After a long stint as an Eagle, Blue Jay is the next identity up for Lauren Ogg. Photo by Jeff McCoy.
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Lauren Ogg's best marks:
1600 meters - 5:46.73
3200 meters - 11:56.10
5K cross country - 18:05
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Tell us a little about the decision for Creighton University. What made the school stand out for you?
The decision to spend my next four years at Creighton was decided by a number of factors. I was fortunate enough to visit 5 different schools on all levels of competition. Creighton was everything I was looking for. The small student body with a big school feel, the opportunity to help build a program, incredible academics and the level of high competition that I am used to living in Colorado. The coaching staff was a big reason of why I chose Creighton. I felt like Coach Rogers and I connected instantly, and our beliefs on training are very similar. Most importantly, I felt like he believed in me and my potential, which is something I have been blessed to have with Valor's Coach Coplen.
What do you plan to study while you're at Creighton?
Creighton is known for their undergrad medical track and medical school, and I plan to major in Biology or something similar and continue down the path of some kind of graduate medical degree. I'm not sure what that will be yet, but I have been thinking about medical school, PA school, or pharmacy school.
Your running career took off in a big way this fall. You took more than two-and-a-half minutes off your cross country PR this year, and you went from an 11:56 3200 to an 18:05 5K. Tell us what made that possible.
Believe it or not, but breaking 12:00 last year in the 3200 was huge for me. After two years of seemingly non stop health issues, I broke the 12:00 barrier after being in the Mayo Clinic during spring break just a few weeks prior. Health issues have interrupted my training in the past, but now that everything is consistent and been taken care of, my training has been virtually uninterrupted and it has shown in my running. I am very excited to see how I can run because this is the first time I have been able to train for, as of now, 8 months consistently. I am excited because I feel like I am capable of more, and I am excited to see how my hard work will show in my track season and my college career.
One of the things that came as a result of all that was a Liberty Bell title. When the gun went off at Liberty Bell, what did you think was within the realm of possible for you for that race?
I had never run Liberty Bell before this year, and I was excited for the race. I was also really nervous and on edge the whole day. Everyone kept telling me how fast of a course it was, and the pressure to perform felt really high. My goal for the season had been to just break 20, the one thing I hadn't been able to do my whole high school career. After breaking it by a large margin at the Sabercat Invite, Coach Coplen decided I needed to go after the sub-19. I was really just hoping for an 18:59 out of myself and awesome, fast performances out of my teammates. I went out hard like my coach told me to, since the beginning is downhill. After that, I just went into autofocus and started rolling. I barely remember the race. Even though I can barely remember it, I am thankful for the race because it gave me the confidence I needed to realize I could compete with girls I never thought I had a chance against.
What goals do you have in mind for the track season ahead of you?
For track season, I have a lot of goals that I am working towards. I want huge PR's in my mile and 3200. It's funny because I've already PR'd in both events either in a time trial or xc race. I want to qualify for state in the 3200 and maybe the 1600, we'll just have to see. Longer distances are more my strong suit.
What you you pick as the highlight of your running career to date?
The highlight of my running career was definitely the regional meet this year. Although I didn't run as well as I wanted, and lost Lexi [Reed] earlier than I wanted to (she had an amazing race), it was still the best meet ever. After placing 16th in the region last year and missing state by 1/10th of a second, placing second this year was a big accomplishment for me. But even more important than that, the Valor Christian girls team qualified for state for the first time in school history! I am so grateful to have been a part of the team and have all of our hard work pay off in the way we had been looking towards all season. I will never forget seeing the team scores posted and just screaming and celebrating with my teammates. That is a memory that I will carry with me forever.