| Katie Kelley |
How are you feeling as you get ready for your first meet as a collegiate coach?
“I’m really excited and scared all at he same time. That’s just normal jitters, though. We have a pretty young team with three sophomores and seven freshmen. The team has been training very well over the past two weeks, so I’m anxious to see how they perform on Friday. It’s a different type of meet in that we won’t run another meet anything similar to this format, but it will provide a good test of where we stand coming out of our preseason workouts.”
With such a young squad, what do you expect from the three sophomores, Faith Barlow, Dana Mecke and Katy Spence?
“I have heard great things about how they performed as freshmen last year, both in cross and track. Faith is ready to go. She’s been running all summer and showed up in great shape. I won’t have Dana for the whole season since she’s playing volleyball, but she’s been outstanding in practice. Katy is going to turn into a strong distance runner, so I’m excited about having those three as a foundation for this season and down the road.”
How have preseason workouts been through the first two weeks?
“There has been dramatic improvement since our first day two weeks ago. It seems like everyday they grow by leaps and bounds. What impresses me the most is no one has given up on me. We’ve thrown some tough practices at them and they’ve responded well. They are really growing as a team. They hang out together after practice and they are really focused when it’s time to be focused.”
What are some of the major differences between coaching cross country on the high school and collegiate levels?
“Big differences across the board, but the one that stands out the most is the maturity level. It’s wonderful to have runners who have a goal and know where they want to be as opposed to those you’re trying to get anything out of. You can pick out the ones in high school who are going to succeed at the next level, but those are few and far between. Everyone on this team has shown the commitment to be successful at this level.”
As a former student-athlete at UTSA, describe the feelings of being back here as a coach?
“It is a dream job. I tell my husband every day that I love going to work. I love being here and being able to train the girls and know what they’re going through. They know in me they see someone who did the same thing not too long ago. I still run with them, which helps make that connection. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”
How does this year’s schedule set up for the team?
“We’re using this first meet as a practice meet to get into the racing scene. It’s not conducive to what we’re going to be doing at conference, but it is the same course. The Texas State meet will be more like a regular season cross country race. We’ll train hard and I’ll bring them off a little bit before the meet, but our main focus is peaking for and performing well at conference.”