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 True cross country fans know our sport is more of a team event than most outsiders realize, yet there are plenty of individual standouts as well.  So, while honoring the tradition we have started at DyeStat with Interval Sessions, which introduced you to the top individuals in both track and XC, we launch Fall 2009 with "Star Squad Spotlight," giving you a chance to get to know not just the top individual runners in the country, but also the best teams.

 star | connor adams
9.24.09
by Dave Devine, DyeStat Senior Editor

When last year's Gatorade Boys National Cross Country Runner of the Year and NXN Indiividual Champion Reed Connor of The Woodlands TX graduated in May, it appeared Texas was ready to move on from 'Connor' to another headlining name in the battle for boys distance supremacy.  Perhaps to a Stinson, or maybe a Lutz.  But as the 2009 cross country season has started to unfold, here comes another 'Connor' to lay at least partial claim to the mantle of top Texas harrier.  Flower Mound TX senior Connor Adams, a 4:14 and 9:17 performer on the track last spring, has rocketed up the DyeStat Elite Individual Top 25 after a strong September which includes a 15:05.8 5k win over Marcus TX junior Craig Lutz at the Southlake Carroll Invite two weeks ago. Adams was a national champion over 1500 meters at the AAU Junior Olympics last August (3:57.67), and may still have his finest performances ahead on the track, but as the autumn deepens in the Lone Star State, he's making sure the name Connor stays front and center for another fall.

DyeStat senior editor Dave Devine catches up with the senior on the rise as he prepares for big efforts in the coming months.


1) Congrats on a great start to the season.  Seems like a lot of people sat up and noticed after you defeated then-US#3 Craig Lutz at the Southlake Carroll Invitational two weeks ago.  Can you talk about that race, what you were thinking as you pulled away for the win, and the effect of that victory on your confidence heading deeper into the season?

The race was sloppy (rain and mud), but none the less it was a fun race!  I stayed with the lead group of 3 and just ran with them.  We went out at mid 4:30's for the first mile and dropped the rest of the field by the first 800m.  I honestly thought that Craig was still with me at the final 800m and I was shocked to not see him there.  I was so excited to win a big meet on our district course that I didn’t really care if I beat Craig or not.  That win just showed me that my training and strength is where I want it to be early in the season, and that I can now run at the front and start running with the big names.

2) It seems like that race, and the start to your season in general, represent a pretty big leap forward for you in terms of performance and placement on the national scene.  Is there anything in particular you can attribute that jump to, or has it been a combination of factors connected with steady progression, maturation, consistency, etc.  Do you mind discussing your summer training and what you've done to prepare for a leap onto the national stage?

I think that the key to success is being consistent, and that's what I have been working on over the summer. Over the summer I was running about 65 miles per week, just working on a base for the CC season.  I went to every practice (except for a week of training and vacation in Colorado with one of my teammates), did all the miles, and stayed healthy.  Being another year older has helped make me stronger and Coach Cook has helped me to become more race-smart.

3) You have a 1600 PR of 4:14.00 from last spring, but I hear you ran a very low-key August time trial on the track and hit 4:12.  Was that mostly off summer mileage and tempo stuff, or had you been doing speed and intervals to hit a time like that?  Did cranking out a 2 second PR in a time trial open your eyes to the possibilities ahead for your senior year?

I did not train at all for the time trial!  I just kept running with my team every morning cranking out the miles.  I knew my strength was awesome, so it really didn’t come as a surprise that I could run a 4:12, but it made me wonder how fast I could run when I actually start training for the 1600 / 3200 during the track season.

4) It's hard to stand out in Texas as a prep distance runner, because every year it seems a new crop of guys rise up and challenge for the top spot.  You doubled 4:15 and 9:17 in the 1600 and 3200 at the 5A State Meet last spring, and finished 3rd and 6th, respectively.  In many states around the country you'd be a double state champ by now.  Does that ever get frustrating?  What have you learned from banging elbows with the likes of CJ Brown, Connor Reed, Craig Lutz and Parker Stinson?  

I do not get frustrated about being in Texas running.  I look at it as a privilege.  Not everyone gets to run at the highest level in high school against the top kids in the nation!  I feel honored to run beside them all.  I think if you want to be the best you need to run against the best.  Reed, Craig, Parker and CJ are amazing and I am thrilled to be classified as one of them now.  I have learned to be more confident in my abilities and that I can run with them every week and be competitive with guys that I know are the best.   Craig, Parker and I will be seeing a lot more of each other before the year is over.

5) I read on your website that you've been into running since grade school, when you realized that the pro baseball dream wasn't going to happen.  Can you briefly recap your own journey into the sport, some early success that fed the fire, and when it really started to sink in that this running thing might have a future for you?

