Interview: Cate Guiney
By Becky Orfinger
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Boston
College Women's XC, L-R: Lisa McIsaac, Sharon Van Tuyl, Mary Tomer,
Laura Smith, Megan Cunniff, Cate Guiney and Erin Herbig. |
Cate Guiney is currently a sophomore at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass., where she is a member of their top-ranked women's cross country team. In high school, running for Middletown South (NJ) High School, Guiney's PRs included a 10:23 (3,200m) and 4:54 (1,600m). In 1998, she qualified for the Foot Locker National H.S. Cross Country Championships, where she finished 7th overall. Her twin sister, Maggie, also runs for BC.
FW: How did your summer training go this year? Did you do anything differently? It must be great to have your sister to train with!
CG: My summer training went really well. It's really wonderful to have a twin sister to train with. I trained about 55-70 miles a week this summer. With my longest run being 14 miles. I didn't really change much from the summer before. In August, my sister Maggie and I traveled out to Mammoth Lakes, California to train with my friends Lauren Fleshman, Sara Bei, Sara Gorton, Josh Spiker, Evan Fox, and JJ Duke. We went out there last summer, too. It's really hilly there and the runs are so beautiful -- and being around so many focused athletes really psyches me up for cross country (which is so much more fun than track!).
FW: BC is ranked in the top 25 in the preseason NCAA D1 poll. Do you think the team will make it to NCAAs this year? I know it's early in the season, but how have the new freshman (Danielle Jelley, Jenn Donovan, etc.) made an impact so far? (Editor's Note: As of this writing, BC is ranked #10 in the country.)
CG: Our team is so fast, talented, and DEEP this year. We will finish top 10 in the nation. We are nine runners strong. In our first race, we finished with the top nine places and in the race this past weekend, we scored 15 pts. again. Katie Ryan (junior) who was not healthy last fall but ran well in the track season (went to nationals in the 3,000m last June) is much stronger than ever before, Julie Spolidoro (sophomore) is a transfer from Old Dominion who ran 16:22 last June in the 5,000m and is looking great. We have an amazing freshman class with Jen Kramer, Danielle Jelley, and Jen Donovan. Laura Smith (sophomore with freshman eligibility) and Sharon Van Tuyl (junior) are running strong. My sister Maggie (sophomore) is in incredible shape this year and I (sophomore) am ready to go as well.
FW: I heard about Casie Kerr's tragic accident this summer -- how has this affected you, your sister and your former teammates?
CG: Casie was an amazing girl. My senior year of high school, she was a freshman. That year we won New Jersey's State Championship as a team and Casie (who was only a freshman) was our third runner in that meet. We won that title because of her. She also ran on our Distance Medley Relay at Penn Relays. Casie was a girl who always had a smile on her face and put everyone around her in a good mood. Casie's sudden and tragic death reminded my sister and I that each day is a gift. My sister had a really difficult time dealing with Casie's accident. When we first got back to school and we were with our team, she kept thinking about Casie, and she would cry a lot. We made a collage of pictures of people who are important to us (including pictures with Casie) to remind us of all of the people we love and hopefully love us in return.
FW: What's your XC training regimen like? (mpw, workouts)
CG: I run about 60 to 70 miles a week. I usually have two or three workouts (fartleks, tempo, or intervals) during the week.
FW: What are your HS and college PRs? Is there a particlular distance you like the best?
CG: In high school I ran 10:23 (3200) and 4:54 (1600). In college I ran 9:35 (3000m). The mile is definelty too short for me. I think that I will probably be a 5000m runner.
FW: What kinds of things do you enjoy doing besides running? Is it fun going to school near Boston?
CG: I am an Englsih major at BC. I really like to write. Maggie and I love to shop in Boston. Its a dangerous place to be with a credit card. There is always something to do in Boston.
FW: Who do you look up to (either in the running community or outside of it?)
CG: I really look up to my friend Lauren Fleshman, who runs for Stanford, because she accomplished so much last year as a freshman and I know firsthand what a good person she is. Lauren has great character and she is a wonderful friend to have.
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