On eve of the D2 national championships, Adams State head coach Damon Martin took a few minutes to answer four questions I posed.
Q: How do you prepare yourself to contend for a national title year after year?
Martin: I have been very fortunate to work at a institution that cares about the sport of cross country/track and field. At Adams State the expectations to win and do well is always extremely high. This legacy that was built by my mentor Dr. Joe Vigil and contributed to by so many great student athletes. These student athletes gave their all to make the program what it is today. I believe these expectations are the driving force for both the coaching staff and current student athletes to prepare their best the upcoming seasons.
Q: What's different about this team, compared to some in the past?
Martin: This years teams have been an absolute joy to work with. On the men's side we have had great leadership from a steller group of seniors (Braun, Medigovich, Mwei, Cragg). This years men's squad has also been very deep in talent and preparation. I look forward to watching the compete at NCAAs as this has been their focus all year. On the women's side it has been a great experience as well. The girls have progressed nicely throughout the year and have handled themselves extremely well. This has been quite a feat for them as I said earlier the expectations are high and we have so many new contributers to the program. I am excited for them to put out their best performance of the year as well.
Q: What was this team's defining moment so far this year?
Martin: For the men, I would say their were two moments. The first was at Oklahoma State where we wanted to have a good showing, and felt we missed that opportunity by just a little bit. The second would definitely be the three senior men (Mwei,Medigovich,Braun) coming in together at the regional meet. I didn't witness it (I was watching my daughter run at Colorado state meet), but just hearing about it got me fired up. On the women's side of things I believe we have not had that kind of performance yet for the entire team could be extremely happy with. We have had great races out of several individuals at different races. McGlynn, Roy, Nelson, and LeMaster have run solid all season.
Q: What's your favorite workout for the team?
Martin: Being from Colorado, I just love everything about the mountains. My favorite run is a loop that a former athlete and assistant coach (Dan Caulfield now at California (Pa.)) of mine set up. We call it the Waligunda (name of one of the street that has the steepest hills). I wouldn't say it is the toughest workout that we do, but it is somewhat hard as well as beautiful. The run starts just outside Fort Garland and winds through the hills outside of town at roughly 8,000 to 9,000 feet altitude. The course is relatively flat at the beginning and has several very difficult hills towards the end. The men run between 10-13 miles and the women 7-11 miles. When the team is done, they will sit around talking about the different hills and what hill was toughest for them, almost always "Waligunda".
Disclosure: Martin recruited me to Adams State.
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