TEN QUESTIONS WITH...

On Oct. 8, you get the chance to run at home in the UB Open. What are the advantages to a race at home?
You know the course. You know where you have to push yourself and where you can take it easy when you race on your own course.

Coach Vicki Mitchell has adopted a style of training where you run 70 miles a week. How tough was it for you to get used to that style of training when you came to UB?
It wasn’t very tough at all because my coach in high school was a teammate of Vicki’s so they had very similar training. That’s one of the reasons I chose to come to UB in the first place. It was a good transition.

In your first year, you were named the team’s Top Newcomer after posting a time of 26:22.2 at the MAC Championships. What was it like making the jump to Division I competition from high school?
It was very tough. In high school, I was coming from meets where I would either win by a lot or I’d be in the top 10, at least, in every meet. When I came to college, it was like at every single meet I’d be in the top 50 and it was a weird experience for me. It took a lot of getting used to not being in the lead pack, but I got used to it.

You’ve set the school record in the indoor mile, running a 4:12.50 at the New York Armory Collegiates, and also been a part of the 3,200-meter relay record-setting team. What’s it like coming off the track and hearing that you just did something no one else in school history has done?
It feels good, but at the same time I know I can do a lot better, so I just think about how I have to break that record again.

Last year, you were named the cross country MVP and finished 26th at the MAC Championships. What goals do you have for yourself this year as you approach MACs?
I hope to get top five at the conference championship. I trained real hard over the summer and I finished 26th last year. Technically the entire season I was second man, but our top guy dropped out of that race. I feel like our top guy at 26th is not nearly good enough, so I have to train real hard and I want to get top five.

You are a part of the only team on campus that doesn’t get an off-season. Knowing that you are always in-season, how does that affect training at the end of cross country or indoor track season knowing that a new season awaits?
Basically, there just is no time off. I’m just constantly thinking about running. There is no break. We take like a week off after each season, but that doesn’t really do much. You just have to focus all year.

Running is a sport where even Olympic champions don’t expect to win every time they race. Do you condition yourself to try and run your race at a meet rather than trying to stay with a competitor?
I used to and at some races we run for pace. Recently, I’ve just been trying to stay with the top guys and its been working out pretty well, so I just might try to stay with the top competitors at a lot of meets. At the bigger meets, I will try to stay pace and go out at a certain conservative mile and hold it.

In high school at Liverpool, you set eight school records and earned All-American status by placing fourth at Junior Nationals. What got you into running and onto the cross country team?
At first I played soccer, and then I did track to keep in shape. My freshmen year, I did pretty well in track and field and my coach convinced me that I could be the best in the state in track and cross country. I could never be the best in soccer, so that really got me motivated to run cross country and ever since, I’ve been obsessed with it.

You list as your favorite book Once a Runner by John L. Parker, Jr. It’s about a runner who tries to run his best mile before he leaves college. What parts of that book do you really identify with?
I like to refer to it as the Runner’s Bible. Everything in it, I relate to. Basically, the biggest thing about it is that he doesn’t really care about anything else. All he really wants to do is break a certain mile barrier and once he’s got it, he’s very satisfied.

What has been your favorite moment as a UB athlete?
Just going to different meets and hanging out with my teammates. Training under Coach Mitchell has been really good, too. It’s turned me into a good runner and kept me motivated. I don’t think I could have done it anywhere else.

“The 10 Questions With…” feature is compiled by Joe Guistina.