Player Profile: John O’Rourke
Last week, freshman John O'Rourke was named Landmark Conference Athlete of the Week
By Theresa Whitfield
Freshman Physics major John O’Rourke has been enjoying his first semester at Catholic University. For him, Catholic encompassed all the qualities he looked for in a school. It has given him the opportunity to compete in cross country at the collegiate level and be a midshipman in the United States Navy at the same time.
O’Rourke’s extracurricular activities have allowed him to explore many places in the DMV area. Whether it be competing with his cross country teammates at a meet, working out with his ROTC unit at the Lincoln Memorial, or playing video games with his friends in Flather Hall, he certainly has quite a busy schedule.
O’Rourke was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island and attended Classical High School. He is the youngest child of four, with two older brothers and an older sister. At his home in Rhode Island lives his cat named Mookie after the Red Sox player, Mookie Betts, and his dog Dexter.
When deciding on a college, O’Rourke wanted a Division III cross country team that also had a Navy ROTC program. Catholic made his list of choices by offering both of these, but once he came to D.C. and saw the beauty of the campus, his choice became obvious.
So far, he has had a very positive experience of the cross country team. O’Rourke stated that he has made friends with everyone, but he mainly trains with freshman Paul Ames and two others. Currently, Ames and O’Rourke are the fastest runners on the team. His fastest time in an 8K this season was 26:08.8 at the Lehigh University Paul Short Run.
Last week, O’Rourke was named Landmark Conference Athlete of the Week. He is the first member of the men’s cross country team to earn this honor since Kevin Kuchler in 2017.
Before arriving on campus and officially joining his ROTC unit, O’Rourke spent three weeks at the Navy’s Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois. Here, he took part in New Student Orientation along with 500 other midshipman candidates who were accepted at schools across the country. He became familiarized with basic military information, such as customs and courtesies, engaged in grueling physical fitness, and also learned close order drill, firefighting, and line handling.
After completing this training, O’Rourke headed to Catholic to begin training for cross country. While he attended orientation as a new student at Catholic, he also had to go through a second orientation for his unit. While most new students were out exploring D.C. and making new friends their first few weekends at school, O’Rourke and four other freshman from Catholic spent their weekend at Marine Corps Base Quantico. Here, they slept in squad bays, practiced drill, and had the opportunity to do the Marine Obstacle Course. This also gave them the chance to meet many upperclassmen in the unit.
After the completion of these rigorous training evolutions, O’Rourke earned the title of fourth class midshipman and became a member of his unit, The Capital Battalion. He is now one of nine students from Catholic that are a part of this battalion. It is based out of George Washington University, and includes students from Catholic University, Georgetown University, and Howard University.
Aside from being on the cross country team and Navy ROTC, O’Rourke also is a member of an intramural flag football team. When he finds some free time, he likes to play pool and Call of Duty with his friends in his residence hall and he also likes to sleep. While at the Pryz, his favorite meal of the day is breakfast.
“Call of Duty is just like being in the Navy,” he said laughing.
In his coming years at Catholic, O’Rourke is most excited to get out into D.C. to explore all of the different historical landmarks and museums the city has to offer.
“My favorite place I’ve been to is the Korean War Memorial near the Lincoln.” O’Rourke said.
His next race is the Inter-Regional Border Battle in Logan Township, New Jersey.
