McWilliams is part of four school records at Mississippi State (MSU sports info) |
1. You recently added a third school record to your resume by recording a 2:09.58 in the 800 meters at the Arkansas State Invitational. You also hold school records in the indoor mile and outdoor 1500 meters. Although only a sophomore, how has your experience at Mississippi State been so far for your expectations?
I have enjoyed MSU, both athletically and academically. I am thankful to be running at the college level and to be competing in one of the strongest conferences, SEC. The team and coaching staff has far exceeded my expectations I had when coming into college.
2. You were also the top finisher for the Bulldogs at the SEC Cross Country Championships by taking sixth place in 21:47.84. How did your cross season go and how did it help you overlap into the indoor season?
I think being able to run all of cross country season last year and running regularly during Christmas made a difference in both my strength and endurance levels, coming in to indoor season this year.
3. How did you develop into becoming a runner while you were growing up?
After running my seventh and eighth grade year in school, my parents began to take me to run in road races on the weekends. I got to meet other runners of all ages and couldn't help but notice how much fun they were all having. A couple years later I met Coach Dudley, and I began to travel to Bevil College twice a week to run with their college runners. I enjoyed the team-based atmosphere and knew I would enjoy running in college.
4. What do you enjoy the most about being a student-athlete at Mississippi State?
Most people understand that being a student-athlete is not always easy. My professors do a really good job working with me. There have been many times they have let me take a test or quiz early. I really appreciate their understanding.
5. As an Alabama state record holder in three events in high school, what was the one moment you will never forget from your high school career?
One moment I will never forget during my high school career was not any race I had won, but instead it had to do with 2 twin sisters. At state championships my senior year, the 2 girls came up to me after one of my races and told me they just wanted me to know they looked up to me. Their mom took a picture of the girls and I, and we all talked for a little bit. The next day after my last race they came up to me again and gave me a little teddy bear. This experience made me realize that no matter where you are, even at a high school meet, there is always a young person looking up to you for inspiration.
› Following interview by James Guthrie of AlabamaRunners.com
6. How did the mile race develop at Arkansas and how did it meet or differ from your expectations of what would happen?
Two hours prior to the race I talked to Coach Schmidt. He told me what my splits for the first two laps should be around, what I was capable of running, and that when he told me to go, GO! Throughout the race I listened for Coach to tell me "good pace" or "pick it up a little." At 800 meters he told me to go. I did not expect to run 4:39.
7. There's been talk lately, sparked by Alan Webb's decision to turn pro, about how hard the collegiate schedule is on athletes. One point rasied is that the track season is so long that it's hard for an athlete to compete in February and March for indoor and hold that level of condition, or even improve on it, until late May or early June. Now that you've burst from the gate in mid-January with a 4:39 time, how are you looking ahead to the next four and a half months?
When I think about track, I don't think of it as a 5-month season, January-June. I just set personal goals throughout the season and work to reach them. I'm also not running a lot of mileage. I'm a young runner and Coach Schmidt understands what my body is capable of doing. Whether I can "hold the level of condition" or "improve on it," I guess we'll see, but I'm determined to improve throughout indoors and outdoors.
8. What was your attitude in high school toward competing in Alabama's 2A without much competition, while the girls closer to your ability level got to face each other regularly in the larger divisions? Did this factor into your decision to enter the most competitive track conference in the country?
During high-school I would always become nervous before every state meet. The idea of running in the 2A division didn't affect my decision on where I was going to run. I chose to run at MSU because of the great Coaching staff and friendly people. I did not understand how competitive SEC's really was until I began to compete.
9. While in high school, you trained with Coach Dudley some at Bevill State, so you weren't affected as much as others might be by a change in coaching philosophy from high school to college. Now that he's your official coach at Mississippi State, has your working relationship changed any? Is your training roughly the same?
I did not train at Bevill on a regular basis. I usually trained about two months prior to the state meet. My training consisted of basketball season, road-races, and track meets until my 11th grade year. That is when I started showing up once or twice a week to train with the runners at Bevill. Even then, my running ranged from 10-15 miles per week. The first time I ever did a workout or ran over 3 miles was after I met Coach Dudley. The training we did helped my running out "a lot" and gave me an idea of what running would be like in college. Now that I am at MSU I am coached by Coach Al Schmidt. Now that I actually know what it takes to be a runner (to train regularly), I am able to look back and see how little I actually knew about running while I was in high-school.
10. There's no doubt that you're a great pressure performer. Even in high school, you had one of your best basketball performances at the state championship game (correct me if I'm wrong with that one), earning MVP honors and leading Red Bay to the 2A team championship. Where do you think that special ability to perform best when it counts most comes from?
I would have to say it is a combination of track and basketball. While I played basketball in high-school, Coach Donnie Roberts stressed the idea "the way you practice is the way you are going to play in the game--when it counts!" I carried that idea over into my running. I think the way a person trains is the way he/she will race (perform). I am only going to get out what I put in to my training. Being a runner yourself, I'm sure you understand that sometimes runners have a bad race. I don't always perform best when it counts the most, but I would have to say I've learned the most from those races.
11. Who were the biggest influences to getting you into track, and to what or whom do you attribute any part of your success?
Biggest influence-my family. Any part of my success-God, he gave me the talent and health to run! Coach Schmidt-his training has already helped me improve drastically and, of course, my teammates along with all of the coaching staff.