Molly Seidel - 2015 NCAA Cross Country Championship - Full race

the breeze is a little it's gonna be in their face at some directions but it's not gonna have an impact on the race the course is dry and they're gonna have a great day here and certainly for a lot of these runners they've run in a lot of different conditions throughout the years so while they are used to whatever's thrown at them and while it is windy it's gonna be a great day gun has been fired and we are racing here the women's 6k national championship race here in Louisville Kentucky is underway and immediately we're gonna see that pack start to form Bob in the early portions of the race where where was your mindset at what were you looking to do early in the race well this started start of this course is this gradual downhill which is kind of nice I've got a nice run out and so really this is about position it's about getting out making sure you're not too far back from where you want to be in the race because in a race this size with so many athletes if you get stuck in the back it's really hard to move through and then it's kind of relaxing and taking inventory of yourself how you feeling what's going on where do you need to be that's all gonna happen in the first two to three four minutes of the race here well have scoring loops for you after the knee 2k and 4k mark so we can officially tell you who's running aware of course the large pack you're gonna see that start to spread out throughout the course of this event got the lead cart that's going to get us some great shots throughout the course of this event this women's 6k that certainly so many of these runners have been working for for a very long time the fans they get to line the corners all around this place here Bob it's really a neat opportunity and some of them take off running to get some better views around the CP Tom Sawyer Park that's right and that is with a visual for cross-country fans that you see anywhere you go as the runners go by one section they're off sprinting to the next point that they've already mapped out where they're gonna watch them come by not a lot of early separation pop as we see them come around this first corner you've got a back pack of about a hundred runners making their way out as they really try to feel each other out here early on that's right and every once in a while you see one runner at this early in the race out in front but right now when you see it lined up across the front like that that means as you just said Nick people are just is feeling themselves out getting position and getting ready to move at the right time see if ya see a pair of Notre Dame runners there towards the front of the pack of course one of those is Molly side Elle who is expected to contend for the individual title she has a very very impressive teammate running with her this weekend that of course is an Aurora and she is also a freshman so you know by we talked about Aly off strand ER as a freshman and Aurora as a freshman that's an awfully big stage for such a young runner to be running here I can't play both ways it can be overwhelming and nerve-wracking and impact your performance negatively but but ignorance can be bliss as well and and not knowing really the stage that you're performing on and just going out there and running and doing what you're capable of doing is also a positive and we see those two Irish runners up front you can call them first and second as of right now how much does that help though to have a teammate you know for all these runners that are running for the team championship of course they're pacing they want to run in packs but if you're running for the individual title and you've got a teammate you can run up front does that help you pace your way through this event it does its familiarity my coaching college timbo always used to say don't expect to do and erase what you haven't done in practice well these girls train with each other every day and so to have your teammate with you that you train next to every day is comforting and encouraging and reassuring had an opportunity to do a little walking around earlier today to really get the lay of the land here some of the unique things Bob about this this course that you really like here in Louisville Kentucky well I think it's it's it's generally spectator friendly it's fair I like fairness meaning there's no kind of unusual sharp turns or crazy up Hills or down hills it rolls and so it fair is going to challenge them on the elevation slight rolls it's wide enough to make moves and pass athletes if you need to and it's a fair course early stages of the women's 6k national championship race underway and Bob so far not a lot of separation a lot of runners trying to stay in that pack but we expect at what may be the 4k mark for some of these runners to make their move I think I think the team race will start to really shape up at four kilometers I expect the individuals to start moving in front and and and and show themselves before that probably at two or three K at the latest you and I talked about this New Mexico program and some people who cover the sport are saying I'd be one of the greatest teams we've ever seen Wisconsin Invitational or the earlier this year they scored an unheard-of 32 points I mean that's just incredible where do you stand in terms of where they stand is maybe one of the greatest teams of all yeah well and that is a big thing to say one of the greatest of all times they are a great team but you have to run the race we talked about this