Interview: Jon Phillips of NYU
Jon Phillips, a senior at New
York University, is the prototypical success story of Division III
athletics. His high school credentials were,
in his own words, “not bad, but in no way spectacular.” Not highly sought after by any Division I
schools, his turn to Division III and NYU in particular has likely been better
for his development than it would have been elsewhere. Last year saw him flourish with a pair of
All-American performances as he led his team to a runner-up performance in the
National Cross Country Championships before matching that team placing with his
own 2nd place showing in the 5000 at the Indoor National
Championships. Below, Jon details the
high hopes that drew him back for one final season as a Violet.
Could you tell us a little bit about
yourself, like where you're from and how you got started running?
I grew up in northwest New
Jersey for most of my life in a small
town named Califon,
NJ,
but I now live in northeastern Pennsylvania.
Nonetheless, I remain true to my Jersey
roots and I don’t really like telling people I actually live in Pennsylvania
(never hide your Jersey pride). My running career began
when I was seven competing in a local 5k road race. I think I ran around 28 minutes, which isn’t
too bad for a little guy. I was supposed to run the Kid’s race, but I told my
Dad I wanted to run the big kid’s race.
He obliged and ran the whole thing with me, which was pretty kind of him
as he was actually training to race it.
A few years later, I joined a track team in fourth grade in hopes of
becoming a hurdler. Once I realized I was too short, too young and too slow to
run hurdles, I moved up in distance. It
was a pretty good life decision.
How do your PRs in high school compare to
what you've done so far in college? More importantly, how has your
understanding of training, racing, and running in general evolved?
I came to college as a 4:31,
9:50, 16:16
5k XC guy. Not bad, but in no way spectacular. I really liked cross-country
more and was a Prep State Champion (I attended Blair
Academy, a boarding school in New
Jersey that has a separate State Championship than
public schools) but I could never really improve in track. In college, particularly in the past year, I
feel like I have drastically improved in track with PR’s of 14:27 and 30:06. For me, it came down to a higher
mileage regimen, beginning to understand my body and its limitations and
capabilities and a greater dedication to running than in the past. I chose
running to not be a number one priority for me in the first half of college.
Now it definitely tends to define my lifestyle, and I am really happy I decided
to make a better effort to become a better runner. In terms of racing I have
learned a lot from Nick, teammates and just having the experience in
higher-level races. Having the knowledge
and experience of a few NCAA and Championship meets has given me the ability to
know what to expect from certain races. My freshman year I was lucky enough to
race at XC Nationals, but I had no idea what I was doing. I got to the mile in
about 10th from dead last, and I basically ended up there at the end
of the race. Sometimes bombing a race can teach you a lot more about yourself
than winning.
What drew you to
choose Division III, and New York University in particular?
I was looking at a bunch of Division I colleges, but no one
really took too much interest in me, as my times were not all that impressive.
I got more attention on the Division III level and after awhile I decided I
wanted to attend a DIII school for better academics and a less intense running
environment. One thing was for sure; I
did not want the happiness of my college experience to be solely dependent on
the success of my running. I wanted to
be a regular student that was able to go out, have fun and experience college
life. Also, I knew I wanted to come to
an urban area, and at the end, it was between NYU and Tufts. Nick gave me a
green light for acceptance; Tufts did not.
Sorry Jumbos. But it worked out for the better; I regard my decision to
come to NYU as one of the best decisions of my life.
What was your
training like this past summer?
Training has been a bit disappointing. After my not so hot
outdoor season it was time for some recovery. I have been struggling a bit to
get healthy due to a fatigue related illness, which has unfortunately affected
my usual summer regimen. But despite the setbacks I plan to be ready to run the
later season races.
What are your goals
for yourself and your team this season and year?
The goals are high, but without a doubt realistic. For
myself, it is hard to tell because of my fitness, but it is definitely to be
All-American. So anywhere between one and thirty-five, and I’ll be pretty
content. As for the team, I think it’s pretty obvious we want to win. The first time I thought we might actually
have a chance to win is when my bro for life, James McCarthy, brought it up
about two and a half years ago. A day does not go by when I don’t think about
winning this season, and we plan on making that dream a reality.
What is your favorite
workout during the cross-country season and what do you like about it?
