BY KIERAN McCARTHY
MAEVE O’Neill found swapping the comforts of home in Ballinacarriga for life in the fast lane of American college athletics easier than she expected.
The Doheny AC runner is in the first year of her scholarship at Providence College in Rhode Island, and is loving her new adventure that puts athletics at the centre of every day.
‘I have found it very easy to settle in,’ she tells The Southern Star.
‘It was probably a little bit of a culture shock at first but I definitely adapted quickly. Even the first month I felt really comfortable here and I found it easy to train. I have a good group of freshmen with me and that really helped.’
A familiar face from home in West Cork has also helped Maeve to find her feet at Providence College – Newcestown athlete Jane Buckley is a sophomore (second year) at the same college.
‘When I first started talking to Providence Jane reached out to me and was able to answer my questions,’ Maeve says.
‘When I came on my official visit Jane was my host so she was a great help and it was super to have the insight of someone who was in the exact same situation as me a year earlier.
‘I see Jane every day in practice and in the canteen. Our training doesn't always overlap because she is 5k and I am 800 but we run together when we can.’
Buckley made an instant impact at Providence College in her freshman year, including winning their Female Athlete of the Year for Individual Sports award. Maeve (20) is also making her presence felt at Providence – she recently set a new outdoor 800m personal best of 2:05.95 to win the UCF Black & Gold Invite in Orlando, Florida, breaking her PB that stood since 2021. If she wanted evidence that moving to the States was the right move, that was it.
‘I definitely feel that I have improved as an athlete even in the short time I’ve been here,’ Maeve says.
‘I am a lot stronger. In the Fall a lot of work was aimed at building strength which wouldn’t have been my strong point, as I had worked a lot on speed-based training. But I can see the benefits of that now.
‘Since I moved here I know I have become a much stronger athlete, and if the PB didn’t come this season, then I know it would next season.’
The 2021 West Cork Sports Star Youth Award winner is also benefiting from the coaching of the legendary Ray Treacy, who has been coaching at the college for almost 40 years. To learn from him was one of the reasons Maeve chose Providence College because she wants to move to the next level. She is coming off a very encouraging schools’ career in Ireland that included breaking Sonia O’Sullivan’s 34-year-old 800m record at the South Munster Schools Track and Field Championships in 2021. On top of winning various national championships, Maeve also ran in the European Junior Championships 800m final last summer. It’s about taking that next step now.
‘When I was looking for somewhere to go I had America in mind because I felt it would suit me best to be surrounded by people who are on the same path as myself,’ she says. ‘Providence has so many Irish ties and of course my coach Ray is so well known, and it was a great opportunity to learn from someone like him.’
A typical day for Maeve is built around her training, with classes in the morning before her training session at 2.30pm, then followed by recovery after. And repeat. She loves it, and is seeing the results in her races. As well as her outdoor 800m PB Maeve ran an indoor personal best of 2:07.13 at a meet in Boston in February. She also qualified for the 800m final in the Big East Indoor Championships and finished sixth.
Her diary is pretty full for the weeks ahead, too, with the Raleigh Relays in North Carolina this month, and her home Friar Invitational on April 12th, with the prestigious NCAAs in May also a possibility. Exciting times that could lead to fast times before she returns home to West Cork for the summer.
