Aiden O’Leary Signs NLI For Track And Field At Black Hills State Univ.

One Sheridan High School Track and Field Athlete has cleared a major “hurdle” it terms of his college future.

Aiden O’Leary has signed his National Letter of Intent (NLI) to join the track and field team at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota.

At the 2023 Wyoming High School Outdoor Track and Field State Meet this past May, he was the 4A State Runner-Up in the 300 meter hurdles race and was 5th in the 110 meter hurdles.

In the 2023 Wyoming High School Indoor Track and Field State Meet this past March, O’Leary was a part of the 4 by 400 meter relay team that finished 2nd.

He says he never considered hurdles races when he first started track and field, but he’s glad he was introduced to a new type of competition.

“Our hurdles coach, Coach Walters, he kind of dragged me over and said ‘you’re going to start doing some hurdles,’ so that was really the first time I ever did it was my freshman year and then it turned out I was all right at it, so I stuck with it and then these past 3 or 4 years I guess, were really the first time I’ve been doing it, but it’s fun getting better at every practice everyday and seeing the improvement every year is worth it for me. It’s really just fun and exciting hanging out with all my friends and just getting better.”

O’Leary says he’s considering majoring in sports medicine or business.