UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Penn State sophomores, Alison Willingmyre and Owen Wing, will take on this weekend's Spiked Shoe Invitational home meet having a familiar feeling at Penn State's home course, as they have been racing the course since their high school days in Pennsylvania.
Willingmyre had a highlight competing in the invitational's high school race and as a senior when she finished second. She ran with confidence and intensity that day, and hopes to bring that back on Friday.
"I'm more proud representing Penn State. My team in high school was close but now this team is even closer than I could've ever imagined," said Willingmyre.
Wing also ran the meet in high school and believes that his 10th place finish opened his eyes and gave him the experience to compete again and improve his time. He still uses skills that he learned as a high school senior, but emphasized how much of a changed runner he has become throughout his last year at Penn State.
"I think it's a natural development from high school to college but definitely when you take a step back from it, everything is more competitive. Everybody really wants to win at this level," said Wing.
In high school, men and women run a 5k distance when competing at meets. In college, the men's distance increases to 8k and the women to 6k. Both Willingmyre and Wing use strategies from their high school years, but change their approach due to the new distance.
"I think with college 8k for guys, it tends to be a little more tactical through the early stages of our race. Over the second half of the race, things definitely start to pick up. It's going out, being ready for anything and being able to respond to moves when they happen," said Wing.
"The course changes into 6k and although some aspects of it are similar, the intensity throughout the entire race has definitely increased," Willingmyre added.
As both athletes use this meet to bring back old memories, they are also training for some bigger meets that will be held on the same course within the next few months. Wing is excited to race on his home course because it gives him a sense of comfort. Willingmyre knows that by running strong Friday she can help propel the team to great success during the year.
"Racing at home is always an advantage," said Wing. "We have Spiked Shoe, National Open, then the regional meet is here too. I think the goal of this season is to go to the regional meet and try to qualify for the national meet. I think having two meets at home here before that and also doing some workouts on that course will give us some familiarity and show us what we need to do to quality for nationals."
Coach John Gondak enjoys seeing both Willingmyre and Wing compete as Lions after having watched them both successfully thrive when they ran here as high school athletes. He stresses that it is hard for some athletes to transition from their freshman to sophomore year, but these two specific runners have been fighting and training so that they can make an impression on the team.
Gondak appreciates that his athletes stepped in and contributed right away in college. "Ally was a big contributor last fall in cross country. Owen was kind of learning the ropes a little bit but both have been significant players this year," said Gondak.
This meet is important to Gondak personally and to the entire team. It's is dedicated to Coach Groves who was an important coach in the cross country program and to all of Penn State athletics.
"The meet's named after Coach Groves who was a long-time coach here, who also had many successful team years with Penn State Track and Field. We are excited to be able to have this meet in his name," said Gondak.
As this weekend approaches, both Willingmyre and Wing are ready to take on this meet and continue their early season success.
"I just want to go out there and run as fast as I can," said Willingmyre.
"I'm just going out and trying to compete with the other guys. I think our team has a lot of potential this year and I think if everybody just goes out and does what they can to contribute to our ultimate team goal then we can end up being pretty successful," said Wing.
