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Celebrating Colorado's college-bound track and cross country athletes:</h3>
Regan VanDePol's contributions helped to make this year's Broomfield girls team possibly the best the school has ever seen. Photo by Ashley Green.
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Regan VanDePol's personal best marks:
800 meters - 2:21.11
1600 meters - 5:16.33
5K cross country - 18:24.00
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Start by telling us what factors led you to make the decision to commit with the University of Wyoming.
I have never really wanted to go far from home. When I started looking at colleges, I was focused on the smaller D2 schools here in Colorado. I visited some and realized that I wanted a bigger university. When I visited Wyoming for the first time for an academic tour, I loved it. After that, I wanted to go to Wyoming. Everyone has asked if I will be able to handle the cold, and I can honestly answer that I don't really mind the cold.
What do you plan to study at Wyoming?
Since I was little I knew I wanted to help people in some way. I plan to study nursing at UW.
If you had to choose, would it be cross country or track?
If I had a choice between cross country and track, it would be track. I love being on the track more than anything. At track meets, there are people cheering all the way around the track and the noise is exciting during a race. I like running the 1600m and relays are always fun too.
Do you have plans for post-season cross country this fall or has the time come to shut down the racing for a while?
I have one more race this fall. I will be running the NXR race in Arizona. I am hoping to beat my personal record one more time before track season starts.
Your cross country times have shown steady improvement through high school. What have you been able to do to keep the progress marching forward?
Every year we start training in mid June, this has allowed me to bold up my miles and get a couple workouts in before the first race of the season. I train a little harder and have a little more confidence than I did the year before, going into the season. The extra confidence in myself and my training really helps me get better each year.
You run for one of the legends of Colorado cross country coaching. What's one of the most important things you've learned from Greg Weich?
Coach Weich has taught me so much in the last four years, but things I will take away from it all is to believe in myself and to have sisu. Sisu translates to guts and I have been hearing it since freshman year. It takes guts to get out of your comfort zone and push just a little harder to get a new PR. Also, he always has a joke up his sleeve and makes practice fun. Running should be fun and he helped us all by making it fun, entertaining and light hearted.
This year, you're in 5A rather than 4A. What event or events will you be focusing on this spring in hopes of advancing to state?
In the spring, I will focus on the 1600m and the 800m. I also plan to run a couple 3200 since I have not run one since my freshman year. I also believe we will have a pretty good 4x800 team. I hope to run some 4x400s this season, as well.