earlier today there are case after case where a team that was expected to win easily has lost an incident and two double A champions of the men from Colorado being a great Wisconsin team about ten years ago I can't remember the exact year and that's why we run the race today and things can happen someone falls maybe someone sick yesterday that we don't know about all those kind of things play into who ends up winning the team championship and ifs of course as we mentioned New Mexico didn't get that regional championship they were knocked off by just a handful of points by Colorado here's a look at those regional championships and Bob when you look at it a lot of powerhouses in terms of cross country programs that two weeks ago punched their ticket here to to Louisville absolutely in the top two right there Michigan and Penn State were first a second in the Big Ten meet went to different regions and won their respective regions we talked about Colorado and New Mexico already in the mountain region and Arkansas in south-central you're in you're out what would you consider the toughest region I mean does it change from time to time in terms of which which regions we have two powerhouses it does it evolves I mean the regions with the powerhouse programs the programs that are here every year are of course by definition tough but but it will roll from region to region from year and you've got Molly Seidel and and and Aurora Anna from Notre Dame out there leading the pack right now see Dominick Scott as well in the red and white number 28 for Arkansas she's had a tremendous season as expected certainly to contend for this individual title we see them making their way down this long straightaway still no separation though early on in this race though Bob and the freshman Ally off center from Boise State is she's got her eyes on what's going in front she can cover and he moves ever made but she's also just kind of biding her time for hopefully probably making the move that she's a straighter appeared to be towards the left of that pack number 49 she's not too terribly tall so easy to get lost in those packs Bobbitt Phil if you're not a 6-1 or six foot or taller runner it can be but she's in great position and when you when you're running in a pack you really want to think about do I have the capacity to move when I have to move meaning if I'm blocking so she's kind of on the left side she's tucked in behind a couple runners but if something happened on the right side of the pack she has the room to move and cover it if she needs to if she's not stuck yeah she has just had a tremendous season as a freshman and she has knocked off some of these top runners in the country she beat Seidel she beat Dominic Scott at the Wisconsin Invitational earlier this year and her last two meets the Mountain West region and her conference title she won by an average of 18 and a half seconds so Bob Australia's just a freshman but but she's not afraid to flex a little muscle no she's not she's she's been she was a great high school runner she's running big meats before at that level so it's not a brand new to her and she is you know she I'm sure she's still learning about herself and how she runs but she's not afraid to win she knows how to win races about eight eight and a half minutes into this women's 6k you're gonna be the first race of the weekend Nick yeoman and Bob Kennedy here at EP Tom Sawyer State Park we talked about that New Mexico team Colorado's the team we expect to contend with them men's and women's side it doesn't matter Colorado they bring the big guns when they show up to these events so that yeah Colorado is one of those programs that has a tradition that just feeds on itself and the great coaching with Mark Wetmore and an altitude and all those things that help them be the program that they are as I mentioned you won this event twice back in one 1988-1992 I think that's right I was gonna say and vol slep since then haven't we the nerve level how did some of these runners sleep the night before this big event it's nerve-racking especially if it's your first time if you've never experienced a meet at this level it's nerve-racking and-and-and when I got nervous about was things that I couldn't control was I gonna step in a hole and sprained my ankle I eat the wrong thing and get sick all those kind of things when you're at this meat you're right you've prepared you're ready you fit you've done the work so it's not that that's nerve-racking it's those things you can't control that you get nervous look at the ants go marching about seven by seven of the fans moving around this spectacular absolutely gorgeous course here in Louisville Kentucky this is the first time Bob I've had a chance to come down here to EP Tom Sawyer State Park this is a facility that has hosted a lot of big cross-country events throughout the years and certainly with the fan turn out that the facilities all the volunteers so far it's been a very successful event I would say oh they put on a great meet here and here we get here we got the the women's leaders coming back through the tree line with our cameras and it's still Michigan and Notre Dame that's Molly yeah you see down ikot she's still up there in that lead pack it's a bit of a separation seeing about 20 25 runners starting to distance then we saw that pack before was about I don't know 40 50 60 deep as we hit the ten and a half minute mark of this 6k though Bob's certainly some of the strengths being shown by these top runners yeah and you're right Nick it's