The Santa Clara track team, which had last weekend off, will gear it up again full strength this weekend when it travels to the Mt. Sac Relays and the Woody Wilson Invite at UC Davis. Bronco head coach Felipe Montoro (FM), whose men's cross country team led the department in grade point average for the Winter 2012 quarter (click here for release), talked on Thursday about what the team is looking for this week, the great weather in the Bay Area and Erin McCarthy's early success this season.
SCU: You had a week off after the SF State Distance Carnival. What did you work on during the time away from competition? Does your mileage typically increase in that first week off?
FM: It depends on the student-athlete and what the coaching staff felt was in their best interest for performing at their best heading into the final portion of the season. Most did take the opportunity to get in some quality miles and workouts.
SCU: This weekend you are running both at Mt. Sac and the Woody Wilson. Nicole Giove is running the 10k at Mt. Sac. Pretty stiff competition?
FM: Yes, she runs Thursday the 19th at 10:30 pm against some very good runners. She has been preparing well and is ready to give it her best shot. Woody Wilson will also provide great competition.
SCU: So the Woody Wilson Invite is going to be very competitive. What are you expecting from this meet?
FM: Chantelle and I expect our runners to be competitive in whatever heat they are seeded in and finish as high as they are capable of in their races. It is going to be a hot day, so the longer distance races will be effected by the heat, but it should provide a great opportunity for the middle distance runners to run fast (temperatures are expected in the high 80s).
SCU: The sun is shining and the days are getting longer and warmer. Is that a plus for distance training on the track in the spring?
FM: To a point, if it is really hot it can be a negative, but since we practice in the mornings, it has been very nice lately!
SCU: Who is running well right now?
FM: All the women in the 800/1500m group are really running well right now. Richard Zhu's workouts indicate he is ready for a breakout race sometime this month and Mary Kriege has been getting better every week.
SCU: Are you surprised by how well Erin McCarthy is running? She is healthy now and is that making a big difference?
FM: She is very talented and always has had a great deal of potential, but really only had one healthy track season (2010) until now. The fact that she is running so well this season is a testament to how hard she works off the track cross training, doing everything she can to stay healthy and always staying so positive.
Go Broncos!
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