Ed Sias Invitational
Interviews - Joe Hartman

September 9th, 2006
NCS

 

Ed Sias Invitational
Interviews - Joe Hartman

September 9th, 2006
NCS

Diana George
Matt Duffy
Nicole Hood

Diana George photo by Joe Hartman

Diana George (Livermore)

Before the race we ran into Diana George, the freshman 2005 NCS Division 1 champion to see how things were going for her and how her season was going.

DyeStatCal: This is the winner of last year’s Ed Sias Invitational Frosh/Soph race sophomore Diana George of Livermore. (Diana would end up 9th in the Varsity girls race.) Diana tell us how your summer went.

Diana George: Oh, it was pretty fun. We did long funs and just ran easy, not too hard. It’s my favorite part of the year.

DyeStatCal: How is Livermore HS looking this year?

Diana George: I don’t know about places but we’re really strong mentally. We help each other and push each other like right now all the guys are out cheering at the boys frosh/soph race and I really admire that.

DyeStatCal: What’s your goal for today Diana, and for the rest of the year.

Diana George: I just came off a cold so I’m really just going to do the best that I can. I can’t really expect too much but as long as I feel that I tried really hard then I’ll be happy even if I don’t PR or anything.

Matt Duffy (St. Mary's)

Here are some words from Matt Duffy of St. Mary’s HS in Berkeley who won the small school boys race by 17 seconds over David Buscho of San Rafael.

DyeStatCal: Congratulations. Break down the race for us a bit.

Matt Duffy: The race was fine from the beginning. I was in the front pack and I made sure I just sat on Brian Cole from St. Helena who’s run some good races already this season so I knew he’d be out there. And as soon as I found a place where I could go a little bit more and take the lead, I figured ‘why not’ because I didn’t want to wait too long and I knew there was a nice uphill followed by a good downhill so I could really extend my lead.

DyeStatCal: How much faster are you running last year and why?

Matt Duffy: We had a two-mile time trial and I was about 20 seconds faster than last year which was pretty good and I think it’s more because my easier runs were at a faster pace, but they were still relaxed. Throw in a couple of two-a-days, so my legs are strong, and throw in weightlifting… so I’m a lot stronger than last year all-around, I think.

DyeStatCal: What’s coming up for you in terms of racing?

Matt Duffy: Our next invitational is the De LaSalle meet next Saturday and I hope to be in the top two or three because it’s combined big school/small school… great race. Then Stanford will be fun. Maybe Chad Hall will come in and we’ll see how I compare to him.

Nicole Hood (Carondelet)

The girls race was won by yet another freshman sensation Nicole Hood of Carondelet. It’s not fair to compare Nicole Hood to Jordan Hasay after only her second cross country race, but like Jordan, Nicole is also a USATF Junior Olympic cross country champion. Only an hour before Jordan Hasay won the 2004 Youth Girls 4K in Schaumburg, Illinois, Nicole became the national champion in the Midget Girls 3K race, edging yet another Californian Tiffany Heflin of Susanville. (By the way, Heflin who runs for the Silver State Striders, has been a national runner-up three years in a row (2003-2005)…not unlike another former Silver State Strider whose name might ring a bell - Marie Lawrence - who has second place down to a science at the high school national championships over that same exact timespan.) But as far as comparisons go, a much more appropriate comparison would be to compare this 2006 Carondelet team to other California teams in the past who have had a 100% underclassman Top 5. (There’s a project for someone.) At the Ed Sias meet, in a field that included no fewer than nine former girls team state champions, youthful Carondelet did the unthinkable: they put five runners in before anyone else had two in. The media caught up to Nicole after her win.

Contra Costa Times: You just beat a heckuva field. When you came in to this race did you set a goal for yourself?

Nicole Hood: Every race I try to run as hard as I can and see what my time is.

Contra Costa Times: Altogether then how do you feel about how you ran today?

Nicole Hood: I felt pretty good. I had a little stomach ache at the beginning but that went away… from nerves maybe.

DyeStatCal: You seemed to build on the lead and got stronger as the race went on. Was that the nerves going away or more related to how you trained?

Nicole Hood: I do get really nervous before the races but when the race starts I try to forget about it and just run the race.

DyeStatCal: A lot of people around the state might be interested in your Carondelet girls team because you’re all so young.

Nicole Hood: Yeah, they’re really good. Some people trained on the Pleasanton Heat with me before. But they’re just really good runners, too. And my coach Mary Ann Grubb: she’s a really good coach. And before I got to high school my parents helped me a lot too.

DyeStatCal: You mentioned club running. Tell us about the cross country Junior Olympics that you went to.

Nicole Hood: Last year it was in Rhode Island and I ran the 4K and I got second and the year before it was in Chicago and that was a 3K and I got first in that. (Nicole was 7 seconds behind Kelly Sisson of the Cornhusker Flyers in Providence, R.I..)