 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 | 18th Nike Outdoor Nationals
June 19-21, 2008 - North Carolina A&T University, Greensboro NC
|
Seven distance stars dish on being female and fast
Catching any of these girls distance stars is hard enough, but our roving reporter Kristen Holzherr managed to track down
all seven for quick interviews about what it means to be a female track athlete in today's exciting high school environment.
Questions and photos by Kristen Holzherr
(Lipari and Smith photos by Vic Sailer)
Ashley Brasovan - Katie McCafferty - Emily Jones - Neely Spence - Melanie Thompson - Emily Lipari - Jillian Smith
Ashley Brasovan (5000 / 2 mile)
 Q) When at a track meet, which boys’ races do you watch?
A) Pretty much the same ones I run in. I kind of like the 800 maybe, the mile and 2 mile, so I can relate to those the best.
Q) What do you think the biggest difference is between boys and girls track and field?
A) Girls just kind of sit on each other and nobody really makes a move. And guys all go out there and they all want to get first, and it’s more of an exciting race I have to admit.
Q) Who is your favorite person to run with and why?
A) I would have to say anybody I get the chance to run with because in Wilmington, [Florida] I pretty much run by myself all the time. Four of us made it to Foot Locker this year from Florida, and all of us have become really tight with each other and we’ve gone to some of their houses, and its really nice to get to run with somebody my own pace, especially a girl.
Q) Which female track athlete do you enjoy watching compete and why?
A) I would probably have to say Chanelle Price, just because she’s amazing and she’s still in high school and she’s qualified for the Olympic Trials.
Q) Which do you think draws in the crowd the most, boys or girls events?
A) Definitely the boy’s events, they’re more exciting to watch, they’re tougher, and they get spiked in guy’s races, more tripping, and more action.
Q) If you could meet one female track athlete at this meet that you enjoy watching race, who would it be?
Q) Probably all the girls I just ran the 2 mile with, and I’ve gotten the opportunity to meet most of them. They’re just amazing athletes and I know how hard we all worked just to get here, to this level.
Katie McCafferty (2 mile)
 Q) Who is your favorite running partner?
A) My favorite running partner would have to be Bridget End; she’s just an underclassman on my team. I don’t really do workouts with her, but I do a lot of my easier days with her and it’s nice because I can kind of mentor her.
Q) Is it more fun to train with the guys on your team or the girls?
A) Well I go to an all-girls school, so that question is kind of answered.
Q) What do you think the hardest part of being a female athlete is?
A) I guess especially with running, you have to give up a lot of things that normal high school kids would do, which I don’t mind. But sometimes friends at school don’t really understand, like “Why won’t you come?” and, “Why are you running all the time?” So you really have to dedicate yourself to it, and it’s kinda hard when friends don’t understand.
Q) Do you think it’s easier to race against the wind, or race against the heat?
A) I think it’s easier it race against the wind because I’ve never really run well in the heat; the colder it is, the better it is for me.
Q) After racing against Melanie Thompson at the New Jersey State meet, are you excited to face her again?
A) Yeah, I don’t know if I will though, because she didn’t race tonight, and she’s going to be doing the mile tomorrow and I’m not. I’m also going to college next year, and she’s going to be a junior. We raced against each other a few times, and actually we started running together on the weekends and stuff, not workouts, but easy runs, and she is actually my favorite running partner. We’ve become really good friends, and hopefully she’ll come to Georgetown.
Q) With the Olympics coming up, are you looking more forward to the men’s track events or women’s?
A) Both, there are just some amazing runners. I’d like to see what Bernard Lagat will do. And it’s awesome that there’s going to be some high school kids in the Trials, like with [Christine] Babcock and with Chanelle Price, that’ll be interesting to see. Also with people like Kara Goucher, and stuff like that, so there are a lot of amazing runners.
Emily Jones (2 mile)
 Q) If you could meet one female track athlete at this meet that you enjoy watching race, who would it be?
