Written By Jefferson Reese '15
SANTA CLARA, Calif.- Senior Amia Nash (AN) has started her season with personal best times in both her 5K and 6K races. Santa Clara Broncos (SCB) caught up with Nash to find out what has attributed to her success and her plans after graduation.
SCB: How did you prepare for your senior season in the offseason?
AN: To prepare for this season, I focused on putting in the mileage this past summer. This was the first summer I stayed in Santa Clara instead of going home to Seattle, and so I had the opportunity to train with some of my teammates. I built up to running 65 miles a week, and was doubling with runs in the morning and afternoon a few times a week. Coming from a sprinting background in high school, this summer was the highest volume of training I have ever done.
SCB: What are your personal and team goals for this season?
AN: As one of the team captains, a lot of my goals are team-oriented and about building a strong team dynamic. We have a young team this year with seven incoming freshmen so it was important for us to establish good team chemistry and be supportive of one another. Our main goals in workouts and races this season have been to work together as a pack and close the spread between our top five scorers. We have had a lot of athletes step up in their training to reach this goal. My personal goals for this season were to run personal best times in the 5k and 6k, and to represent Santa Clara on the conference and regional teams in the post season.
SCB: You've set a personal best in both women's 5k and 6k races this year. What do you attribute this to?
AN: The summers going into my sophomore and junior cross country seasons I struggled with health problems and injuries, and so finally being healthy this past summer allowed me to build a strong base going into this season. Having teammates who motivate me in workouts and push me in races has helped me run faster too. Our coaches set up our training and give us workouts that are meant to make us stronger and run those personal best times so it has been nice to see my training pay off.
SCB: How has being on the cross country team at Santa Clara influenced your college experience?
AN: I have loved having the opportunity to represent Santa Clara as a student-athlete. The cross country team has been my family at SCU. My coaches and teammates support me, not only in running, but also in other things that I want to pursue outside of sports. Participating in Division I athletics was always a goal of mine, and it has taught me a lot about hard work, commitment and time management.
SCB: What are your plans for life after SCU?
AN: I plan on taking a gap year to travel and do a global health immersion program in South America focusing on health disparities in underprivileged communities. I want to learn about different cultures, dance in new places and meet new people because I think we have a lot to learn from other people's stories and their experiences. Also, my mom just earned her Ph.D. this past year and she has really motivated me to continue my education and get a Masters and Ph.D. in Public Health down the road. I'm not really sure what life's going to throw at me, but I'm excited to see.
Go Broncos!
