Interval Session #13 - Chris Derrick October 31, 2007 Neuqua Valley IL star Chris Derrick exploded into the national consciousness last spring as a junior, when he trailed Jacobs senior Evan Jager to an 8:54.64 3200 at the Illinois state track meet. Big things were understandably expected of his senior cross country campaign, and Derrick has delivered in spades. He's undefeated this season, has set course records on six different layouts taking down the top marks of several past Foot Locker finalists, handily defeated Indiana star Mike Fout in their one meeting at the Culver Academies Invitational, and dropped a 13:57 three-mile stunner at his recent conference meet. All of that, and his Neuqua Valley team is MW#1 in the latest DyeStat Regional ranking. This coming weekend, on Saturday November 3rd, Derrick leads that squad into a showdown with four other DyeStat MW top ten teams at the Illinois state meet. And that's just the start of his crowded post-season. DyeStat assistant editor Dave Devine takes a Ferris Bueller-style day off outside the Windy City to put in a few pre-State striders with the latest prodigy to emerge from Illinois.

1) First, let's talk about that 13:57 at your conference meet. Sub-14 for three miles is such an iconic time in Illinois, and such a rarity. The short list basically includes you and four guys from the 1970s, most prominently Craig Virgin, who needs no introduction on this site. Can you talk about your feelings as you crossed the line with that time, and how it felt afterwards? Was breaking 14 a goal for this season? Conference was a special meet for both me and my team. I had no real time expectations going in, but the weather was perfect and guys were running personal bests like crazy the first few races and I began to think about it a little bit. Then I hit the mile in 4:37 and the two mile in 9:28, and I began to think about it a little more and then I came to the last 300m (on the track), saw 13:10 on the big scoreboard and just kicked like crazy. The last 100 I knew I had it and that combined with the big crowd made it a really awesome experience. 14 minutes was a barrier that had been in the back of my mind going into the season, but the main focus, as it always is in cross country, was on place and trying to win a state title. 2) It seems like you're part of a massive team there at Neuqua Valley-- something like 115 boys on the team? As a senior, and the #1 runner, do you bear some leadership responsibility for that group, and if so, how do you shoulder that responsibility? You seem to take as much enjoyment in the PRs of your teammates as you do your own accomplishments. With a team that big (125 guys) leadership isn't so much about giving pep talks or yelling at guys for not coming to practice as it is about leading by example. As a top guy on the team, I have a responsibility to the success of the program to demonstrate the kind of dedication it takes to be a good runner. Beyond that I think that whenever a program is as big as ours, just showing some interest in the younger runners is very important. I know from experience that when you are a middle of the pack guy in a large program, a little positive recognition from an older guy goes a long way. When I look at what this program has given me, demonstrating the proper work ethic and taking the time to be a good teammate is a drop of water in the ocean. 3) People often speculate about top-level high school runners, that they must be old for their grade, but I know you just turned 17 a few days ago. You could easily be a junior right now, and are surely one of the youngest elite seniors in the country. Do you ever wish you'd held back a year? How does your age play into your development curve as a runner, competing against guys who may be a full year, to a year and a half, older? I've been a little young since kindergarten, so being a senior seems natural. Plus I get to go to college in less than a year and I'd be crazy to want to put that off. Beyond my freshman year I don't really think that age has affected me. I was a little behind physically as a freshman and as a result I was pretty average (18:08 3-mile) but physically maturing before my sophomore year allowed me to make a huge jump (15:06) and I've just been building off of that momentum ever since. 4) I read in a newspaper article where you said, "It can't be questioned whether you're going to run everyday-- it has to be an absolute." Can you talk about how you came to that belief, and some of the day-to-day challenges in living up to a mantra like that? That was really influenced by my coach, who told me pretty early on that if I wanted to be good I would have to work for it. I've managed to stay consistent with my training, and every season's been better than the last, so now I'm a true believer. The only time I feel it's truly difficult to live up to that goal is in the winter when the wind chill gets below 10 degrees. Other than that, if you love running and want to succeed, consistency in training is the only logical result. 5) You're the latest in a long line of great schoolboy runners out of Illinois. We've already mentioned Craig Virgin, but even if you confine it to recent years, there's Donald Sage, the Torres brothers, Matt Withrow, Evan Jager... Why so many great runners out of Illinois, in your opinion? I think that the state as a whole has a great tradition in distance running, but more than that, I think that there have been a number of coaches, beginning with Joe Newton at York, who really set a high standard for programs. When you have guys like Newton around, there is a model for a successful program that everyone can look to, and then along come a few more great coaches and they exchange ideas and raise the bar again. The same is true of athletes, success breeds success. 6) Neuqua Valley is ranked #1 in the Midwest right now, and a strong contender for NTN MW Regionals. Meanwhile, you're on many people's short list for Foot Locker Nationals. The Illinois state meet is this weekend, and it will be a battle for your team...no free passes there. If you choose to pursue NTN and Foot Locker, that's IL state Nov. 3, NTN MW Regional Nov. 10, FLMW Nov. 24, NTN Dec. 1 (should your team make it), and FLN Dec. 8 (should you qualify). I'm sure you've looked at that calendar. Will you try to tackle all those races? If so, what have you done to prepare yourself for that many weeks in a row of hard racing? I do plan to run all those races, or at least the ones I qualify for. I think the base I've put in over the summer and all throughout high school will give me the physical strength and durability I need to get through that stretch of races. 7) Like we said earlier...tons of great runners out of Illinois. If you could go for an easy run with any one of them, who would it be, what personal favorite run would you take them on, and what would you talk about? It's a tough choice, but I'd probably have to choose Jim Spivey. I've heard him speak before, and with three Olympics and an 18-year career, there would be a lot to talk about. As for the route, I might be in trouble there, we have lots of concrete and subdivisions in Naperville. Maybe we could meet in Peoria and run Detweiler [the state meet course]. 8) Naperville is right near Chicago, so there's the inevitable final question: Cubs or White Sox, and why? I was born in New York, all my family is from there, my childhood hero was Don Mattingly, so..........Yankees. Photo: Jim Schumacher

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