Written by Zachary Dalton
This issue the Brackety-Ack got to sit down with Xavier O’Brien, a senior majoring with Secondary Education with a concentration in Mathematics here at Roanoke College. Xavier came to Roanoke from Metuchen, N.J where, as he said to Brackety-Ack, “[his] friends and [him] are the best rappers in New Jersey,” he added, “No Cap.” He had a lot to say about his time here at Roanoke and the things he has done.
For starters, he is a member of the Roanoke College Track and Field team where he runs anywhere from the 60 to the 400 Meter Dash with and without hurdles. Recently at the Roanoke Invitational Challenge Day Two (January 30th) Xavier broke the school’s 60 Meter Hurdle record with a time of 8.45, which also helped him win the meet overall. The previous record had been standing since 2008. “This is my second record,” Xavier told Brackety-Ack, “after breaking the 4x400m relay in February 2020.” Even with Indoor just getting started Xavier has his eyes set on another record. “My personal goal,” he stated, “is to get the 400m Hurdle record this upcoming outdoor season.” It should be noted that O’Brien has not competed in an Outdoor season since his freshman year. Xavier remarked, “I am looking forward to running my last outdoor season with the track team…this has been a long time coming.”
Outside of track though Xavier is still very active on campus. As a brother of Pi Lam he is very social on campus and many students, especially the class of ’21, know who he is. He also has had the opportunity to be a DJ for the student population and added a favorite memory at Roanoke has been “being able to host the Silent Disco in the middle of a pandemic.” Xavier then went on to fondly say, “having the opportunity to DJ for a good amount of the school population is something that I will never forget.”
When asked in closing if there were any shoutouts he wanted to give, Xavier said “shoutout to the O’Brien’s, QC Krew, Pi Lam, and the track team!”
