How do you prepare your kids for a race?

I think building up confidence is a super big thing. I coach for girls specifically, so trying to get kids over their fears and trying new things is the biggest thing before meets. I like to do run-throughs just so they feel like they’re ready to run.

What are the goals for the track team?

I think the goal is to get some more hurdlers. This is my first year coaching, so just trying to build up the program.

What is your thought process before a race?

I think just helping the kids stay strong to the finish. Especially with a lot of younger runners, they go out too fast, too quickly, and so hoping by the mid-race point they’re at a steady pace to finish.

In your opinion, who is your fastest runner?

My fastest runner? I think Nat comes to mind—Nathalia. She did cross-country with me so I have a lot of experience with her and she did amazing on our past meet. She PR’d in the mile. And I remember looking at the track and she was finishing and the other girl was like all the way, almost 150 meters behind her.

In a race, have you ever been in a thought process, like, Oh my God, we’re in a close race!

We definitely had some of those with our relays at the meet, we had a lot of close finishes. So it’s definitely stressful, especially with relays if the handoff goes slow, I’m just like, “Oh my gosh, they did it better at practice–the handoff with the baton. But it definitely gets stressful watching them but I just have faith that they will do their best.