WEEKEND CHIT-CHAT WITH ... Erica Bauerbach
By KEVIN DRULEY
-
kdruley@kcchronicle.com
St. Charles North girls cross country runner Erica Bauerbach expects today’s IHSA Class 3A State Meet to pass as quickly as her junior season. A favorable forecast and a track that races fast regardless of conditions figures to be a good mix for her first state run. One of the reasons Bauerbach says her season has been so pleasant is her friendship with teammate Meghan Heuer, a Geneva transfer who took 12th at state last year to help the Vikings claim their second straight state title. Bauerbach caught up with Chronicle sports reporter Kevin Druley for the latest edition of the weekend chit-chat to talk about hanging with Heuer and the biggest afternoon of her running career to date.The following is an edited transcript:
What do you think of Peoria and the course at Detweiller Park?
It’s really cool. I’ve never been down there to run at the state meet, so it will be a fun and new experience. It’s a fast course – we ran on it earlier this season – and easy to run on, I guess. It’s supposed to be warm, so that’ll be nice.
Talk about your season to this point. What’s been the key to getting downstate?
Running with Meghan has helped a lot because I just got faster. When she came, I ran up with her and got faster all the time. ... I just decided to see if I could keep up.
How are you approaching state and preparing on the day before?
I’m excited to see what I can do. We’ll run the course a little bit to see what it’s like again, then rest up and be ready.
Cross country runners are usually used to getting started early, but your race begins at 1 [p.m.]. Any adjustments to that?
I’ll just maybe sleep later or something. I don’t know if I’ll be affected by it all that much.
Did you and Meghan travel with the boys’ team? Do you ever run with them for workouts?
We traveled separately, and they got into Peoria before we did. We usually never run together. ... We talk to them, but when we talk it’s about random things that have nothing whatsoever to do with running.
How did you get into cross country?
In my seventh grade year I tried it out. I just decided I would start running and then I was actually good at it. ... It’s something I enjoy and want to get better at. There’s a lot of competition.
How was the atmosphere at Detweiller two years ago when you watched state as a spectator?
It’s really intense. The park is crowded with runners and fans and there are lots of people yelling to support their team. ... I’m sure it will be the same way this time around for us.
Comments