Q) Well, last night I watched Ashley Brasovan run the 5K and she got the meet record, and obviously that was an amazing race to watch.
Q) Do you ever run with other guys on your team? Who has more talent?
A) Actually I don’t, because the girls on my team are really great, and so I usually just train with them and that works really well.
Q) Living in Massachusetts, do you prefer watching the local college or high school women’s or men’s track events the most?
A) Well obviously I like both, but I probably just like watching women, just because I can relate with them, but it’s hard to say.
Q) What do you think is the biggest challenge for girls who are just starting out in the 2-mile?
A) In addition to having to train really hard for it, I think that it’s also really a mental race, so I think that’s something you have to adjust to.
Q) What do you think is the hardest part of being a female athlete?
A) That’s hard. I think that if you love it, it’s not that hard. I think just staying focused throughout the season and keeping sight of what’s important about racing, and just enjoying it.
Q) Who is your favorite running partner?
A) It’s hard to say a specific person on my team, but Beau Dunn, Lisa Reedick, and Liz Wei are the people I train with the most and we just have a lot of fun together.
Neely Spence (2 mile)
 Q) Who is your favorite runner?
A) My favorite runner ever--I guess this might sound a little biased--my dad is one of my favorite runners, because I know the most about him and his career. I also really enjoy watching the professional runners, Deena Kastor and Kara Goucher, and high school-wise it’s just all the girls. Everyone I compete against I enjoy, because they help me get better or I find encouragement from them because they work so hard. And even those girls in my dual meets who might run 8 minutes for a mile, I find encouragement from them because they keep trying and I think that’s really awesome.
Q) When you competed at the PA State meet, who did you enjoy watching compete the most?
A) Probably Chanelle Price; her race was just amazing and I know her and she is just an amazing person. She’s a lot of fun to be around, and she ran so well and I was really excited to watch her. And also my best friend, Jordan Hankins, who got second in the 2 mile, because she’s my best friend.
Q) What do you think is the hardest part of being a female athlete?
A) I like being a female athlete, so I don’t know if there are many hard parts. Our sport is “younger” than for male athletes, because we haven’t been able to do it for as long. But I think that every year we make greats steps forward and it gets more competitive, and I think that especially in running--distance running--and track and field in general attracts a certain type of person and I think it’s just really great. And I’ve met so many awesome people through the sport and so many people that I am going to continue to see, and that’s been a really neat experience for me.
Q) When at a track meet, which boy’s races do you watch?
A) Most of the distance races. Honestly, I don’t really know much about sprint races and that kind of thing. But there was a guy on my high school team who was also my training partner, his name was Steven, and we ran together a lot, so I really enjoyed watching him. Just because he’s such a gutsy racer, and he just gets out there and pushes himself so hard. And if he’s running a 2 mile or a cross country race, it just like he’s working so hard the whole time. I just think that’s really awesome, I love to see people work hard.
Q) After talking to other female distance runners, what can you say is the biggest challenge you face?
A) I think one of biggest challenges is that you always get the “you know you’re a girl” and “you run like a girl,” that kind of thing. It’s like, well yeah, I run like a girl, but if you run a little faster then you could too. So I think that’s one of the hardest things, just because at some points we kind of get like brushed over just because there’s more emphasis on the guys. It’s getting a lot better though, so we’re moving in the right direction.
Q) Is there anything you do before an event that is a pre-race ritual?
A) Well, I always have a very strict routine. I eat waffles the morning before, I always eat four hours before I’m gonna race, and then I start drinking Vitamin Water three hours before the race, and then an hour before the race. I have it all planned out so my body can get totally race ready. I think I enjoy rituals a little too much, because I don’t actually think you need them as much we think we do. I try not to get too focused on one thing, like I have to do four cartwheels and then half a spin or something like that, because what if something happened and I couldn’t do that, and then oh my gosh would I totally freak out? So I try to just stay focused and have things…warming up, that is something that I would always do.
Melanie Thompson (Mile / 4x800)
 Q) Who is your favorite running partner?
