2005 USA CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Brief interviews with Shayne Culpepper, Colleen De Reuck, Shalane Flanagan, Liza Pasciuto, and Jen Rhines
by Parker Morse

Liza Pasciuto. (All photos by Alison Wade/New York Road Runners)

Liza Pasciuto
Pasciuto, a freshman at the University of Colorado, won the junior girls' 6K in 21:50.1. In November, Pasciuto surprised many, including her coach Mark Wetmore, by finishing 13th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships and playing a large role in Colorado's team title.

On winning the junior championship after being part of Colorado's team championship in the NCAA:
It's awesome. In high school I was always the number one runner, but coming in to college has been a good experience with running in a pack. This was a chance to get a number one performance.

On racing at sea level after training at altitude:
My fellow freshman, Christopher Pannone and I, all this week we were saying, "Altitude no more!" It's good to train there, but it's not the best breathing.

On her expectations coming into the race:
I expected to contend. I would have been content just qualifying for a place on the world team, but in a race, you can't just settle.

On how the race developed:
The first two laps felt like a regular run. Running with Renee Metivier is like a hard run every day of the week. I had a lot more energy left.

The really big pack [broke up] at the beginning of the last lap, Caitlin [Chock] took the lead, and I decided to go with her. She had about 10 or 15 yards for the whole lap, then I caught her with about 500 to go, and we were running together. With about 300 to go, I put in a little surge and got away.

On the hill that closes each lap of the course:
Compared to the hills I've run in California and in Boulder, it's not bad at all. I ran Mt. SAC about 15 times in my high school career, and those are killer hills compared to this one.

On running for Colorado Coach Mark Wetmore:
He's incredible. He's one of the most intelligent coaches I've ever met. I owe a lot of my development to my high school coaches, but Coach Wetmore has really individualized my training and helped me get along to where I need to be. I think that coming into high school, I had a different kind of talent. I'd played soccer my whole life. He's just developed that. It's just awesome.

Colleen De Reuck.

Colleen De Reuck
Despite turning 40 last April, De Reuck can still compete with the USA's best open runners. De Reuck pulled away from Jen Rhines to win her second-straight senior women's 8K title in 27:24.0. She represented the U.S. in the marathon at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games in August.

On switching from marathon training to cross country:
It's so hard to compete when you're training for a marathon. It's always training, training, and you're so worried about the miles. I had a long break after the Olympics to get my injury better. I started training again, then had a bad flu and lost a week. We had some vacation over Christmas and New Year's, but I've been training for this race because I wanted to make the team and go to World Cross again.

On her planning for the race:
My main concern was that the girls were going to go out hard. I have a little bit of a tight hamstring, and I didn't think I'd really be able to stretch it out. But they ran a nice pace, and it was comfortable. And we got some rain, the course is a little muddy, and that slowed it down a little bit. So that made it more of a strength race than speed. This course could be quick, I think, in dry conditions. I'm happy the rain made it a bit more muddy.

On her plans for the World Cross Country Championships:
Yes, my mum's coming from South Africa so she can take care of my daughters, so I can go. I'm definitely going to go.

Jen Rhines.

Jen Rhines
Jen Rhines finished second in the senior women's 8K in 27:44.7. She, too, represented the US in the marathon at the Athens Olympic Games in August.

On her first race back after the Olympics:
It's my first race back since the marathon. It was really fun to get back out there. I was really itching to get back out there, because my last shorter race was at the [Track and Field] Trials in July.

I felt really strong aerobically, but I started to get a stitch when Colleen got away, and from there on in I just wanted to hold strong for second, because I knew everyone was running strong behind me.

On starting the rest of her season:
It's just the first race, to get the year started well. I'm pleased that I was able to do that today.

On her plans for the World Cross Country Championships:
I need to talk to Terrence and decide about that later today. [Rhines decided not to take the team spot.]

Shalane Flanagan.

Shalane Flanagan
Flanagan won her second-straight title in the senior women's 4K, crossing the finish line in 13:24.3. Flanagan also won the junior 6K title in 2000.

On getting in front of the race so quickly:
I was just a little surprised to pull away that quickly. Nicole Teter took it out on us. I was trying to get out decently fast, because the mud catches you and slows you down. I was a little worried about getting caught up in the first turn. It looked like that was the nastiest part of the course. I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to go down if it was too crowded. I wanted to be able to make my own path.

On making it look easy:
Really? I guess I didn't really know where I was. My training has been decent, but because of my foot bothering me, I haven't gotten in the normal training that I would like to do. There was a little lack of confidence compared to most years. My training hasn't been superb, it's been mediocre. I'm pleased with how it went today, considering [that the training] I've been able to get in is not the best.

On limping after the race:
I have some tendonitis just beneath my navicular bone. I'm trying to get rid of it. I'm going to treat it pretty aggressively this week. I just was trying to put in enough work to be able to come here and compete. I love cross country, and really was bummed about not having a season, so we're just trying to make it work the best we can without compromising the summer at all.

On her place on the World Cross Country team:
Obviously, if I don't feel like I can compete very well, I'd rather give it up to someone else.

Shayne Culpepper.

Shayne Culpepper
Culpepper finished second in the senior women's 4K in 13:27.0, 2.7 seconds behind race winner Shalane Flanagan.

On having a rough race:
You just have to work through it. It depends on your style of running, your stride, and all those things. I haven't run cross country for two years, so there was some real getting back into it and relearning how to do it.

It was hard from the gun. Cross country's just hard. It's never easy. You can't rely on a kick or anything like that. It takes a lot out of you.

On her chances of catching Flanagan:
At the end I was reeling her in a little bit, and one of my strengths is my kick. But she had enough [of a] lead that I wasn't going to catch her. If there was anyone within 10 meters, I'd beat them. It is hard closing up that hill, though.

On whether she's planning on going to the World Cross Country Championships:
Yes.

(Interviews conducted February 12-13, 2005, and posted March 9, 2005.)