DyeStatCal Boys
Athlete of the Week
JT Sullivan
(Trabuco Hills HS)
Week of 10/23-27, 2006
California
Photo by Joe Hartman
JT Sullivan (Trabuco Hills)!
Wow, one of the great improvements in a program in recent
years has been at Trabuco Hills, where Coach Liam Clemons has taken a talented
group to the elite level nationally as a squad. Right from the start
this season the squad has had a stunning trio, led by JT Sullivan, brother
Riley, and Scott Blair, who have battled the very front pack right from
the get-go in big Invitationals, with a steadily improving pack behind
them that will make them very, very dangerous come
championship
time. JT Sullivan has been a great team leader with solid performance
after solid performance, most recently capped with a championship run at
the Orange County competition, and fourth in the Mt. SAC Super Team Sweeps
race at a quick 14:58.
Congrats and best of luck!!!
Doug Speck
DyeStatCal.com
1) Briefly describe how your Invitational season has gone so
far this year?
My Invitational season has gone pretty well this season. I've just been
trying to put myself high up in the big races against some pretty tough
competition, and so far it's worked pretty well.
2) How did you approach the course and Invitational at Mt. SAC and did it
go
about as you planned?
Well, I didn't want to go out too fast in the first mile, which the pack
didn't really do, and then my plan was just to hang on during the
switchbacks and work the middle of the race. Me and Luis Guevara from El
Rancho really worked together on the back of Reservoir and helped each other
pick up a few spots, which made it a lot easier on both of us to run fast.
3) What were your personal accomplishments over the last couple of years
in
cross-country and track and field?
Well, my sophomore year was when I really started to run fast and started
winning races. That year I ran a 4:21 1600 and a 9:22 3200. Then my Junior
year didn't go as well as I hoped and my times only improved by a small
margin(4:19 and 9:14). But this year I feel as if I'm having another great
season with a 14:26 at Woodbridge, a 14:58 at MT. SAC, and a few other races
where I ran sub 14:40. Hopefully it will continue into track season and my
track times will drop significantly.
4) What other sports have you done while growing up or at Trabuco Hills
High?
Growing up I played the usual childhood sports, Soccer, Basketball,
Baseball, and street Football(of course). But since I started at Trabuco
Hills it has been strictly running.
5) How much running did you do this past summer?
Toward the middle to end of the summer we cranked up the mileage
considerably from last year, running about 50-65 miles a week at a quick and
decent pace, which I feel has been the biggest key to this year's success.
6) About how many miles per week are you running during the
current season?
(any two a day workouts?)
As of right now we are still doing around 50-65 miles a week, but
hopefully it will come down soon (wishful thinking). And no, no two a days.
7) What is your favorite kind of cross-country workout as far as getting
you
ready for a good race in the sport?
My favorite workout before a race are the 4xmile repeats we do at a giant
athletic field near the school. We get about a minute rest in between each
one, which makes it pretty difficult, but the top guys run them at about
4:45 - 5:00 per mile. It is a real good indicator of where you are at in the
days before the race and really helps with pacing.
8) What appeals to you more, the sport of cross-country up and down the
hills or track and field with the competitions around the track?
Of course I love them both, but you know how it is, during cross country
you can't wait for track, and during track you can't wait for cross country!
(well, at least for me anyways)
9) Who has been big influence(s) to you as you have grown up as an athlete?
My Dad has always been there for me when it comes to athletics. He is at
all of the races, big or small, and is always the loudest one on the course.
He is the one who really got me into the sport of running and has taught me
things about racing that most runners will never learn. But I also have to
give a major tribute to Coach Clemons. He has really turned this team around
and is always there to listen to whatever we have to say, even when we are
making fun of him!
10) What are some of your goals for the rest of the fall
and school year in
the sports?
The rest of this season's goals are really team oriented. We are ready to
give Royal a run for their money at State and then hopefully get one of the
automatic bids to NTN and place well there. I promised my team that I'd
shave my entire body from the eyebrows down if we win State so it's kind
of
a conflict of interests on that one.
11) some quick answers:
--favorite TV show?
The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Friends
--last book or magazine you read outside of a school assignment?
Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles (ya, I know what you're
thinking)
--favorite sports team or personality outside of running?
Dallas Cowboys!!!!
--in ten years we will find you--------------?
At my ten year reunion :) But seriously, hopefully I'll be making lots of
money at a job I love to support my wonderful wife and kids, and, of course,
still running fast and strong!
Thanks
Doug Speck
DyeStatCal.com
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