Dave Zeitlin: The toughest hurdle of all

Just for a second, forget about sports. Forget about the rigors of practice, the rush of competition and the joy of victory. Think, instead, about life. Think about how you would feel if the police barged into your room with a warrant for your arrest. Think about the possibility of spending 51 years behind bars for a crime you didn't commit. Think about O'Neil Bryan. Bryan is a typical college student. He eats, drinks, sleeps and studies. He's just like you and me -- except for the fact that he can run the 60 meter hurdles in eight seconds. And except for the fact that he has spent the past four months on an emotional roller coaster, fighting to prove his innocence and avoid prison. Fighting for his future. The saga began on December 11. The Penn men's track star had a big case due for OPIM 101. Knowing he had a lot of material to study, Bryan decided to pull an all-nighter. After his big night of studying, the junior returned home to his dorm room in the grad towers. Tired and worn out, Bryan fell asleep. So when Bryan heard a knock on his door at 8:30 in the morning, he ignored it. But the knocking persisted, and before he knew what was going on, the Penn Police were in his room. "I was surprised," Bryan says. "I'd never been arrested in my life." That all changed on a dreay morning day on December 11. O'Neil Bryan, a college student and Division-I athlete, was arrested on the charges of robbery, burglary and theft. His life had suddenly been turned upside down. After being brought down to the police station, Bryan was given the standard one phone call. Knowing his parents were out of town, he called Tuan Wreh, a teammate and a good friend. "'Are you kidding? Tell me this is a joke,'" Bryan recalls Wreh's reaction to the unusual call. But Wreh and the rest of Bryan's friends and family stood by him the entire time, for the entire four months of his real-life drama. "Anyone who knows me, knows I would never think of doing anything like that," Bryan says. "I don't go robbing people." Unfortunately for Bryan, another Penn student thought otherwise. A freshman girl, who lives in Hill House, identified Bryan on December 4 when she saw him eating dinner at Hill dining hall with his teammates. She called the police the next day, accusing Bryan of burglarizing her room that very same morning. A week later, he was arrested. More than anything, it was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The girl described the burglar -- who attempted to steal a computer from her dorm room, but resorted to a wallet when he was quickly seen -- as a 6'0 black man wearing a puffy jacket. That evening, Bryan happened to fit that description, but as he says, "who doesn't have a black North Face?" "Her room was dark, the shades were closed. She couldn't even say I had earrings," Bryan says. "You can't just do that. It doesn't work like that." The jury agreed. With his family, friends and teammates looking on, Bryan was acquitted of all charges earlier this month. The life of a young man had been restored. And after his scary ride through the legal system, Bryan -- an economics major in the College of Arts and Sciences -- now wants to be a lawyer. But whether Bryan goes on to be a lawyer or a track star or an economist, he he will always remember the past four months of such unnecessary pain and anguish. The past four months that threatened to ruin his future. "It's been hell," Bryan says. "I'll never forget it."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.