Chuck Medley is the Head Coach at St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky. His senior heavy team won the Nike Cross Nationals Southeast Regional last Saturday in North Carolina. They won the top meets in Kentucky (Trinity Invitational) and Illinois (Palatine Invitational.) They were also Runner-Ups at the nationally renowned Great American Cross Country Festival in North Carolina. Below he answers questions about this weekend's Nike Cross Nationals Race in Portland, Oregon.
St. Xavier's Team Page
Top Seven Runner's
KY: What were your immediate thoughts after winning both the Championship and Open Races at NXN Southeast?
CM: Even though I was confident we would win, I was relieved when we won the championship race. That was our goal all year and to finally win was a great sense of accomplishment.
I thought we had a chance to win the open race because we took a good team down there this year. I was very proud of those young men for stepping up and winning. I was especially happy for senior Charlie Hammon who was our second finisher. He is one of the hardest workers that I ever coached, but was constantly plagued by injuries.
KY: Being that this is your 2nd time running at Nike Cross Nationals, what did you learn the first time that will help this year?
CM: The last time we went we were just glad to go and how we finished was not as important as just getting there. This year we think we have a very good chance of doing real well and showing the rest of the country along with Assumption that distance running in Kentucky is very good.
KY: None of your runners from this team have run at Nike Team Nationals. What have you talked to them about to prepare them for the experience?
CM: I want to let the boys know that this is a maybe once in a lifetime experience . I also let them know that for most of them this is their last cross country race for St. X and to prepare themselves to enjoy the experience and do the best they possibly can.
KY: What are your expectations for this Saturday?
CM: Our men are very confident. They have trained hard and intelligently all year. We have beat a lot of nationally ranked teams,I think we can finish in the top five.