The Path Runs Through Brotherhood

When you think of O’Dea High School you think of many things. One can think of football championships, a great Catholic education and most commonly a school full of all boys. If you dive a little bit deeper into the subject of all boys, you’ll find something very prominent among members of the O’Dea community, and they sure know it well. That “something” is the brotherhood everyone knows and lives. And what makes it even more unique is that everyone has their own different experiences and times with it, something no other school in the Pacific Northwest can relate to.

Isaac Mohn was a cross country runner at O’Dea and graduated in 2018. Mohn was an outstanding runner for all four years of his Fighting Irish career and eventually becoming a runner for the University of Washington after he graduated. As significant as all those accolades and achievements sound, it was the brotherhood that he credits, in part, for all of those achievements whether it was in or out of the classroom.

"I think it’s because cross country is such a specific sport, you have to spend so much time with these guys whether it's on a run where you're not on your phone. You have to spend quality time with your teammates, and you get to know everybody really well. So, I felt like that just made the brotherhood in a sense that the connection was stronger because you got to actually know these guys more than just at a surface level," Mohn said.

With the sense of brotherhood running strong through the halls of O'Dea, one can only stay at the school for so long. While high school is relatively short, Mohn was able to take aspects of what he learned at 802 Terry Avenue with him to enhance his college experience.

"I was way closer with everybody in my class at O’Dea because it's such a small tight knit community whereas when I went to UW it’s so massive, so like I had this small community at the track team but other than that it's tough making friends. All your buddies in high school are in all your classes. Overall, I say the connections I made with my O'Dea brothers helped me make better connections at college because I just know how to make friends and make connections," Mohn explained.

Part of the brotherhood at O’Dea starts with the athletic department and specifically the coaching aspect of it. Sure, it may be great to hang out and spend time with friends and guys from classes, but a big aspect of the brotherhood is centered around coaching and mentorship. Most coaches in the athletic department at O’Dea either played the game themselves or are alumni who were in the students shoes a few years before. For Mohn, current cross country head coach David Bazzi really prepared him on and off the race course.

"I mean Bazzi is just the best, right? We all know that. He was a big piece for why I got into UW. Personally I don’t think I would've gotten in if it wasn’t for him. He was someone I could always go to whether it was school, running, even my personal life. And I believe it all ties back to the brotherhood piece of things and being a graduate of O’Dea,” Mohn said.

Currently, Mohn is the assistant cross country coach at O’Dea where he was just running five years ago, and in this past summer, he received his undergraduate degree from the University of Washington. All of these achievements can all be traced back to one word, brotherhood.