I ran every afternoon in elementary school during recess, and did some school fun runs.  When I got to middle school, I ran on the CC and track team, while also playing football and baseball.  I knew I was too small and not strong enough to play football and only a few people make the Pros for baseball, so I decided that after middle school I would join the CC team.  I would wake up every morning as a 13 year old and while riding to middle school with my Mom or Dad, I would see this huge crowd of high school kids running.   I always wondered where they were going or what they were doing.  Now I know!  I started to run outside of school in some local 5ks and then asked my Dad if I could run the SFO Half Marathon.  We went to San Francisco and I ran the half in just over 2 hours, about the same time as the winner of the full marathon (Andrew Cook, who would become my high school coach the following year).

6) Coach Cook says you're probably more of a "track guy" than a "cross country guy," but you're having some nice success on the grass and hills this season.  Care to shed some light on the XC/Track dichotomy in your own mind, and why you might favor one over the other?  Have you reassessed your cross country goals after some of the early season performances?

As of right now I have not re-evaluated my goals, but now I know that I can compete with the best in the nation.  I’m sure that sometime soon as I speak with colleges, I will sit down and talk to my coach and others and ask their opinions.  I just love to run and running year round is very natural to me; XC in the Fall and TF in the Spring.  After running the AAU 1500 Jr Olympics this year and running it in 3:57, I was able to cross out another goal of mine and move the bar a little higher for the next race.  It’s all about progression and having fun and racing hard.  I like track more because of the intensity in the races and the enthusiasm and excitement that the crowds show during track meets rather than CC.  When you get to the Texas state finals, it is quite an honor to know that you are competing against 7 of the best in the state and the nation.  To have a large audience cheering doesn’t hurt either.

7) You've got three older brothers and one younger brother, right?  That's a lot of testosterone floating around the Adams household.  Are all five of you into sports, and if so, is there a competitiveness among the brothers?  Are there ways you might excel that they might not, and vice versa?  Any interests or hobbies you all share in common?

Jeff (36) was a professional inline skater and is now a professional sports photographer living in Florida.  Dusten (24) won 2 national championships in baseball with the University of Tampa.  Tyler (21) is one of the student managers for the University of Arizona baseball team, and Chase (16) is playing varsity football and baseball for Flower Mound High School.  So we all are very active in sports, but there is no competition between us all.  We all support one another’s efforts.  We go to all the football and baseball games; we travel to Arizona to watch some baseball.  I guess you can say that Tyler and Dusten can hit homeruns and Chase can run a 4.5 40.  But none of them can run a 4:12 1600.  But we all have our own talents.  As we get older, we enjoy playing softball in the local men’s league and this summer was the first time my parents saw all of us on the field at the same time.  Now that was fun and competitive since we were on different teams.  The entire family has been very supportive of my running and attend most of my events.  Dusten has actually started to run 5ks.

8) Your website says you haven't had a soda since you were twelve.  Was that a conscious decision back then, that you wanted to make a choice for your health to help your running, or was there some other motivation?  Outside of soda, are you someone who watches what he eats, thinks about nutrition and food choices, or are you like a lot of runners who figure-- at this level of training --the body will burn whatever you throw in there?

I actually stopped drinking soda because my orthodontist said I would have to wear my braces longer than I was supposed to because the carbonation from soda would corrode the braces.  When I got my braces off and I started getting into running, I just figured soda wasn’t a good thing for me to drink as a runner so I stopped and haven’t had one since.  I drink gallons of water and that works for me.  I am one of those runners who doesn’t care about what he eats because it will all be burned off the next day. I can admit that I do eat healthier and eat more vegetables now than I did as a youngster, and that I enjoy a wider variety of food as a runner.

9) I've heard you enjoy running road races too, and have raced up to a half-marathon.  Has it been hard to balance the roads with the demands of cross country and track season?  Do you steer clear of road racing in-season, or have you managed to blend the two together?  Is there anyone racing in the US right now, either roads or track (or combo), who you find inspiring or would aspire to emulate?

I have stayed clear of road racing in the season.  I figured the XC season is to run with the team and we are training for one goal, and that is to get to state.  If I got hurt doing a road race it would not be a good thing, so I try to stay away until off season.  In past years, I have tried to blend them together, but I am focused on the team goals this year in XC and a return trip to Austin for the 1600 and 3200 in the Spring.   I would love to emulate Alan Webb.  Breaking 4 minutes in high school has always been one of my goals. Running for a major university, running in the Olympics and having the opportunity to run professionally keeps me motivated to succeed.  Those are my dreams.


Photos (from top) - Top 2 photos - Jeff Adams, Digital Pixel; Leading Craig Lutz at SL Carroll - Chad Buxton; 2008 TX State Meet - Bert Richardson
 
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