Does Johns Hopkins Let Athletes in Easy
We love interviewing coaches. It gives a window into their personalities, coaching methods, and how they view their competition within the sports of XC and T&F. Last year we checked in with Johns Hopkins' Bobby Van Allen, head coach of the women who have won 5 of the last 6 National Cross Country Championships (Williams won in 2015), and the men who are making a name for themselves as perennial national contenders. This year appears to be no different. We decided it might be fun to take it a step further and get the athlete's perspective, as well, so we contacted Hopkins runners Ollie Hickson and Tasha Freed. Hickson was originally looking D1, then met BVA and found a home with the Blue Jays. Freed came to Hopkins as an un-recruited athlete, but has worked her way into the top seven. We'll run Hickson's interview today, Freed's tomorrow, and you can read/re-read BVA's by clicking on the interview link above. When done, we think you'll have a pretty good idea as to what the Johns Hopkins XC and T&F programs are all about. Enjoy.
TrackYack: Thanks for your time. Let's get right to it, shall we? Let's say BVA and his assistants are all in China on a recruiting trip. He calls you and says, "Ollie, they've offered us coaching positions with the National Team and we can't pass it up. We'll be staying here, which means you are now the head coach for this entire year!" You respond, "Yes, of course, Coach. I'd be honored. You can count on me. I won't let you down, Coach!" After you hang up the phone, what's the first thing that you change about the program?
Hickson: Oh man that's a loaded question. Maybe try and organize free chocolate milk for everyone after practice. That or free ice cream on the way home from meets would be pretty hype. Also I might try and organize one of our Wednesday morning aqua jogs to be a water polo tournament to spice things up a little; that could be pretty fun. In all seriousness, there isn't that much I would change about the program. I think in the grand scheme of things, Bobby does a great job managing our team and I've had a fantastic experience in my first three years here.
TrackYack: While the men have been successful by most any team's standards, the Hopkins women have won 5 of the last 6 National Championships. You boys feeling any pressure to raise your game?
Hickson:Honestly, not really. We're a team that works hard to be the best we can be and sets high goals for ourselves, so we naturally put a lot of pressure on ourselves and are pretty competitive. Even though we haven't won a national championship like the women, we're happy with the progress our men's team has made. The first time our team ever made nationals was in 2011, and since then we've become a team that regularly makes it. We believe we have what it takes to take our program to the next level and regularly compete with teams contending for the podium. The fact that our team has gone from never making nationals to the point we are at now in less than a decade is really exciting and a testament to all the hard work and miles our teammates and coaches (past and present) have put in. And being able to spend so much time with the women's team and see all the success they've had doesn't really negatively impact us in any way. It's honestly pretty inspiring. I know that for me personally, I have vivid memories of watching them lift that trophy at nationals the past two years, which has made my teammates and I even hungrier to put in the work so we can do something similar in the coming seasons.
TrackYack:Were you recruited and, if so, what was that process like? What schools/programs were you also considering and what tipped the scale in favor of Hopkins? What is a typical week of training and how many miles a week do you run during XC?
Hickson:I was recruited by Bobby around October during my senior year of high school. The process was pretty straight forward. I basically just emailed him saying I was interested in Hopkins and running there, and he organized a recruiting visit for me. I stayed with Louis Levine and had a great time on my visit. I got to meet a lot of other people on the team as well, which was fantastic. I felt like I fit right in and could see myself being friends with them; that was a big selling point for me. I met with Bobby at the end of my trip and he was pretty upfront with me and said "If you want a spot on this team, I'll sponsor your application." I thought about it for a couple days and then emailed him saying I wanted to apply early decision here, and the rest is history.
Before I looked at Hopkins, I wanted to run at a D1 school so I was mainly looking at those schools. The schools I talked with the most were Duke, Yale, and Princeton. But a lot of them couldn't guarantee me a spot on the team. They said if I got in to the school on my own, I would probably have a spot on the team. But I love running and really wanted to run in college so I didn't like that uncertainty. I definitely understood that my times were probably on the slower side of what they were looking for, but I started to look at Division III schools after my junior year. I looked at Williams and Middlebury and appreciated the time their coaches took to talk to me. However, Middlebury and Williams didn't have engineering programs, which I knew was something I wanted to pursue. That's what tipped the scale in favor of Hopkins. The combination of being able to be a run there consistently, pursue the major I wanted, plus getting along with so many people on my recruiting trip, was really hard to turn down.
A typical week of training for us at Hopkins definitely varies depending on the individual. Bobby is not someone who forces you to kill yourself with mileage. A big part of this is because we're in a city, so there aren't a lot of soft surfaces to run on. If he made everyone run 80+ miles a week, we'd have a heck of a lot of injuries. A typical week of training involves a long run, which is anywhere from 10-17 miles depending on the person. We'll have a workout on Tuesday and if we're not racing over the weekend, we'll have another workout on Friday. But if we are, we'll typically have a light tune up on Thursday. Wednesday's are usually on your own days or off days. But we do have to aqua jog then in order to recover from the workout. It's honestly pretty fun when you have a big enough crew with you. The rest of the days of the week are usually just normal distance days. Depending on where we are at in the season, one of those days might be a slightly faster distance run. Bobby is a very understanding coach and very easily caters people's training plans to their needs; his main priority is for everyone to be healthy, so he stresses the little things just as much as mileage and workouts. So on top of running, we all aqua jog anywhere from 1-3 times a week, lift twice, and do core a couple times a week too. During cross country season, I gradually build up my mileage to around 80ish by the end of the summer. When racing starts, I typically hit anywhere from 65-75 miles, depending on whether or not I'm racing that week. When championship season comes, the mileage drops a little bit, but nothing crazy.
