Post-Big Ten XC Championships comments from Rebecca Walter

by Chris Fox

Rebecca Walter wins the 2003 Big Ten XC title, running 20:40.5 on the 6k course. (Photo: Chris Fox)

Chris Fox caught up with Michigan sophomore Rebecca Walter after she won her first Big Ten Cross Country title in East Lansing, Michigan, November 2. The last Michigan runner to win the Big Ten Cross Country title was Katie McGregor, who won back-to-back titles in 1997 and 1998. Michigan won its second-straight conference title, beating Michigan State 31 to 57.

Fast-Women.com: What was your goal today?
Rebecca Walter: We definitely had the team goal to take away the championship. A few of us were going to vie for the individual championship. I knew I had a shot, so that was one of my goals. We did a superb job. Thirty-one points is pretty low.

FW: Your team has a habit of peaking for this meet...
RW: What I like about this team is we really pull together. We put a lot of stress on the Big Ten Championship. A lot of people stepped up and had a way better race than we even expected.

FW: Do you have a goal for nationals?
RW: Up to this point the focus was on the Big Ten. We did decide at the beginning of the season to create some goals for nationals.

FW: You were nervous today?
RW: I was nervous. Big Tens makes me the most nervous of any race we do. We had so much emotion that we put into it. It's our focus of the season, basically, to shoot for winning the Big Tens.

FW: What was the race like with [Michigan State's] Michelle Carson?
RW: We were [running] neck and neck for the first mile, throwing in little surges, not too bad. I felt pretty good around the 3k. I was like, 'Well, I'll make a move and see what happens.' It ended up working out.

FW: Did you plan to run with some of your teammates? You ran with Lindsay Gallo at Pre Nationals...
RW: We try to work together, but it depends on how everyone feels going into the race. We like to go out at a little bit different paces, so in a bigger field like Pre Nationals it's really good to run together — find other blue jerseys — but this is a much smaller field, so it's kind of a little bit more on-your-own.

FW: It seems like your team is peaking at the right time...
RW: We have two peaks; one for Big Tens, and then this year we wanted to look beyond Big Tens and make goals for nationals, and hopefully perform really well there, too.

FW: Do you pay attention to the rankings?
RW: We do. We take it with a grain of salt, though. They are fairly valid, but they change around so much during the season.

(Interview conducted November 2, 2003, posted November 14, 2003)