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<strong>Colorado's Class of 2014 makes their decisions...</strong></p>
It's a long flight to Asheville, North Carolina, but Phoebe Schneider looks forward to trading strides with the Bulldogs this fall. Photo by Paul Jaeger.
1600 meters - 5:31.97
3200 meters - 11:56.98
5K cross country - 18:45.0 (at altitude)
There has to be something that draws someone from Highlands Ranch all the way across the Appalachians to Asheville, North Carolina, for college. Tell us a little about that.
I first heard about UNC Asheville when the coach contacted me. He had gotten my name through a recruiting company, NCSA. I went out to visit the campus and absolutely loved the team and school. I was also drawn in by UNC Asheville being a Division I program, that I could be a contributor to. Downtown Asheville is a great city that seemed like a culturally cool place to live for a few years. Asheville also has mountains and gorgeous scenery which made it an attractive place to go. Overall, despite being far away, it was all a perfect fit for me!
Let's talk a little about the Rock Canyon team this fall. Early season indications suggested only a little of how your team would finish this fall. What happened between the beginning of August and the end of October?
This past season, my team and I stepped up our training in hopes of redeeming ourselves after not qualifying for state the year before. We put in a lot of extra mileage and ran two-a-days early in the season. We had a very dedicated group of girls as well as a cohesive team. We kept our goals high throughout the season and our success began to show in the Continental League Championships, Regionals, and finally, State. Having the failure of not qualifying the year before inspired us to bring our training and racing to the next level.
If you're picking best high school memories, would that be it, or is there something else we need to look to?
Cross country senior year is definitely my favorite high school memory. Especially because of all the success I had individually as well as the success we had as a team. I was the team captain, and it was so much fun to be able to lead such a dedicated and hard working group of girls. Winning the Continental League Championships was also definitely a highlight of senior year!
You've run only one season of high school track. Why were you late in coming to run in the spring?
Growing up, I was a competitive figure skater. During my freshman and sophomore years, I spent the spring on the ice instead of on the track. Once I achieved all of my goals in skating, I decided it was time to get serious about running, which included doing track my junior and senior years.
Your cross country times had been pretty good for three years, but took a big step forward this fall. What did you do differently that might account for the turn for the better?
The main thing that contributed to my improvement this past fall was doing track the spring before. I think having the base that track built helped me bring my summer training to the next level and avoid injury.
Do you have any goals in mind that you'd like to pick off in the coming track season?
For this track season, I plan to focus mainly on the 3200. I am hoping that since I have a year of track under my belt now, I will be able to improve my times quite a bit. Ultimately, my goal is to qualify for state in the 3200m race.
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Cross country draws its talent pool from a lot of different backgrounds. Instantly, soccer comes to mind, but Phoebe Schneider reminds us that the pool can reach even as far as figure skating. Rock Canyon's figure-skater-turned-distance-star will be aiming at making the state 3200 field this spring. It's a very difficult field to make, but the taste of success she had this past fall might just turn out to whet the kind of appetite it takes. We'll check in periodically to see how the chase is progressing.