Running for Nebraska: Hello readers

September 21, 2010

Hello readers

So I kind of feel like I'm writing to nobody, but my mom told me a lot of you check this often, so I'll start blogging more. I have practice soon, today we have 2 mile warm up, 4 x 1 mile repeats on a dirt road, and a 2 mile cool down (and I did a morning run today, 4 miles). So this transition has definitely been a struggle, the team is incredible though, it is just extremely different being on the lower end of things. It can be discouraging and it's probably me just being hard on myself, like always. But hopefully today is better, I'm trying to focus on my progress and not what is going on around me or who is doing once. As my dad would say, "run your race" but I'm sure all of you know how challenging it can be to ignore what surrounds you. Our next race is the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational (5k), this is a big one with a lot of nationally ranked D1 schools in it (Wisconsin, Duke, etc.) That is in two weeks, so from now to then I'm hoping to find myself again and RELAX and just go for it. Well I'm off to practice, hope all is well in CA and I'll get back to blogging more :)

2 comments:

Aaron said...: Hello, I am the Cross Country and Track coach at the new High School Murrieta Mesa. I just happened to stumble across your blog while looking at the Great Oak website. More importantly, I grew up in Kearney, NE and attended and ran track at UNL my Fr. and Soph. years before transferring out here to APU. As you said being a Husker is an experience you can't have at other colleges. Being the only D-1 college in the state and without a pro team of any sort the college receives a tremendous amount of support and the games are a great experience. I am looking forward to coming back and going to the Missouri game with my dad next month. I am glad you are enjoying your time there and keep up the great work. Go Big Red!; September 24, 2010 at 10:35 AM
SAM I AM said...: I'm sorry it took me so long to realize you commented, that is really neat you're from Neb. I love it here so far, I'm not sure if I'll be at the Missouri game or not because of our Cross schedule. Congrats on Murrieta Mesa and welcome to the Southwestern League!
Go Huskers!; September 27, 2010 at 7:40 PM

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Why Nebraska?

When I began the college search I knew that I wanted to continue running at the NCAA Division 1 level. I desired a school rich in pride for its sports with good academics as well. I found this in Lincoln, NE. College sports are a very big deal in the state of Nebraska and it shows in the school's facilities and coaching staff. I picked Nebraska because of all it had to offer me as a student athlete and because of the at-home feeling I got on my visit and with the team. Quite a few of my teammates have become a lot faster since their high school PR's and this was a good indicator to me that I could trust in the training tendencies of my long time Nebraska Cross Country coach Jay Dirksen. A graduate of South Dakota State in '68, Jay was an All American steeplechaser and has coached at Nebraska for 28 years producing a total of 3 NCAA National Champions, 1 U.S Olympic Trials Champion, 20 Cross Country NCAA All Americans, 39 NCAA Track and Field All Americans, 5 Big XII Cross Country Team Titles, 6 NCAA Regional Titles and 22 NCAA Cross Country Teams.

Before Nebraska

I ran four years of Cross Country and Track for Great Oak High School under coaches Doug Soles and Daniel Noble. I was a four year letter winner in both sports and went to Nike Cross Nationals all four years. Some notable awards include #1 Freshman in Riverside County in 2006 and Freshman of the Year, as well as the #3 Sophomore in 2007, winner of the Long Beach Invitational, the Mt. SAC D1 sophomore girls champion and Sophomore of the Year. My Junior and Senior seasons I was a team captain and the Most Improved athlete on the track team, Junior and Senior of the Year as well as 1st Team All-League in the SWL, a scholar athlete, a member of the 2008 Riverside County Academic Team winner (gohs xc), part of the CIF Southern Section team champion in 2009, and the tie breaker of Great Oak's 2009 Runner Up accolades at the California State Meet. In track I was the Inland Empire 1600m Champ, held senior records in the 1600m (5:02.54), 3200m (11:09.10), and 3 miles (17:19, xc); and was a California High School Heisman Finalist in 2010.