We do loops around the Central Park
reservoir. The loops are about 1.6 miles a piece and we’ll do a tempoish run of
about 4-5 laps increasing the tempo each lap. It’s the best feeling when we
have a group of about five to seven guys in the first pack and are just working
together. That’s when I know the team is
really fit and everyone is in sync. It is an exciting feeling.
In early April last
year, you ran a then-DIII leading time of 30:06.71 in the 10000 at Princeton. Take us through the rest of your
season, including your unfortunate DNF at Nationals in the 10000.
I figured there was going to be a question about my spring
demise. After indoor I was undoubtedly in the best shape of my life. The 30:06
was a great race but after it I knew I could run a lot faster. It was my second
10k ever. The plan for the spring was to get under 14:10 and around 29:30 which I knew I was fit enough to
do, but about two weeks after Princeton I started
getting really, really tired. Then I started getting a lot of pain under my
knee. Each day began to feel more and more terrible and my body was just
deteriorating. Nothing was going my way. I had to miss Penn Relays, which was a
lifetime goal of mine to run in the Championship race, to add insult to injury.
I went to a few doctors, some said a relapse of mono (which I had sophomore
year) or overtraining syndrome but either way by May, I was just counting down
the days until NCAA’s. I thought I could tough it out for one last race, but we
all saw how it went down. At least I got
to lead a championship race for a few laps.
What contributed to
your decision to come back for your last season of cross country at NYU?
The chance to win a National Championship. And peer
pressure.
From 2003-5, NYU had
the following finishes at Nationals in XC: 21st, 23rd, and a squeaker of a
non-qualifier in the Atlantic Regional meet. In 2006, your team finished
as a strong runner-up and scored four individual All-Americans. This
year, NYU returns your top 5 from last year. What's contributed to the
great turnaround for you all?
Other than last year, our road to Nationals has been
disappointing. What has inspired the
turnaround is a combination of dedication, better training methods and more
talented runners. Not to dismiss my former teammates as slackers or untalented
(shout out to Dan, BJ, Scrilla, Biggie Bri, LP, Mums, Tucker and Trav) but
there has been progression of devotion and a desire to be better runners. For the most part, running was on the
backburner. Now it’s definitely front
and center for everyone on this team and that has undoubtedly aided in our
success. Nick as a coach has done a
great job of building a program and recruiting some really great runners to
come here. My freshman year I was one of the top recruits; now we have 9:20, 4:20
kids coming here who might not even make an immediate impact. It’s a true
testament of his hard work and his understanding of how to make good runners
great runners.
(Courtesy of Alison
Wade, eliterunning.com)
Who has been the
biggest influence in your life and/or running?
Without a doubt, my family has been the biggest influence in
my life. I know its cliché but not every family comes to every race you ever run, but my family actually does. My Mom will always provide fresh baked
brownies for the team, my older brother will continually threaten me, “if you
don’t win, you’re out of the family,” and my grandparents and my grandmother who
lives with me will always make it out on the course cheering me on. My
grandmother, who is a twice cancer survivor and currently battling her third
diagnosis, has acted as an incredible inspiration in my life and in my running
career. Seeing her remain strong and positive through all the ups and downs are
characteristics I try to emulate in all facets of my life. My father, former
1982 NYC Marathoner, has always been my number one fan to a ridiculous degree.
He prints out every race I run and then compares times to different current
races and past races. He has been known
to inform me after a race I beat someone who beat me in the 1998 AAU National
Championships. So yeah, he likes to follow my career closely.
Coaches I have had throughout the years, particularly my
youth track coach and close family friend, Phil Ricco, who passed away about
three years ago to melanoma and my former high school coach, Martin Miller have
had an immense impact on my running career.
Since Phil’s death, not many days go by when I don’t think about him
while running and every race I pray to him to give me strength. He has been a motivating factor in my success
in college and I miss him dearly. Marty
Miller has been an incredible friend, mentor and coach through my life,
academic career and running. His ability
to motivate, rationalize and coach all with a positive attitude has absolutely
allowed me to progress into the person I am today.
What do you like the
most about NYU Cross Country?
