Colin Quirke (Los Gatos; Oklahoma)

Colin Quirke

Class:
Sophomore

Hometown:
Los Gatos, Calif.

High School:
Los Gatos

Event:
Throws

• 2009 All-Big 12 Conference (Discus)

Personal: Full name is Colin Paul Quirke ... holds dual Irish-American citizenship ... has suffered a number of injuries throughout high school including a severe concussion that hospitalized him for a month, a torn groin and surgery on the labrum and rotator cuff in his right shoulder ... son of Paul Quirke ... has two sisters, Jessica and Ashleon ... father competed in the shot put at Manhattan and competed in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games for Ireland ... mother competed in track and cross country at the University of Connecticut.

2009: (Indoor) Redshirted ... Broke the Irish Junior shot put record while competing unattached with a throw of 60-7.75 (18.48) at the Sooner Open I ... Reset record with a throw of 61-6.25 (18.75) at the Sooner Open II ... Finished fourth in the event at the J.D. Martin Duals with a throw of 54-7.50 (16.65). (Outdoor) Shattered the Irish Junior National record in the discus with a throw of 181-2 (55.23) as an unattached athlete at the Oklahoma Christian Ray Vaughn Track Classic ... Won the discus as an unattached athlete at the John Jacobs Invitational with a throw of 178-0 (54.25) ... Opened up official collegiate action at the John McDonnell Invitational where he finished fourth in the discus with a regional qualifying throw of 174-5 (53.17) ... Finished second in the discus at the Sooner Invitational with a regional qualifying throw of 186-4 (56.79) ... Finished second in the discus at the Sooner Twilight with a throw of 181-2 (55.23) ... Earned All-Big 12 honors with an eighth-place finish in the discus, recording a throw of 179-1 (54.60) ... Narrowly missed advancing to the NCAA Championships with a sixth-place discus finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional, recording a top throw of 179-3 (54.64).

High School: Competed at Los Gatos High School (Calif.) where he was the varsity track & field MVP all four years of competition ... recorded the top high school shot put throw of 2008 for the state of California ... finished second in the shot put at the 2008 California State Championships with a throw of 62-0 (18.89) after throwing a personal-best 63-6 (19.35) in the event's prelims ... also finished third in the discus at the event with a personal-best toss of 188-11 (57.58) ... finished second in both the shot and discus at the 2008 Great West Invitational ... took third in the shot put at the 2007 California State Championships ... coached by Mike Buncic ... also was a member of the Los Gatos High School football team.

Other: Shattered his own father's national youth records in the shot put and discus at the 2007 Ireland National Youth Championships with throws of 62-9.25 (19.13) and 173-2 (52.80), respectively ... won the Irish national under-23 age-group title ... competed in the 2007 World Youth Championships as a member of the Irish National Team where he finished eighth in the shot put and extended his own Irish youth record with a distance of 63-5 (19.33).

Courtesy Oklahoma