a great observation it's stringing out now whereas it used to when we looked at it before it was flat across the front now it's strung out a little bit and if we get our camera back on that shot Ali all sterner was about and forth there so she's moving with the pack as the moves are made staying in contact as the strings off and other runners drop off the pace certainly she is a talented freshman we talked about some of these runners that are our seniors juniors maybe you're not gonna you don't know if those opportunities are gonna come next year because nothing's guaranteed so many talented runners across the country but for seniors this is the day that you've been waiting for your last opportunity to really go for a national title it is and there's a lot of emotion going on for seniors and and and it could be their last collegiate cross-country race most likely it is and and and you you you you part of your team for so long that that's that's emotional so you want to do well and then you have your kind of family that you're running for as well nice little group pack starting to stretch their way out looks like 10 15 runners kind of splitting the fans on either side the trees that line this EP Tom Sawyer State Park course absolutely fantastic you I love to see all the signs around here as well that you know people come from far and wide Bob to support their schools to support their friends and family on such a big weekend how they do I tell you my mom God love her she she was probably the biggest fan everyone you could see watching across the the course here people running across she had big black screamin and it's so great to see that fat friends and family doing the same thing for the athletes that they're cheering for was she the sign type would she make up a sign run Bob run she had a big I you flag is what she had always easy to pick out mom that's for sure we see the runners making a left-hand turn as we are now twelve and a half minutes into this woman's 6k this is the national championship event still seeing the Notre Dame runners up front Molly Seidel and Dominic Scott from Arkansas starting to pace their way to the front of this pack and it appears that is a Leo strand I believe it's Rob that's running right there in third so immediately Bob we're seeing stuff some of these strong contenders start to pull away still got a handful of runners right there hanging with them but they are dick the pace of this race they are and it's really dami Scott right now who looks like she's along with with Molly honestly they are they are not letting this pace dawdle for and I'm not sure if this is by design but they do not want as many people next to them as there are right now they're trying to break away separate with the athletes they think they're gonna be competing against the win the championship and then go from there if you're Dominic Scott or Molly Seidel are you taking a peek behind you and saying where's that pesky freshman that oh she's right behind us they know they know exactly where she is they don't have to peek around they can feel it they see it that's the fun part of racing is the strategies that go on 13:45 now into this women's 6k national championship event here in Louisville Kentucky just a spectacular view as you see some of these runners making their way in between the trees and Bob we're already starting to see some of these fans line up here along the front straightaway to see the run to the finish yeah we are and it's a great finish it's a slight downhill finish in the end of the finish line it's a again I use the word fair before it's a fair finish when you look at cross-country courses you want to look at is is the ground the last five six hundred meters fair do you have the opportunity to pass all those kind of things and and I I think it's worth saying we did lose our wireless camera on the truck so we're seeing some shots here doing the best we can to bring the race to you through the trees for right now but we'll pick it up shortly it's almost as if you're there certainly there's never gonna be a perfect sight line at a cross-country event that's why you got to be in pretty good shape if you make your way out here to do a little running a lot of fans as I mentioned lining their way along this front straightaway we saw some of the real contenders make their way to the front of the pack Ally Austria and ER Molly Seidel Dominic Scott it's easy to keep track Bob of the individual race because a lot of times we can see the runners that are at the front of the pack the team race that's got to be an interesting dynamic because if you're the third fourth fifth runner you don't know if you're in good shape if you need to pick it up or you can lay off a little bit that's right the team races it evolves and changes the whole time and and it is so important for well for every member of the team to do their job and it can get II the thing that's hard in a packer that's easy to do in a pack is to kind of let yourself go and if you're supposed to finish fortieth or you hope to finish 40th it's really easy to finish 60th and feel and and have run a hard race and so you have to keep the pressure on you have to keep thinking I need to get past that person and you get up to that next pack I need to keep moving forward and that's so important to great teams with great third fourth and fifth runners have those kind of athlete if you're a third fourth or fifth runner do you have a specific number in your head and you're keeping track of all right I need to be in the top 