Cross Country Q&A: Key Pearson

Sophomore Key Pearson or the Pepperdine women's cross country team tells us about the season so far and about preparing for the WCC Championships meet this Friday in nearby Van Nuys:

Q: You've been one of the top runners this season. How do you feel about your performance in the regular season?

A: I've been pretty happily surprised with my performance. I've put the work into this season to see a lot of progress and have continued to watch myself get better. I wasn't able to compete last track season and I had to take a lot of time off of running due to a stress fracture. It's exciting to be able to come back and hold this position on the team and know that there's a lot of potential for progress as a team as well as an individual.

Q: The women's side has had some injuries this season, how has the team been able to push through those?

A: I think what's important is when teammates have injuries, that they still feel like they're part of the team. Sometimes injuries can last for a long time and be pretty serious and it's easy for people to feel excluded from the team atmosphere because they aren't at practice. What we've worked on this year a lot is having a lot of team bonding to build on that team atmosphere, and support them through rehab and through recovery.

Q: What are you looking to improve upon going into the WCC Championships this weekend?

A: I want to work on my mentality. Sometimes I have racing anxiety and self-doubt and it holds me back from racing as hard as I know I could. I also want to work on coming together as a team and really supporting each other as we go into this race and using each other to have a strong race and to race faster. I also want to work on going out really strong so that I can hold a top position throughout the race instead of falling behind. I'm excited for this race to really show what we all have worked so hard for!

Q: What are you hoping to accomplish at the WCC Championships?

A: Personally, at WCCs, I would like to set a personal record and place in the top three for our team and be able to contribute to a good score. I think as a team, it's important that we all start off the race strong and fast so that we can hold those positions throughout the race. It's really important that we all support each other going into the race.

Q: What is the training regimen like for the days leading up to the WCC Championships?

A: Throughout the season, our mileage has been decently steady and decently high. Going into WCCs we're definitely tapering. We're only doing one workout a week right now and lowering our daily mileage in order to feel really ready and really strong for this meet.

Q: How do you feel building off of cross country season and moving into track season?

A: I've never competed track in my life and so this will be a very exciting season for me to see what kind of distance I am best at and to understand how racing track works. I was injured last year, and I didn't run track in high school, so I'm really excited for it.

Q: How are the team dynamics different for track and cross country?

A: Track is definitely more individual so it's really cool how we can all cheer our teammates on throughout the meet. Whereas in cross country we all run the same meet. So I'm excited to be able to cheer for all my friends and have that support. It'll also be nice to focus on our different specialties and an event. It'll be really interesting.

Q: Your name is Key, after your ancestor Francis Scott Key. Can you give me some insight into that?

A: I'm named after my great great great great great great grandfather, Francis Scott Key, who wrote the Star Spangled Banner. It's been a family name ever since, it's my mom's middle name, and it's my name now, and I plan to pass it on. I think it's cool.

Players Mentioned

Key Pearson

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