Interview with 1000m American Junior and NCAA record holder, Maryland's own, Robby Creese:
Tell us about your race?
"Just trying to keep up with the leaders and stay as close to them as possible. Then, when the final 200 came around I just tried to finish strong and kick it in."
Do you know what your splits were?
"I'm not sure. I believe I ran 1:51 or 1:52 through the 800."
What was your 800 PR before yesterday?
"1:54"
How did you feel following the race? Did you know you had just set an American Junior and NCAA record?
"When I finished I was really excited that I got the win. Then I saw the time and then my coach told me it was the American Junior record and then I learned later that it was the collegiate record."
What went through your mind when you saw 2:19 as the time?
"It's really hard to explain. I was really tired and excited."
Were there any indications this week in practice with your training that you would run this fast?
"I was feeling really good in training. I was thinking maybe 2:20 or 2:22, but not that fast."
What did you do this past fall as far as racing and training?
"I just basically trained with the team and redshirted the cross country season."
What did redshirting allow you to do, if anything, different than the team with your training?
"I basically did the the same workouts and training."
How about this past winter break? Did you go home the whole time and how long was break?
"Yes, I went home, break was 2 1/2 weeks and I was home the whole time."
What kind of training did you do while home during break?
"I did what the coach told me to do."
What does, "Robby Creese NCAA record holder" sound like? How does it feel?
"It feels great. I had no idea I’d be able to do that."
If you had to single out one thing that most contributed to your record run, what would it be?
"Training here has been great especially the great people to run with. My teammates have really helped me with the workouts and long runs. Definitely being able to train with really high caliber people has made a huge difference."
What would you say is the biggest difference between your high school training and your college training so far?
"In high school I did about 30 to 35 miles a week for cross country. In college I've average around 60 – 70 a week."
Was mid-distance (800-mile) what you had planned to focus on in going to PSU?
"Yes, that was what I had planned on doing here at Penn State."
What do you think you could run right now in the mile?
"I don’t have any idea. I haven’t done any timed runs yet."
When is your next race and what event will you be doing?
"The Penn State National on Jan. 27th and Jan. 28th. I think I'm doing the mile, but I'm not positive."
How does it sound when some you hear that you are faster than Alan Webb?
"I think that that sounds really like it sets the bar really high for me."
What advice has your coach given you since your record run yesterday?
"Keep training like I’ve been training. Keep the same attitude. Maintain what I’ve been doing."
Have thoughts of London 2012 crossed your mind?
"Not really. I'm just trying to take it one day at a time."
With your run yesterday and Matt Centrowitz's bronze at worlds last year, what do you think these recent performances say about the state of Maryland and distance running?
"We’re definitely a state that can produce high caliber distance athletes! Athletes capable of anything."
What was your Facebook status after your run yesterday?
"I just posted the video of the race and the time."
What were your goals going into this year before yesterday and what are they going forward?
"Well my goal was to run in the four oh's (4:0?) for the mile but other than that I didn’t really set goals but now I need to do that."
Based on his record run in the 1000, it would seem that, yes, Robby Creese needs to reassess his goals and possibly make sure his passport is up to date!
Interview with 1000m American Junior and NCAA record holder, Maryland's own, Robby Creese:
Tell us about your race?