What did you take away from The American Conference Championships?
Our Conference meet was a great success for our team! It has made me more excited for Regionals, which will be my last college XC race. There is always room for improvement but I believe we are headed in the right direction. We had 6 out of our 9 ladies PR at Conference, and we're looking to set some more PRs at Regionals. We were kind of the underdogs coming into the meet based off of last year's Conference Championship meet; however, we definitely took a huge step forward.
What are your goals heading into the regional meet?
I want our team to place top 10 in the region. My freshmen year, we were 9th and I believe that we are capable of doing so again. As for myself, I was excited to have finally broken 22 minutes in the 6k, now I just want to see how much more I can break 22 by.
What is the biggest difference between high school and college running?
College athletics in general are more than just a sport, they become your life, and this is probably the biggest difference. You have practice at 6am, class, afternoon practice, and weights. Somewhere between then you have all your school work to do. Not to mention, all the days you miss for traveling and competing. In addition, the competition is on a whole other level. In order to be successful you have to work a lot harder and put in extra work on your own. This includes anything from core to making sure you're getting adequate sleep and nutrition.
What is your favorite moment from high school running?
My best high school running memory was hands down making it to Nike Nationals in Oregon. We had worked so hard all season, so making it to Nationals was a dream come true. That was the first time any women's team from North Carolina had made it, so it was a huge accomplishment. The whole experience from getting to fly out to Oregon, meeting the professional athletes, to racing on the freezing muddy course was just incredible and unlike any other.
What do you plan to do after graduation?
After graduation, I plan on working as nurse at a hospital in the Triangle area for at least a year. I am interested in becoming a travel nurse at some point; however, I need to get experience first. Of course, I will continue to run and compete in 5ks, half marathons, and eventually marathons.
What is your biggest achievement in running?
To me, it is a blessing to have made it this far in my running career and compete at the D1 level. It wasn't until the end of my senior year that I even knew I was going to run in college and I have greatly exceeded my initial expectations for myself. Of course, as an athlete you can never truly be satisfied with any performance because there's always something you could have done better. I've grown so much as an athlete over the years and I have my coaches, both high school and college, to thank for it! They saw potential in me and never gave up on me and I can't thank them enough.
How did you get into the sport?
I was one of the few kids that actually got excited about running the mile in gym class. I always tried to beat all the boys! When I got to middle school, we couldn't try out for sports until 7th grade. Once track came around, I tried out and made the team and have loved it ever since. I remember, as kid I would ask my dad if I could go for a run, and he let me do this little loop around our neighborhood. I had done several sports growing up, but running is my favorite by far.
You helped begin the 6 year streak of Green Hope state titles in 2009, how does it feel to look back on the program now and see them still having so much success?
They continue to amaze me year after year! I still go and run with the girls when I'm home for winter or summer break because they're great work out buddies. They are such a hard working group of girls and Coach Collins is an amazing coach! Whenever someone asks me where I ran at in high school and I tell them I ran at Green Hope, I always get the same response of, "Wow, they're so good". It makes me proud to be a Green Hope Alum! I feel like it's easy to become complacent when you're really successful; however, these girls are far from that. Each year this always someone who steps up and raises the bar.
Do you like track or cross country better?
It is very hard to pick, but I have to say cross country. This is because I run the longer events (10k&5k) and I would much rather run out on a course through the woods then run in a circle 25 times. Plus, you never know what to expect because every course is different and the weather can affect the terrain; therefore, it's you verse nature.
Who is the biggest inspiration you've had in your career?
My dad is definitely my biggest inspiration! He has always been very supportive of me since day one. Some parents can be very hard on their kids if they have a bad game/meet; however, my dad tells me he's proud no matter what. No matter how old you are, it's always a great feeling to see your parent's in the stands our out on the course as you run by. When my dad can't make it to a meet, he'll watch it live and half the time he'll now my time & place before I do.