50 I need to be in the top 75 to make sure my teams got a good good point 10th standard yes you do and your coaches design that so here we got Molly's looks like she is from Notre Dame putting the pressure on right now really trying to string this out Alli Ostrander right on her shoulder and Dominique Scott falling off a few meters at this point and those front three as you saw have I don't want to say checked out but certainly they have separated themselves as you can see as they run away from our camera view here still go right inside the five kilometer mark going by right now and then I want to go and then I think we saw a pair of runners for New Mexico just passed I mean they're they're expected to be really almost all five of them right there from about fifth do about 25th or 30th so like in what you're seeing right now for Molly Seidel and an alley off strand ER set in the face oh absolutely and we just saw New Mexico's fifth run or go by a five kilometer and I'm just the guest from a top top thirty so it looks like they are doing what they need to do to win this team title and this individual race is going to be interesting coming down the final straightaway here 17 minutes into this woman's 6k national championship event all the contenders the favorites have not disappointed Ally aw strand er a Molly Seidel for motor named Dominic Scott from Arkansas those three set the pace early in this race had checked out out on the field as we see a lot of the other runner making their way through this corner those leaders are long gone setting the pace early on and now Bob you start thinking about that last kick you got to have that last little bit of energy all three of those runners have it but who has the best right and Molly's won an NC double-a championship she won the 10,000 meters as we said earlier at the traction Outdoor Track and Field Championships back in June she's experienced what it takes to do that and Ali's won some big high school races in her past but this is her first n-c-double-a championship that she's competing in and at this moment I would imagine they're not thinking about oh my gosh if I don't win this they're competing and thinking about okay do I need to move now am I just hanging on can I hang on just a little bit longer and maybe she'll falter all those things are going through your head depending on how you're feeling at this moment in the race what type of runner were you Bob that you like to have that energy ready for this last kick I loved having the other day it depended on the day some races you were ready to go some races you were hanging on and hoping that something went your way 18 and a half minutes you saw some of those lead golf carts make their way out of the final corner we're waiting to see which runner appears first we saw Austria trying to run down Notre Dame's talented senior Molly Seidel as we creep into the 19 minute mark and there is Molly side and Bob I don't see Ally Austrian her insight there she is probably a good 15 20 yards back but Molly Seidel with a nice lead as they make their way down the homestretch they still have a hundred and fifty meters to go right about this point and so she's got a pretty good lead I think she'll hold on to this what an exciting great run for Molly at this point Ali aw strand her trying to run her down she's just a freshman she's gonna have some big days coming up but for Notre Dame's senior Molly Seidel she's going to accomplish what she set out for at the beginning of the season she will win the women's six K as she crosses the finish line she is the individual champion here in women's cross country a strong run for Ally aw stander she comes across the line second Bob here comes the Arkansas senior Dominic Scott a very impressive third-place run and now we'll just kind of keep our eye as we see one New Mexico runner come across the line in fourth we see another and fit gonna be tough to beat there's Anna roars she's the other notary president yeah she's gonna come across the line in sixth and just keep your eye for me partner as we watch somebody's home well looks like maybe fifteen here that's for New Mexico in the top fifteen or sixteen and I see their fifth run or another 15 spots back like they maybe 12 spots back and for the teams that we expected you know we're gonna see them start to come in there's Courtney for Ericsson fourth Alice right fifth for New Mexico a little bit further down Ronda Auckland is 13th Kali Thackeray is 15th and that's that you know your top four right there so well certainly New Mexico looks like that barring and there's Molly rent for fifth so top twenty three four all five runners that's what we expected and Bob we joked about it if you want to be called the greatest the women's cross country team of all time I think putting all five in the top twenty three at nationals is the way to do it that's strong very strong

Channel: NCAA Championships

Views: 144,600

Rating: 4.7957315 out of 5

Keywords: NCAA, ncaa sports, college sports, molly seidel, molly seidel cross country, molly seidel ncaa cross country, molly seidel u.s. olympic team, molly seidel marathon, molly seidel notre dame, ncaa athletes in the olympics, full cross country races, historic cross country races, ncaa cross country races, ncaa cross country championships, women's cross country, women's cross country champions, 2015 cross country champiosnship, college athletics, alicia monson, olympics

Id: BbRN04dCRow

Length: 21min 6sec (1266 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 05 2020