Patrick Gregory is a junior at Butler High School in Louisville. He just finished up a sophomore year in which he ran new best times from 800m to the 5K. He is ranked Top 10 nationally in the 1600m/3200m in the Class of 2014.
KY: 3 Goals for XC
PG: State Championship, Sub 15, -Top 10 Finish at Footlocker South Regional
KY: Favorite course?
PG: My favorite cross country course is probably the Footlocker South Regional course at McAlpine Park. It's obviously a pretty fast course and I like the surface a lot.
KY: Favorite race?
I'd have to say that my favorite race is probably Tiger Run for now. With it being the first race of the season there is a lot of energy and electricity in the air so it always makes for a good race atmosphere.
KY: Your past track season is arguably one of the best in KY history from a sophomore with best times of 1:56/4:15/9:10/14:57, how do you build on that going into XC season?
PG: I just have to continue to train hard and consistently to build on the past track season. My training between track and cross country doesn't differ very much and that gives me confidence knowing that I have raced well in the past under a similar structure and workload.
KY: What motivates you?
PG: Well, I don't want to get fat and be another American statistic so I force myself to get out of bed and run... Actually, I've never really given much thought as to what motivates me to run, I guess it's just something that I like to do. However, I guess that my biggest motivator would be the scholarship and travel opportunities that can potentially come from the sport.
KY: At Tiger Run last year, you were 2nd overall just 9 seconds behind Jacob Thomson, I know you two do some training together and are pretty good friends. Straight up, can you beat him?
PG: All I'm going to say about that is that we are good pals and hopefully I can give him a good race. If you want to know the truth he can bench press about 70 pounds more than I can, so I'm going to have to give him the upper hand. I really just want to make it the best race that I can.
KY: Last year during XC, you started out super hot and mid-season you have slipped back just a little. How do you avoid that this year compared to last?
PG: Hopefully this season I can avoid injury and maintain a solid amount of training going through the whole season.
KY: If you were going to be a super stud in any other sport what would it be and why?
PG: I played AAU baseball my entire life, and I'd say that I was pretty good at that. It had always been my plan to play baseball in high school and a lot of times I really miss it, but I have a much brighter future an better opportunities in cross country.
KY: What are your proud of 4:15 or 9:10? Why? Which was tougher?
PG: I'd have to say that I am more proud of the 9:10 3200m. I can't really say which was tougher because in all three races (Eastern Relays 3200/1600 and Dream Mile) it felt pretty easy. I was just able to sit in and cruise to those times. The 3200m may have been a little bit tougher because there was a lot more time to think about. During 3200 its a lot easier to lose focus and let gaps open up, which I still did (oops), but luckily I have been able to develop some pretty nice closing speed and make up the gap that open up. I'm proud of both accomplishments, but I think that 9:10 is a little bit more impressive on a national scale and I'm just really happy that I was able to get lucky and pull it off.
KY: Who is your favorite Olympian and what event/sport are you looking forward to the most?
PG: My favorite Olympian would have to be Galen Rupp. I'm looking forward to the 5k/10k equally because I really want to see Rupp medal in the 10k and even come back and race well in the 5k... I really like Lagat, also. For him to still be so competitive is pretty impressive in its own, especially on an Olympic standard level. I'm pretty excited about all of the distance races though and I'd have to say that my money is on Mo Farah for double gold.
KY: I know it is still early, but do you have an early list of where you want to look at for college?
PG: Honestly, right now I have no concrete list because I haven't really been in contact with any coaches so I don't have any options to really make a "list" yet... There are a lot of great colleges that I would love to run for and be lucky to run for, but I guess that right now all I really know is that I either want to go out west or down south.
KY: Time goal for Tiger Run?
PG: That's a good question. I haven't really thought much about a time goal for Tiger Run this year. I just want to go with the flow of the pace and simply race without worrying about any certain time or splits. With the kind of field that is usually in the race I'm thinking that the pace will kind of take care of itself...
