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Gardner Interview | Alfond Interview | Drezek Interview

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Two UMass Lowell distance runners take their place, Saturday on the Lavern Gibson Cross Country Course, with and against the best in the country at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

"It's a very cool bonus to a great weekend," according to UMass Lowell Cross Country Head Coach Gary Gardner.  "It was our best team race of the year and this was a bonus."

Senior Chris Alfond (Ashby, Mass.) and junior Benjamin Drezek (Cumberland, R.I.) earned a spot in the National Championship race after turning in terrific runs at the NCAA Northeast Regional a week ago in Buffalo, New York.

Alfond finished seventh and Drezek twelfth.  The top four individual runners, not on a team selected for the finals, also receive an invite to compete at the National Championships.  Both fit the bill.

"It was a little bit of a surprise," said Alfond.  "I knew I was capable, but I didn't believe it until I saw if officially.  I'm excited; I wasn't that good in high school so it's kind of a dream come true."

"It's super exciting," said Drezek.  "I'm beyond happy with it.  It was a surprise, I'm amped, I'm dreaming right now."

The two will be in the most competitive field in which they have ever run.  The event pulls together the top 31 teams in the country and the top 38 individuals not on a team at the Championships.  Harvard, Syracuse and Iona were the three teams to come out of the Northeast Regional.  UMass Lowell after a fourth place finish just missed a team trip to the Championships.

"To be successful in a race like this it takes a little bit of everything," says Gardner, "speed, endurance and you've got to be mentally tough and you've got to run smart."

The Championships takes place on the Lavern Gibson Championships Cross Country Course.  It is a 250-acre complex specifically designed for the sole purpose of cross country running.  It has been the host to 15 National Championships.

"It's not an easy course," according to Gardner.  "There has been rain this week and that will make the course slow and hard.  It'll take a bit of strategy and a bit of toughness.  It's a tough course and with the conditions it's going to be a little bit tougher."

Gardner says a strategy for each runner will be decided after seeing what the course conditions are like as the race start gets closer.  He says it will depend on how wet the course is and what the footing is like.

Alfond says it's about the mind and if you can put both the physical and mental aspects together you'll have a good day.

"I try to zone out, stay focused and be aware of any moves that are being made," said Alfond.  "I want to stay relaxed until the last 2k and then start moving."

The senior says his greatest asset is that he's "a little bit crazy."

"I get in a different mindset," according to Alfond.  "I become a different person in races.  A lot more aggressive.  I like to think I have that ability to dig deep and go crazy."

The biggest difference for Alfond may have been learning to trust himself.

"I'm not the fastest guy," said Alfond.  "(Coach Gardner) would say 'wait, wait, let (other runners) do the work, trust yourself' and I finally listened and it worked.  That's my strategy - trust myself."

It worked most effectively three weeks ago when Alfond won the America East Cross Country Individual Championship by passing two Stony Brook runners with about 600-meters to go.

Drezek, like Alfond, says the mental game is the key.

"It's thirty to forty percent physical, the rest is mental," according to Drezek.  "The first three-thousand meters is physical, getting into position.  Then it's mental, you've got to hang on and stay focused.  I feel as though I'm physically and mentally prepared."

Drezek, after an up and down season battling some health issues, has turned in his strongest performances at the most important time of the year.  He finished eighth at the America East Championships as the team took second and then finished twelfth at the Regional.  Along the way he has learned some patience.

"I like to got out hot, but I think waiting and being more patient has definitely helped," according to Drezek.  "10k is a longer race, if you kill yourself at the beginning you're just going to drop down as the race goes on."

It is a long race.  This is just the second time during the season that Alfond and Drezek have competed at the 10k distance.  That first time was a week ago at the NCAA Regional.

Drezek's approach is to chop the ten-thousand meters into a series of smaller races.

"You've got to tell yourself you can do it and just keep pushing through," said Drezek.  "You just focus on every second, every minutes and every 1,000-meters.  If you think of the race as a whole it's going to be a long race; 30-minutes.  So you've got to think about it in small sections."

The men are schedule to run at 12:15 p.m., Saturday.  A finish in the top 100, according to the coach, would be a good day.  A top 40 finish would give UMass Lowell an All-American.