TEN QUESTIONS WITH...

With Mid-American Conference Championships just a few days away, what will this week in practice be like?
The week before MACs is more like a taper week for us, so the workouts are easier. The runs are shorter and the goal is to just make everyone feel good before they go (compete).

You’ve already run at the Ottawa Park Golf Course that will host the league championship meet, as you set a career best at 18:11 and took fourth place on Sept. 23. What is the course like?
It’s all grass and it’s mostly just a flat, fast course, with the last 1,000 meters, at the finish, being downhill. It’s fun to run on.

Jenny Koeppel has won four MAC Female Runner of the Week awards this year. How much has her success been able to translate to the team?
Just watching her run and go at it…being able to run the way she has is very motivational for our team, just being on the same team with her. Her success has reflected on our team as well, because our team has been very successful this year also.

You finished second behind Koeppel at the UB Open with a time of 18:25. What was it like being able to run at home and to do so well?
For me, that felt really good because it was a picker-up from last year. Last year, I didn’t have the best of races at home. Plus my parents were here watching and everything. It was good to put out a good performance.

What’s it like to go from running the 5K cross country races to running the 1,500-meter races for indoor track?
It’s a total 180. Cross country and track are just two separate sports almost. Cross country is on grass and on courses and everything. Track, you’re just in this big building. The 1,500 is a higher, faster-pace than a 5K.

You were named the Most Improved Runner at the end of the 2003 cross country season when you finished 43rd at the MAC Championships. What are some things that helped you improve throughout the course of the year?
I think (head coach) Vicki Mitchell’s training is a two-year training almost. My freshman year was mediocre, but then to come back the next year, things really clicked for me. I found that to be true of other athletes on the team as well. The training doesn’t immediately develop you the first year. It usually carries over to the next year and the years after that.

I trained a lot over the summer my sophomore year as well. I think that helped a lot. Just having Jenny Koeppel on the team for cross country, and training with Allison Laske, because she was an amazing 800-meter runner, really helped out.

Track and field meets have a lot of down time. So what do you do when you run a race in the morning and your next event is a few hours away?
When you’re done running a race, you have all the cool down stuff. You run your cool down and get hydrated back up and everything. I usually just go out and start cheering for my teammates, to kind of kill the time and also to give my support. It pumps me up for my next race to watch them perform.

What is the hardest part of a race - the beginning, the middle or the end?
It’s different for different people, but for me, it’s the middle. Last year, it was probably more toward the end, but usually this year it’s in the middle of the race. In the beginning of the race, there’s a huge group of girls and they just kind of carry you through it. At the end, you know it’s the end, so you just go. In the middle is where things start to slow down. Your brain keeps telling you to relax, but you know that you’re racing and you can’t.

In the 2004-05 media guide, you list your favorite TV shows as Family Guy and South Park. Who is your favorite character in the shows?
The baby, Stewie. He’s just hilarious. I don’t know why.

What has been your favorite moment as a UB athlete?
I guess it’s just this season, being on a team that has really come together. We get along really well. We work really well together at practices and meets. We have packs when we run. It’s really neat to be on a team like that and it's been very successful so far.

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