By Jim Hague
Dan O’Keefe was certain that his competitive running career was over, once he decided three years ago to transfer from Rowan University, where he competed in track and field and cross country, to Rutgers-Newark, which, at the time, didn’t have a track and field program.
O’Keefe, a native of Bayville, N.J. and a four-year letter winner in track and cross country at Central Regional High School (the alma mater of former Met and Yankee hurler Al Leiter), decided to transfer to Rutgers because of the school’s biology program, in particular, a major in zoology, which was not offered at Rowan.
“It was a transfer done for academics,” O’Keefe said. “I ended that season at Rowan with shin splints, so I couldn’t run anyway. But I thought it was over. I had started cycling and was ready to concentrate on that. But I never thought I’d run again.”
After he arrived in Newark three years ago, O’Keefe realized that his high school teammate and friend, Kevin Garvey, was running for nearby New Jersey Institute of Technology.
“So to keep in shape, I ran a little with Kevin,” O’Keefe said. “But that was it. I was never going to compete in collegiate track ever again. I was thinking of possibly doing triathlons, but not right away.”
However, last summer, O’Keefe received an e-mail from Juan Edney, who was hired by Rutgers-Newark athletic director Mark Griffin to start a track and field and cross country program at the school.
It didn’t take long to sway O’Keefe back into competing once again.
“It sounded awesome,” O’Keefe said. “It fit in with my schedule. Coach Edney seemed like a great guy. Even though I had only one year left, I wanted to do it.”
In starting the new program, Edney was glad to just get a runner – any runner – with experience. O’Keefe, along with fellow transfer Paul Bahamondes, not only had running experience, but they both had competed on the college level.
“When you start a program from scratch, you have to look for people who know what they’re doing,” Edney said. “We got lucky right away, first with Paul (who transferred to R-N from Mississippi State) and then Dan, who turned out to be another blessing. When a school never had a track program, you never know what kind of talent is out there. I was thinking the worst.”
But when O’Keefe showed up with his impressive high school resume and his college experience, Edney welcomed him with open arms.
“We needed someone to step up and Dan gave us a solid effort, even though it was his first and only year with us,” Edney said. “I couldn’t ask for anything more than that. With the young team we had, we needed a leader and Dan was definitely that.”
O’Keefe admitted that he showed some rust, not having run competitively for three years.
“At first, it was real tough,” O’Keefe said. “The first meet was like a real shock. I didn’t perform well. Cross country was definitely not my sport. It was a whole different mentality. I needed someone faster than me to train with and it was perfect that we had Paul. He pushed me early and after I got more comfortable, I knew that better things were to come. Once I got into a groove, I felt natural and I felt better.”
O’Keefe hit his perfect stride as the cross country season came to a close earlier this month,
running a personal best of 28:58 in the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional meet at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. In that race, O’Keefe was able to shave off an amazing 53 seconds off his personal best time.
“I was stuck on 29:55 for three weeks and I thought that was as best as I could do,” O’Keefe said. “It was such a competitive race and I was running with the competition. It got me going and made me work.”
O’Keefe was the top Scarlet Raider finisher in the final two events of the season, including the New Jersey Athletic Conference championships. Bahamondes missed the last three weeks of the season with a leg injury.
“When Paul went down with his injury, we really needed Dan to step up and he responded under that pressure,” Edney said. “I wish I had him for another year. He made my job a lot easier in the first year.”
O’Keefe definitely has a unique future planned. Always enamored with wildlife and nature, O’Keefe plans to take his zoology background and eventually get a job working with wildlife and research.
“I don’t know where it started,” O’Keefe said. “I’ve always liked nature in general. I guess it started when I became a distance runner and I ran near the Pinelands (in southern New Jersey). I could identify with the different species when running.”
O’Keefe said that he avidly watches Animal Planet and National Geographic specials on television.
“I love those shows,” O’Keefe said. “That’s my thing. When (Crocodile Hunter) Steve Irwin died (earlier this year), I was sad and devastated. I just want to be around wildlife.”
Before he answers his call of the wild, O’Keefe will compete in indoor and outdoor track for the Scarlet Raiders.
“I’ll do as much as I can,” O’Keefe said. “I think I can get it into my schedule. It’s been absolutely fun, being part of the program and being able to compete. We have a really close-knit team. It’s all been good. I can’t ask for anything more. I never could have expected this at all. I never fathomed it could be this good.”
