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| | True cross country fans know our sport is more of a team event than most outsiders realize, yet there are plenty of individual standouts as well. So, while honoring the tradition we have started at DyeStat with Interval Sessions, which introduced you to the top individuals in both track and XC, we launch Fall 2009 with "Star Squad Spotlight," giving you a chance to get to know not just the top individual runners in the country, but also the best teams.
| | | star | andrew palmer
11.19.09
by Dave Devine, DyeStat Senior Editor
 Think your state meet course is tough? At the famously hilly Hereford course just north of Maryland’s Hunt Valley, where the MPSSAA State Meet is annually contested, the trademark hill is so steep, they install padded barricades along the treeline of the descent, for fear of runners crashing into trees as they fly down the incline. The uphills are no less treacherous. For the second time in 3 years, Walt Whitman MD senior Andrew Palmer claimed the 4A state title there, having first won as a sophomore in 2007 with only a year of competitive running under his belt.
Palmer's junior campaign in '08-'09 was primarily marked by chasing recently-arrived senior and eventual Foot Locker National champion Solomon Haile, but if you think Palmer was upset about that, think again. Haile became a close friend and sometime training partner, a guy he still talks with 3-4 times a week, even as Haile has moved on to the University of Arkansas. Palmer used that extra competitive fuel to become a national elite himself, qualifying for the 2008 NXN Finals as an individual on the strength of his 5th place finish at the NXN Southeast Regional in Cary, NC. Just don't ask him where he finished in the race at Portland Meadows-- he has yet to actually look at the results of what he considers a disappointing effort. Which isn't to say he didn't enjoy himself in Portland; in fact, the Syracuse-bound senior had such a positive experience he's shooting to qualify again this year, skipping Foot Locker NE for another run at making the starting line at the Oregon horse track.
DyeStat senior editor Dave Devine catches up with the two-time state champ as he cleans the Maryland mud from his spikes, says goodbye to the hills of Hereford and prepares for another big regional race in North Carolina.
 1) Congrats on your second Maryland 4A state title in the last 3 years. From the sounds of things, this one was a bit of a trudge, with the rains leaving the course a muddy mess. Can you take us back through the race, noting perhaps where you were able to break away and how you felt overall? I know you entered with ambitious plans of trying to break 16, but the mud laid waste to those ideas. Where did you start to realize that goal was maybe slipping away, and the day would be just about winning the race?
Thank you. I went into the race with some pretty high expectations, and my main goal was to try to get under that 16-minute barrier, which to us in Maryland is a huge deal on that course. I didn't really get to look around on the back side of the course, so I thought that it still might be possible in the very early stages of the race. I sort of broke away from the whole field, other than one guy [Chesapeake’s William Neal], in the first 400m or so, and then he stayed on until around the mile, which I hit in right around 5:10. Once we passed through "the Dip" the first time, and I got into the really tough part of the course, I realized it would be impossible, as I was practically running on a slip-and-slide.
2) Even on a muddy day, your winning time of 16:48 is going to sound modest to those who are uninformed about the challenges of the Maryland State Meet course. For folks who aren't familiar with the layout at Hereford, can you describe the course a bit? What makes it so challenging, and in particular...just how hard is "The Dip?"
I think the easiest way to describe how difficult the course is, would be to say that Centro [Matt Centrowitz Jr.] only ran 16:02 there about three weeks before he finished either 8th or 9th at the Footlocker National meet, and the course is only 3 miles. The Dip is actually a pretty funny sight. It's this huge ravine that you pass through twice on the course, and there are mattresses tied to the trees lining it, because of how easy it is to lose control and hit one of them. I think the main thing that makes the course so hard though, is that you are constantly either sprinting down hills trying to make up time, or killing yourself trying to get up them. There is no time to settle into a rhythm throughout the whole course.
3) I recall quite a bit was made of the fact that you were a state champion in cross country as a sophomore, only to have Solomon Haile arrive during your junior year and suddenly leave you as the second best guy in your state; but to your credit, you didn't consider it a negative or allow yourself to be dragged into the criticism swirling around Solomon. What did you learn from racing against him, how did it make you better as a runner, and were you surprised to find yourself forging a friendship with a guy who, on face value, you may not have had a ton in common with?
