Q and A with Coach Kim McGreevy
10/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 28, 2008
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Assistant coach Kim McGreevy recently discussed the Spartans' season to date and the upcoming Big Ten Championship meet.
On pre-nationals...
We had a really solid weekend. I thought the women raced really well I think we saw everything we needed to see. It's the first time this season we've impressed. We pressed each other and we pressed the heat. So really it's the first time we've had the chance to stack up against that many people, that many people that are good. We raced really, really well. We learned a few lessons and we did a few things wrong, but as we say, that's why we race. We made some mistakes and we can learn from them.
On the men's side, they raced very well and they raced very tough. Coach Drenth and I both believe we're going to be even better, not only over 10,000-meters at NCAA regionals and nationals, but on a hilly course at Michigan for the conference meet. We have a very strong team and a great pack. We have incredible five through seven runners. We're feeling good about where we're headed going into championship season. We truly feel like the best is yet to come.
On heading into the Big Ten Championship...
Needless to say, we're very excited about Big Tens. We're trying to stay relaxed and not get ourselves too wound up or to over-stimulate the emotions and get all excited and nervous. Right now we're really focused on our training and our executing. On the women's side, we've got a really seasoned bunch. We have four seniors who are on top of their game and are leading the charge. They are doing a tremendous job with the group. It's just a special group of young women. They are prepared to go to Big Tens and we are going to compete and it will be one of the best cross-country races we've ever competed in. There are six teams within fifteen points of each other, based on vague calculations, so that's really exciting. We're going to go in there and we are going to fight with ten teams, and six of the top thirty teams in the country to try and win this championship. I think we're in a good position to do it, but so is Minnesota and Michigan and Wisconsin. With the men, they're looking really good and we think they can get into the top five. So right now we are just managing our emotions, taking care of business, trying not to get sick, not letting anybody get hurt and just managing energy.
On what it means competing in such a strong conference...
It is tremendous in two different ways. Number one, it's the experience. They're running with some of the best people in the country. We have some of the best people in the country and they have some of the best people in the country, and we're all going to try and beat each other up over 6,000 and 8,000-meters next Sunday. Any time you get tested, it's a good thing. From a more concrete stand-point, to be in a conference that strong, whoever we beat is likely going to be a team that qualifies for nationals, as well. It shores up a bid to the national championships. It doesn't guarantee it, but it's another opportunity to gain some points against some great teams.
On surprises throughout the year...
I hesitate to say surprises just because we saw it coming. I've seen things coming for six weeks. Coach Drenth has seen them coming for years. On the men's side for example, Patrick Grosskopf, Joe Dimambro, Spencer Beatty and Shane Knoll are running great. A lot of guys who have relatively less experience have really developed well and they've just come along great. On the women's side, someone like Carlie Green who is a redshirt freshman was 50th at the pre-nationals last weekend, and that not at all surprised us but it's pretty cool. Tiffany Abrahamian is a true freshman that is solid as a rock. Last week, she kept her poise and raced really, really well. It's really tremendous for a true freshman. Whenever you have young people grabbing onto their role and running with it on a team that's poised to do some things nationally, it's great. At pre-nationals, Laura Portis was second in the open race and based on her time would have been our #4. She just ran an outstanding race.
Players Mentioned