TrackYack:What were your PR's in high school? We won't ask you your SAT scores, but were you at the top of your high school class? Do you have any advice for high school athletes who are considering running D3 at a highly academic school like the NESCAC+ colleges?
Hickson:My PRs in high school were 1:57 for the 800, 4:19 for the 1600, 9:26 for the 3200, and 15:45 for a 5k XC course. There were a lot of smart kids at my high school, so I was not top of my class. I think I was around the top 4-5%, if I had to guess. My biggest piece of advice to high school athletes who are thinking about running Division III at highly academic schools is to not freak out about the whole process. I know it can be daunting and scary but it really all does work out in the end. There are a lot of my friends on the team who did not get into their number 1, 2, or even 3 schools, but still had a fantastic time at Hopkins. It's not like they were sitting around and saying "Damn I really wish I was at (insert school) instead." I would also recommend them to go on an official visit to any school they're considering. Reading about a program is great, but it's so important to actually go to the campus to see if you click with the coach and team in person. Finally, I'd just like to add that I think that running Division III is a phenomenal experience. I know at Hopkins, the balance between academics and athletics is very manageable. There are definitely times where you're busy and it can be stressful, but if you're looking to run at a highly academic school, there will be times you're stressed in college regardless of where you go. But from what I've heard, I think the balance that Division III schools provide is conducive to having a happy and healthy college experience.
TrackYack:Team culture is huge for not only helping a program perform well, but also for how much fun it is to be on that team. Conversely, toxic team culture is a bummer and can really skunk up a college running experience. We've heard the culture at Hopkins is fantastic. That true? Who are the "culture keepers" and how is the culture nurtured and passed on year to year? Are the men and women's programs close and do you all hang out together?
Hickson:The team is my favorite part about college without a doubt. Because Bobby is the head coach of the guys and girls teams, we hang out with each other a lot. It's basically like being on a co-ed team. Between our teams, we spend so much time together and I love it. We practice together, we have our own table in the dining hall where we eat together, we'll usually study together as well in the library or another spot on campus. A lot of us also live together either in on-campus dorms or off-campus houses or apartments. I think Bobby has been quoted saying that he wishes we didn't date each other sometimes but…oh well. Apparently, he also has a theory that if there are two people on the team who are dating but then they break up and a lot of conflicts come up at practice, he will kick off the slower person. I'm pretty sure he's joking when he says that?
I wouldn't say we have "culture keepers" on our team. I think that everyone on the team is just themselves and does their own part to contribute to the team culture. Having been on this team for three years now, there are definitely people who I've learned a lot from and have molded me in to the runner and person I am today. I think that everyone who graduates from the team has their own distinct legacy they leave behind. There are people who have influenced me more and who's legacies have had a more profound impact on me, but that doesn't mean that the people who didn't impact me as much haven't influenced other people on the team in more significant ways. The way I see the team is a group of people that changes every year that usually have very similar core values and attitudes towards running and school and life; but people are still free to be themselves. Everyone has their things that makes them unique. Even though no one is on the team forever, you can still see the remnants of someone who graduated two years ago in other people on the team and how they influenced and changed people on the team.
TrackYack:Haverford is your main in-conference rival. How big a deal is the competition between your two programs? What other programs do you love to compete against?
Hickson:It's always really exciting to compete against Haverford. They have such a strong program that has had so much success over many, many years. Being able to compete against them so regularly is a lot of fun…but really tough too. Whether we win or lose, a lot of the races are pretty entertaining and exciting to watch. I've learned a lot from racing against them over the years and the competition between our two programs is definitely a motivating factor to work hard. Even if we lose, we know that there's no shame in losing to them (as long as we tried our best.) They've got some fantastic runners and I'm excited to see what they can do this year.
As I've said before, our team is definitely a program that's on the rise and one that is looking to compete with the podium contending teams. So really any opportunity we have where we get to race those top Division III teams is really exciting. This includes teams like North Central, SUNY Geneseo, Pomona Pitzer, UW La Crosse, Williams, Amherst, MIT, Middlebury, Wash U, and many others. We've had some great races against these teams in the past few years, and I'm hoping for many more this coming season.
TrackYack:And now for the TY-CLQAD (pronounced Tie-Clacked), the TrackYack Classic Last Question Athlete Edition: Cross Country runners are not famous for being great dancers. Little on the dorky side has been my observation. That said, if you had to put two of your teammates, one male and one female, in TrackYack's NESCAC+ Dance Championship, who would you chose to represent the Blue and White of Hopkins? And, if you are brave, tell us who are the LAST two people you'd choose?
Hickson:Hahaha oh man. We've got some pretty good dancers on the team. But no one can top the duo of Alex Glavin and Allison Rosen. Those two know how to move! I'm not sure who'd be the last two to be honest. I'm probably not that high on the list. I would like to give a shoutout to my boys John Cook and Scott Pourshalchi who do a pretty awesome job hitting the quan.
TrackYack:Good luck this season and thanks for your time! Anything else you'd like to add? (Now would be a good time to say how much you enjoy reading TrackYack!)
Hickson:Caw! Also, I love reading TrackYack!
PC: Johns Hopkins Athletic Communications
Source: https://trackyack.com/2018/08/29/whats-it-like-to-run-for-johns-hopkins/
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