I want to first start out by saying that Solomon is probably the nicest guy in the world, and I don't think that anyone has more respect for him than I do. He has helped me out with almost everything, and I am extremely grateful to have been given the chance to get to know him as well as I did. Solomon and I are great friends and I talk to him probably three to four times a week at least. We worked out together last year towards the end of the track season, and he is just an extremely positive person. Anyone who knows him would agree that it would have been impossible for me not to become great friends with him.
 4) You were one of the Southeast qualifiers to the NXN Finals in Portland last year, and had the chance to travel out to that national championship meet. What was the experience like for you, personally and competitively? What sorts of lessons or insights about elite racing did you take away from that meet which you've applied this year?
Personally, the trip to NXN was probably one of the best weekends of my life. Nike makes it such a great way to end your season. Unfortunately, the race did not go nearly as well as I would have liked. To be honest, I have not looked at the results and I do not know exactly what place I finished. It was my first race on the "national" scene, and I think that it rattled me going out that hard and having a hundred guys just as good as me right there. I went into the meet wanting to have fun, and to gain experience for this year, when I think that I can actually make an impact in that race. When I was with a bunch of guys at the meet I learned a lot about how people peaked for that meet, and we applied that into my training this year.
5) You're someone who could easily have Foot Locker National aspirations, and I imagine seeing what Haile accomplished there may have been inspiring, knowing you'd measured yourself against him so many times in Maryland. But I hear you're planning to shoot for NXN Finals again this year instead of pursuing a Foot Locker berth. Obviously, that's a personal decision everyone has to make on their own and in consultation with their coaches, but can you shed some light on your own decision-making process there? Was there one (or several things) which pulled you in one direction rather than another?
I think that the biggest thing that went into my decision was just how much fun that weekend was for me. In addition, I think it is a real NCAA-style championship that allows guys on good teams to race the best individuals.
6) What does a typical week of training look like for you at this point in the season? Do you consider yourself a high-mileage guy, low-mileage guy, or something in between? Are there specific workouts you complete as a big race approaches which help gauge your fitness and race-readiness?
I think that we are pretty average in my mileage. Nothing too crazy, but at the same time I am definitely not afraid to get after it. During the summer I ran about 60-70 miles a week, and I have kept that pretty consistent throughout the season. I am just starting to bring that down a little bit, and this week will be around 45-50. I like to think that my workouts are pretty relaxed and I don't kill myself, but I consistently work at a pretty high level. We really emphasize strength and aerobic development during the cross country season.
 7) I read that you spent part of your summer training and attending camp in the Midwest with some of the top guys in the country. Can you discuss how that came about, maybe where you were training and which camp you attended? Are there particular guys you've met on the national elite scene who you've clicked with or gotten to know well, and with whom you stay in close contact?
Yeah, I spent the summer in and out of Illinois and Michigan hanging out with my fellow Sounds Big TC members. My main man Phil Fairleigh, along with Anthony Manfrin, Walter Schafer, Andrew Nelson, Danny Nicolls, and the Geneva girls and some of the York guys: Jordan Hebert, Steve Sulkin and Jack Driggs. I actually met most of them when a bunch of us were staying at Manfrin's house for the Midwest Distance Gala. We all went to the Wisconsin Cross Country camp after the Gala and NON. It was awesome getting to know those guys, and it definitely brings you down to earth when you are running with guys much faster than you every day. I still talk to most of those kids everyday, and they're all some of my best friends. I think that the friendship you gain with other runners is something that is really hard to understand for people who don't run, just because of the mutual respect that exists in our sport.
8) How did you first become involved in running, or realize you had a talent for the distances? Were you involved in age-group events before you hit the high school level? Were there other sports that preceded track and cross country?
I actually didn't start any running until I got to high school, but once I started I realized that I loved it. I played basketball before running, and did cross country my freshman year just for fun.
Photos (from top) - Headshot, top and bottom by Walter Pinion, 2009 Great American; Middle - Matt Wojciechowski, NXN SE | |
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