A) If I could pick one person, that’s my teammate, Katie Spratford. I usually run with her.
Q) Who usually lasts longer before stopping to catch their breath?
A) I would say that I catch my breath quicker, most likely.
Q) What do you think the biggest difference is between boys and girls track and field?
A) I guess I would just say the times, because besides that, it’s kinda like the same type of racing. But I feel like with the distance runners or more runners who could be focused on competing well and sleeping well. I mean boys kinda run and just do it; girls lift and do all these types of core strengthening, and boys just run.
Q) With the Olympics coming up soon, who do you think has more of a chance of dominating the track and field area, men or women?
A) I’d say the women, just because I have to support the women, so we’ll go with the women.
Q) How did you get into distance running?
A) I played soccer when I was little, and my middle school didn’t have a soccer team, so I joined cross-country. And then I kinda started to like it so I just kept with it.
Q) When at a track meet, which boy’s races do you watch?
A) The mile and the 2 mile, but I’d say I like all of them. I’d say the 4x400, because the crowd gets the most into it so you can kinda get into it too.
Emily Lipari (2 mile / Mile)
 Q) Do you ever run with other guys on your team? Who has more talent?
A) Well, everybody is at different levels on my team and we all kind of like have more of a team bonding thing. We don’t have an exceptional team, but we do have a team that loves everybody. We’re a family.
Q) Which event have you had the most success in and why?
A) Probably the mile this year. My actual race is the two-mile, but I kind of busted out of that last night. And I think this year has been more successful in the mile because I won states for the 1500, and here I came out and got second in the Nationals. So I call this my special race of the year.
Q) When you’re not competing, which girl’s event do you enjoy watching more, the 2-mile or the mile?
A) I actually like watching the 800 out of all of them; I just like seeing a really fast race. I go through my 800 in my race like 2:25…2:30, and I just like to see all these girls who can run under 2:10. It’s just so exciting to me.
Q) Who is your favorite person to run with and why?
A) I’d have to say my brother, because I love training with him and he always pushes me, and insults me if I’m not running well, and I’m like, “Here’s the push.”
Q) Which do you think draws in the crowd the most, boys or girls events?
A) Girl events, because I think after all these years, boys have been dominating all the events and here the girls come out and bust out great times, putting in more work and I feel like girls deal with a lot more drama and the fact that they can overcome that on the track is exceptional.
Q) Is it more fun to train with the guys on your team or the girls?
A) I don’t know, they’re both kinda fun and it’s really hard to choose.
Jillian Smith (800)
 Q) What do you think is the biggest difference between boys and girls track and field?
A) I’d have to say, you know, just the competition. Guys do run a lot faster than girls, likely, but the whole thing is that boys are a lot different from girls. I think they may be a little bit more aggressive than girls are in a race, that’s pretty much the only difference.
Q) When at a track meet, which boy’s races do you watch?
A) I definitely watch the distance races because they are always exciting. Guys in New Jersey, especially, have just been getting good, and also the 400 because that’s always a fast race.
Q) Who is your favorite person to run with and why?
A) I’d have to say last year it was definitely Danielle Tauro, just because she pumped up everything and she was a great teammate to run with. But definitely this year I’d say Chelsea Cox, who ran the 800 with me, she’s a spunky little kid and just fun to run with.
Q) Which do you think draws in the crowd the most, boys or girls events?
A) Sadly, I think guy’s events, but women are making the move so we’re getting a lot of spectators and I hope in years to come it will be about equal.
Q) Is it more fun to train with the guys on your team or the girls?
A) I definitely say the girls; because there’s a lot more stories and we kid around more and don’t really complain. Then sometimes when we run with the guy’s group, they’re fun to hang out with, but they’re more likely to make fun of each other, whereas we just have stories.
Q) If you could make one prediction of how the world of women’s track and field will be different in the future, what would it be?
A) I’d have to say that it just gets really fast. I mean, the girls are just doing an amazing job of getting running these amazing times and getting spectators.
|
NON Index Page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
