1999 Foot Locker Northeast
an interview with Aaron Emery

After a rough season, he's "ready for Foot Locker now"

by John Dye

When Aaron Emery crossed the finish line victorious at the New York Federation meet November 20, he was grinning from ear to ear and looked fresh as a daisy.  The grin stayed long after the race was over.   There were two reasons.  

For one, he was happy he held off Justin Romaniuk of Suffern, with whom he traded leads early in the race.  After getting the lead for good in the second mile, Emery raced out to as big a lead as possible.  He was conscious of Romaniuk's speed (1:55 half miler) and remembered 1998.   

"I got outkicked last year in the last 600 meters (by Dylan Welsh), and I didn't want it to happen again."  It didn't. 

The other reason for Emery's grin was the race put behind his early season difficulties.

Five days before Emery and his Beaver River NY team journeyed to Charlotte NC for the Great American Cross Country Festival in September, Emery had an emergency appendectomy.   Amazingly, Emery still ran at Charlotte -- opting for laproscopic surgery, which uses only three small incisions for a fast recovery.  But after being tabbed as a favorite to win, he finished 91st.  

Slow times and losing races continued well into the season.  "I was afraid people were thinking I wasn't any good any more," Emery said.  The word "overrated" crept into his subconscious.  In 1998, Emery was third in the Foot Locker Northeast Region and 26th in the national finals at Orlando.  As the only non-senior in the top 13 in the Northeast, he would start 1999 as an early favorite for regional and national honors.  

And the Federation race November 20 restored him to that pedestal.  

"I'm ready for Foot Locker now," Emery declared -- still grinning.

DyeStat interviews Aaron Emery after the New York Federation race at Wappingers Falls NY 11/20/99