FAYETTEVILLE — Niall O'Shaughnessy, the first in a line of great distance runners at the University of Arkansas and later an Olympian, has died after a battle with brain cancer. He was 59.
O'Shaughnessy was a six-time all-American while competing in three sports for the Razorbacks. Running for legendary coach John McDonnell in the 1970s, O'Shaughnessy became the program's first individual runner to win a Southwest Conference championship indoors.
His indoor mile time of 3:55.4 is the ninth-fastest is NCAA history and an Arkansas record that has stood for nearly 40 years.
While he never won a national championship, O'Shaughnessy helped establish a line of great Arkansas distance runners that helped the Razorbacks win 40 team national championships and 84 team conference championships under McDonnell's tutelage.