Chris Derrick has high hopes for his 2008 track season
(Photo by Scott Bush)
Since the beginning of August, Chris Derrick (IL) has been on a tear, winning race after race, honor after honor, and along the way leading his team to state and national championships. On Tuesday, Chris won the Gatorade National Cross Country Runner of the Year award. We caught up with Chris Tuesday night to get his thoughts on receiving such a fantastic honor and a few other hot topics.
Chris Derrick Speaks His Mind
MileSplit (MS): Congratulations on winning the Gatorade National Cross Country Runner of the Year award! What are your thoughts on winning such a prestigious award?
Chris Derrick (CD): Obviously it's a great honor. It's cool to look at the trophy and see guys like Payton Manning and LeBron James. However, I am more honored because I know many of the guys I was "competing" against for this award and I know what caliber of runners and what caliber of people they are.
MS: I've heard a rumor that you had a hernia during the cross country season and that you recently had surgery to correct it. Is there any truth to this?
CD: Yes I had a hernia for over two years that I got corrected two days after Foot Locker. I took two weeks off, jogged the third week and began training the fourth.
MS: You are currently in a predicament with the IHSA [Illinois High School Association] in regards to competing at the Boston Indoor Games. Can you give us a little insight into the situation?
CD: It's mostly my fault. I got the offer to run BIG [Boston Indoor Games] and assumed that since Evan Jager ran last year that I would be able to as well. The meet director also told me that the meet was USATF sanctioned so everything would be fine. Well apparently it wasn't. I was a little late getting the invitational letter to my school so they could apply for the exemption. That didn't really put us off on the right foot with the IHSA, and they denied our application. We are working to remedy the solution by being more exhaustive and meticulous in the information we provide to the IHSA. The meet is sanctioned by USATF and a USATF official will be there to conduct the event. I just didn't do a good enough job of articulating that the first time.
MS: Track is rolling nationally now. What are your goals for your senior track season?
CD: I'd like to run 4:12 (1600), sub-8:50 (3200) and 14:15 (5k), and compete well in whatever races I run.
MS: Congrats once again and good luck this track season!