having more in the tank to finish the pentathlon’s five events with a smoking time in the 800.
O’Brien gazed then to the indoor facility’s east wall. Painted on the cinder blocks of the building in blue and white was “Go Irish.” On that day, in that building, the young O’Brien decided to leave a legacy at Notre Dame.
She had no road map, no vision as to how that might occur. She just believed that it would.
She has individual championship medals and rings and plaques and trophies, but she also has so much more. She has wisdom. She has knowledge. She has experience and an understanding of how to face fear and flourish. How to set aside injury and insecurity and be the best. Be a great athlete, that was important. Be a great person? That was most important.
Touch the lives of others in ways you didn’t think possible.
“Who I was as a freshman to who I am now, people say you change in college,” she said. “I’m a completely different person in the best way. I was an all-around person, not athlete.”
From someone who couldn't to someone who could
O’Brien has grown physically and spiritually. Grown mentally and emotionally. Found an inner strength she never thought she’d find. Leaned into resolve instead of resignation. Found determination that dominated doubt. As much as she told herself that she could do this or would do that, she wondered. Would she? Could she?
Daily phone calls home to her mother were routine with one question became the crux of conversations.
Can you tell me that it’s going to be OK?
Leslie O’Brien would tell her daughter that yes, everything would be OK. Even today, all those years and all those meets and all those medals later, O’Brien won’t go more than a day in asking her mother that question. She knows the answer but always needs to hear the answer.
Needs affirmation to go and be great. In the classroom. In the athletic arena. In life.
“The shift in my mental maturity has come a long way,” O’Brien said. “It’s crazy to see the progression. I was a little dweeb back in the day.
“I came to Notre Dame a girl and I’m leaving a woman. I couldn’t ask for much more.”
That’s because she did more than she ever dreamed of doing. Tomorrow’s track and field standouts will one day dream of becoming the next Jadin O’Brien.
“She’s not only one of the best Notre Dame athletes of all time, but one of the best ambassadors for the university and possibly the best of all time,” said Notre Dame track and field assistant coach Rodney Zuyderwyk. “She was such a part of the university.”
O’Brien shared a story that that she heard somewhere along her athletics way. A story of being thankful for life. A story of reflection. A story of gratitude. A story of you as an adult, or as a 22-year-old soon-to be 23 and a Double Domer, on a walk with a younger you.
Holding that young person’s hand. Sharing with them about what the years ahead would hold.
What would O’Brien say to her 5-year-old self?
What would she say to that silent, withdrawn 5-year-old who for years battled PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections). That girl who struggled with life every single day. The girl who didn’t know if she wanted to live. She wanted to harm herself. She wanted to harm others. Life was darkness. Life was a depression.
Life was so overwhelming that her family didn’t know if O’Brien would find her way through.
“My life as a little girl was very different,” she said. “What would I say to her? You’re going to be OK.”
As much as O’Brien dreads that final walk with Loftus in her rearview, she’s going to be OK. She’s finishing the spring track and field season. She’s sorting through endorsement deals in preparation for turning pro. She’s going to chase dreams along avenues she never thought possible.
It’s not about what O’Brien has done, and she’s done a lot. It’s about what’s next. Always.
“I’m confident that whatever I end up doing, I’ll make a difference,” she said. “It will be cool.”
Cool, but O’Brien still will run hot. For her, slow is a four-letter word. She doesn’t plan to dial it down. Or back. She wants to do in the next phase of life what she’s done at Notre Dame ― max it out. Everything. Every hour of every day.
That last day in Loftus is coming. For as much as O’Brien insists that she’s not ready for it, she is. Deep down, it’s who she is.
“It’s going to be a beautiful end,” she said, “to an incredible story.”
Indeed, everything will be OK.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame standout Jadin O'Brien makes pentathlon three-peat look easy
Continue reading...
