Cross Country Q&A: Preston Gromer

Junior Preston Gromer of the Pepperdine men's cross country team tells us about how the team has built off of last year's historic season going into the West Coast Conference Championships this Friday:

Q: How do you feel about the four regular season meets that you've had?

A: Personally, I have been enjoying the last few meets. My times haven't been as good as last year's, but I think it kind of correlates with harder training that we didn't really do last year. It feels as if the meets have been a progression. I think that is the best way to describe them.

Q: How has the team changed since last year, having a new head coach and with new teammates?

A: The new coach has been a great addition to the team. She's super hardcore, which is awesome for us. It feels a lot more serious. In terms of how the team's changing, at the beginning of the year we had a lot of injuries but now that we're kind of getting off of those, I think people are becoming a lot more confident and sort of being reminded that we are a competitive team. That we are the same team that we were last year, and we're so excited about, which is cool to see.

Q: How has the team used last year's historic season to motivate this season?

A: Like I said, with the injuries, it was kind of like a punch in the face because we weren't winning as many meets as last year. However, since we were just recently ranked again, I think it's been a reminder that we are a competitive team, and that we do get put up with those other big-name schools.

Q: What are you going to build off from the regular season meets going into the WCC Championships this week?

A: I think the first few meets have been a good practice for us to work at running as a team. These last two championship meets are a lot more important for us to be competing with each other because placings as a team matters a lot more. What we're taking from those first meets are, how to run with each other, where we should be in terms of other schools, where I should be in terms of the lineup, and how to use each other to run our hardest and do the best as one team.

Q: How are you and the team preparing for WCCs?

A: We're hyping it up a lot which is fun. We're trying to stay really focused, which is one of the big things. Obviously, we're kind of backing off of hard training to feel really motivated and energized and reminding ourselves of our goals.

Q: What are your team and personal goals for the WCC Championships?

A: Personally, where I stand on the team right now, I'm the fifth or sixth guy. I'm one of the ones that closes everything up. So, for me, my goal is to be as close as possible to the that top-five group, because our score is only as good as those top five. It means a lot to me to be close for the team. Our goal is fourth place in conference, which is kind of a big milestone, we'd only be beat by the top three schools that are right now I think top 30 in the nation. It'd be really cool to reach that milestone in our conference.

Q: What does your performance at WCC mean going into the NCAA Regionals?

A: It's a huge motivator, especially if we hit our goal. It's a good glimpse into what it means to run as a team. Obviously those meets are a lot more competitive and so getting to experience conference first is a good way to prepare for that team mentality going into the NCAA West Regional.

Q: How does cross country season translate into track season, which will start up in the spring?

A: Since cross country is the first season of the year, it's a way that we can show what we can do. I think we'll be able to go into track season with competition experience, and experience with hard training, and running with each other.

Players Mentioned

Preston Gromer

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