Blogs : NCAA Division III Blog

Interview: Tyler Sigl of Wisconsin-Platteville

Tyler Sigl is the most decorated active distance runner in Division III running with 10 All-Americans to his name.  A three time All-American in Cross Country and the National Runner up as a freshman in the mile, Tyler had to wait until last spring's 10k before he won his first national title.  Undefeated against Division III opponents this cross country season, Tyler took some time to talk about what his goals are this weekend and why he's hungrier than ever for another national title.

What was your training like this past summer?  

My summer training consists only of base mileage building.  After track I took a couple of weeks of and then upped my mileage.  I was running about 90-95 miles/ week with the occasional easy week thrown in there once in a while.

What drew you to choose Division III, and Wisconsin-Platteville in particular?
The thing that drew me to Platteville was that they were an engineering school.  I wanted to be an engineer and they were a school of engineering.

What are your goals for yourself and your team this season and year?

My goals for this season were to break 24 min and to be national champ.  Our team this year has had high hopes.  We are aiming to be in the top ten this year at nationals, obtaining our best team finish in school history.

Last year you said that you ran at 6:00/mile pace in high school, but that since coming to college, you have learned to go hard on the hard days and easy on the easy days.  What pace do "hard" and "easy" days consist of now?

Well, my hard days over the summer I was doing 17 mile runs at about 5:45-5:50 pace toward the end of the summer.  My easy days are at around 6:35-6:45 pace; that or I would go on a run with my girlfriend who doesn't run too far off that pace.

At the 2005 Cross Country National Championships, you took the race out in 4:54.  Last year, on a much slower course (due to the water), your plan was to hang back.  Do you have a race plan this year?  If so, how have you been preparing for it?

My race plan this year is to win.  If that mean running the first mile in 4:30 or 5:15, I don't really care.  My ultimate goal is to win and how that happens is up to the magic in the air on the day of the race.

Similarly, you've done a number of high quality races this year and they all seem to follow the same script: you go out hard, you drop nearly everyone, and you often come away with the victory.  Has the goal all along been to run a lot of all-out efforts over the course of the season?

The goal this year was and has been to run conservative and save the big one for the big race.  Our first meet this year I ran to pull our 2-5 runners along and then push the last mile; basically just get a preview of what the nationals course was going to be like.  The other meets that I ran at, my goal was just to run with the front runners and win.  I haven't really had to push too hard yet this year to gain a victory.  I've just gotten out with the leaders in the race and maintained pace with them and they fell off.

 
You are one of, if not the most, decorated current Division III distance runners as a 10 time All-American (ranging from National Runner-Up in the Mile to National Champion in the 10,000m), and yet a national title eluded you until last year's 10k.  What was it like to be so successful so quickly (2nd in the Mile and 14th overall in XC, both as a freshman), but have to wait so long for a national title?  What was it like winning the 10k and what, if anything, were you able to take out of that race that you weren't able to take out of other races where you may have entered as one of the contenders, but weren't able to come away with the victory?

Being successful early on was a huge confidence booster not only for me but for my team.  This gave both of us confidence in our coaches’ program and propelled us all to keep working hard.  I kept putting in all of the hard work but could never seem to get my national championship.  It was very frustrating but it always left me wanting more.  Once I finally won a national championship, I felt a huge sigh of relief.  I've always felt the pressure and wanted to win, and I finally achieved it.  All of my other championship races that I didn't win kept leaving me more and more hungry for a national championship but I think that winning that one championship has left me even more hungry to earn even more.

Platteville has so many big invitationals on your schedule, plus very competitive fields at the Conference, Regional, and of course National level.  How do you--personally and as a team--approach these races competitively while still keeping the larger season goals in mind?

We approach going into each race using it as a stepping stone.  If we run great, great. If we run bad, what did we do wrong?? We like to learn something from every race and use it to help us in our future races.  Also, we post our seasonal goals in the locker room to be seen every day as a helpful reminder of what we're working hard for every day.

Do you think you're the favorite for the individual National title?  How does that sit with you?

I'm sure that I'm going to have a target on my back at the championships this year. Whether I like it or not it's going to be there so I have to deal with it either way.  I'm just going to have to use that fact to my advantage and see what I can do with it.

What's the relationship between the track team and the other athletic teams?  What's the athletic culture like at Platteville? How do other students (non-runners) and professors at your school view the track team and its members?

Our track and cross country programs are recognized by some, but not all that many people around campus.  Every once in a while people will ask how we're doing, but we're pretty low key.

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?

My roommate's girlfriend runs at Madison so I check up on how they are doing but that’s pretty much the extent to my curiosity.  Lately I've been so caught up in school that I really haven't had much time to do anything besides running and schoolwork.

How did the Regional meet go for both you as an individual and for your team?

Our regional course was at Oshkosh, the same course that we had our conference meet on two weeks previous.  The course is extremely flat and really fast.  My plan was to win the race with as much ease as possible, hoping to break 24 minutes.  We got out in a 4:48 mile. 4:57, 4:50 something, etc. With a mile to go I was being followed closely by a guy from Greenville, with Brian Butzler a little ways back in third.  I know Brian has a great kick so I put in a little move and made a gap between myself and the Greenville guy.  With about 100m to go, I finally saw the clock and realized I could break 24, but I saw the clock 50m too late and couldn’t kick fast enough to break it.  Either way, I was happy with my performance.  As for our team, we were very disappointed.  We ran horrible.  We were looking to get second place and ended up 5th.  Luckily, we still made it to nationals.  Hopefully that was our bad race and we got it out of the way before nationals, unlike last year when we saved that one for our nationals race.

Thanks to Tyler for a fantastic interview.