The team. Not many people have a crew that will travel to
every NCAA meet they have a competitor in, and I feel really fortunate to have
people on our team that our so passionate about supporting each other. Cross-country is that one season where
individual honors can take a backseat to team accolades. People that know me will
admit (myself included) that I can sometimes can be what some may refer to as
“self-centered,” but when cross country comes along I love the sense of
camaraderie and the team focus. I
remember talking to Ryan Williams after cross country last year and telling him
that I thought it was going to be hard to start indoor track because I felt
significantly less motivated to run for myself. It was a weaker moment in my
life. But seriously, it’s those kinds of emotions that I love about
cross-country. In addition to all the cliché running talk, there are just a ton
of characters on our team that provide a lot of fodder for jokes. Everyone is
fair game and nothing is off limits, especially in our post-run meals in one of
the school’s cafeterias.
What's the
relationship between the track team and the other athletic teams? What's the athletic culture like at NYU?
The track team’s relationship with other teams is fairly
friendly. We might not see everyone all
the time, but there is definitely a mutual respect for each other and their
respective sport. We are all
underappreciated by the NYU community so we all share that overshadowed and
disgruntled bond. It is upsetting when a
team wins a big game or match and the next day the front page of the school
newspaper headlines the chic and ultra postmodern styling of the new Tricky Suave album.
How other do students
(non-runners) and professors at your school view the track team and its
members?
When I let people know that I run at NYU their usual
response is, “Oh my god! We have a track team?”
I respond, “Yes, we have uniforms and everything”. People at NYU aren’t
too concerned with sports, but I’m okay with that. It’s our best kept secret,
other than that girl who played Matilda in the 1990s children’s comedy Matilda.
Your former teammate,
Mike Kerrigan of Villanova University, broke four minutes for the mile
for the first time this past May. You were on hand to witness
it and cheer him along [Editor’s note:
Jon is on the infield of the backstretch]. What was that experience
like for you?
Seeing Michael break four was one of those surreal moments
in life. His fitness was starting to come around and he was racing really well
in the spring so that day I had a very positive feeling he was going to break
four. When he crossed the finish line, I jumped up into the air and screamed
like an eleven-year-old girl, which I am still made fun of for, but I still
maintain my girlish cries were within reason.
He worked a long time for that race, and I was really, really excited to
be there when it happened. It still
makes me nostalgic of the old Blair days, and when I could actually beat
Michael in a race.
Do you follow running
at the collegiate or professional levels at all? Would you care to
confess to what extent you lurk on Letsrun.com
or other message boards?
I follow it on all levels, particularly keeping track of
friends at different schools and American runners. And yes, I enjoy the Letsrun
message boards, but I do not post. It is always fun to keep track of how much
the Internet running community discredits NYU and dislikes Hany. Hubris has given Hany an overwhelming amount
of hate in the DIII community, but when it comes down to it he is a good guy.
He works hard as hell, and the times show.
I am, however, grateful for the supporters we do have. Thanks NYU fans.
Do you keep an online
running log that you'd be willing to share?
I do not keep an online running journal, but do have
numerous written journals since high school. They are very important to me and
I don’t let people read them. I’m kind of psychotic about keeping them to
myself.
Are there any other
closing thoughts or pieces of wisdom you'd like to share?
I have followed three steps that have helped myself progress
as a runner: 1) train hard 2) train smart and 3) sacrifice. Talent can only
take you so far and putting in the work will only make you better. That is what
is great about running, what you put in you can actually see in your results. Training
smart is essential (as I have learned and still continue to learn) because is
does not matter how much work you actually do, if you are not healthy it is all
a waste. Finally, the goals you have for yourself are only as important as you
make them. You can say they are important, but if you don't make a
conscious effort to improve yourself, they will not happen. Sacrifice is not
just about giving up things; it is just as much about adding extra things. My
theory is that everyone can run 90-100+ miles a week but not everyone does the
little things like stretching, drills, core, strides etc. Understandably,
balancing and managing all these things can be difficult and tedious, but when
it all comes together it is beautiful.
I’m not big on quotes but I found this quote in my running
log; “When you win, nothing hurts.” Rings true.
Good luck to everyone this season.
Thanks to Jon for a fantastic interview.
post comment
Manning the Runner's Station
9:57 PM, September 27, 2007
.. Posted by Anonymous
Nice Interview, a great read. Good luck to you and your team this season, I can't wait to see what you guys do out there.
Cheers,
Harry Norton
Untitled Comment
9:51 PM, September 28, 2007
.. Posted by Anonymous
WTF?!@??!? NO PHOTO CREDIT FOR MIKE PEROUTKA ON THE PHOTOZO?!?!?
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