Lindsay delaMontaigne (Rancho Bernardo HS, San Diego)

Lindsay at the Wolf Pack Invite - (Left) middle of the pack with the white top - Paul Draper photo (right) finish in "fastest of the day" clocking to win frosh/soph division - Jay Drose photo

Last year she burst on the prep running scene as a ninth grader and amazed with performances all the way to the State Meet in Fresno, where she splashed along behind Amber Trotter (Ukiah) with a fifth place effort in an impressive 18:19. Trotter, runner-up Emily Vince (Peninsula), Sarah West (Davis), and Danielle Schuster (Torrey Pines) went on to some great things after state during the cross-country season and into track. Lindsay kind of was a mystery after the fall harrier campaign, with the information on her non-participation in track below. She is coming back strong into Cross-Country, with a great effort at the first weekend Wolf Pack Invitatational that was the "fastest of the day." She tells us about her career, early season racing this year, the kind of training she has done, her family of athletes, and offers some good advice for new runners below!!

Thanks Lindsay

1) Describe biefly your running successes so far in high school and how your 2002 season started at Wolf Pack--

Last year, as a freshman, I ran cross country and was very successful. Most important ( I believe) was winning the Southern California Invitational, Palomar Leauge and CIF title. Then, I went on to State in Fresno where I finished 5th, and was very proud of my accomplishments. Last Friday, was my first meet at Wolf Pack, where I finished first out of the sophmores.

2) What were your thoughts coming into the Wolf Pack Invite?

Coming into this first meet, I was very apprehensive, especially with expectations from last year. I was anxious to see how I would do, and scared because I wanted to do well. But I knew that I was coming back from being sick, and didn't have all the training the other girls did, so I just wanted to do my best at this meet!

3) What kind of training did you do this summer for cross-country?

At the beginning of the summer, I did not train very hard, because I was just coming back from hardly running at all (having mono for about four months). I started off with easy runs, and then as the weeks went by, I was able to run tempos, hills, and other speed workouts. It felt good to eventually be able to run with the team again!

4) What was your sports involvement during the winter and spring part of the school year after your successful fall cross-country season?

After cross country, I took two weeks off, and then after school, some girls from my team and I would meet and just do fun, easy road runs, or find trails to run on. We ran until January, and then twice a week would meet with our coach after school. However, starting Feburary, I was diagnosed with mononucleous, so I did not run until the summer. ( I would occasionally go to track practice and try to run a little, but then only feel worse the next days).

5) What are some of your other interests besides running?

Besides running, I like to spend time with my friends, go to the beach, movies, and shopping.

6) What are some of your goals for the coming season?

Since I have not had the training everyone else has (during track season and summer) I have set my goals toward late October and November...the meets that really count! I hope to make it to State again, and of course would love to win at Leagues and CIF, but this is all far away, and for right now, I just want to focus on doing my best, and feeling 100%, physically and mentally.

7) Any other family members involved in sports?

I have three siblings, one is who is teaching in Hawaii, and two others who are in college right now. My oldest sister in Hawaii did cross country in high school, but stopped her sophmore year because of knee problems(surgery). However, right now, she is training in Hawaii, wanting to eventually run in a marathon. My dad has run the Boston Marathon and a couple half marathons. These two helped me get started, as I used to run with them during my middle school years. My brother used to play baseball, and my sister did recreational sports as well. My whole family continues to stay fairly active.

8) Any funny training or racing stories during your time in the sport?

Hmm...I can't really think of any funny stories at the moment. Our girls team is overall spirited and hilarious. When we have an easy day, they are always telling stories, or we play games while we run...we sing, we dance...it's just a fun group!

9) What advice would you have for an athlete new to distance running in cross-country?

If an athlete is new to distance running in cross country, I would tell them to never give up, first of all! It will seem difficult at first, but stick with it! As for the distance, they should learn how to pace themselves! Do not go all out in the beginning, because you will have nothing left in the end. And most importantly, try your best, always give 100% effort...and remember to have fun!

Thanks Lindsay - best of luck - see you down the road!!

(interestingly Lindsay is one of those victims of the length of fields in data-base programs used for cross-country and track events. The length of her name had it spelled "Lindsey delaMontaig" when the field used to type in names for the 2001 State Cross-Country meet had her entered. When one sees names during the season and a different spelling in a championship meet program it is a bit confusing. One would assume that the championship program would have everything perfect, but when the length of fields for a name spelling runs out before someone's lengthy name is spelled, it just cuts it off. I imagine a lot of prep athletes with long names receive recruiting letters from colleges where their name is cut off, as the Universities obviously use the "big-meets" to make up their recruiting lists. Because these programs used started back in the days of dot-matrix printers (many probably don't even remember those) one did not have the option of printing in landscape (sideways) mode, so the fields had to be limited (or so I've been told). Anyway, it creates some interesting situations along the way - funniest being the fields for affiliation of teams - sometimes when you type in a college meet in such a program and you type out University of - that is as far as you get - so everyone in the meet has the affiliation of "University of " (as the field ran out of space - geeeez!!! - Enough on this!!!)

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