Interview with Amy Hastings

By Pat Goodwin

Amy Hastings, who is a member of the Team USA senior women’s squad that will compete at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships on March 30, is no stranger to cross country. Her success with it dates back to her high school days in Leavenworth, Kansas, when she won the state cross country championship her senior year.

Starting with her freshman year at Arizona State University in Tempe, Hastings competed all four years at the NCAA Cross Country Championships and lead her team to fourth place her senior year. In addition, in 2003, she was a member of the USA World Junior Cross Country team that competed in Switzerland; in 2004 she became ASU’s first Pac-10 cross country champion; and in 2006, Hastings won the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships.

Although she placed eighth at the USA Cross Country Championships in San Diego in February, she became part of the six-member senior women’s 8K Team USA when winner Shalane Flanagan gave up her spot to focus on the upcoming track season, and sixth-place finisher Blake Russell declined in favor of preparing for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Women’s Marathon. Hastings, 24, is excited for the opportunity to be on her first world team since completing her collegiate eligibility last spring.

The 10-time All American in cross country and track has an impressive list of accomplishments on the track as well. In high school she won the state 3200 meters race her junior and senior years. Then at Arizona State she won the 2006 NCAA Indoor 5000 meters and was fourth at the 2006 NCAA Outdoor 10,000 meters behind teammate and winner Victoria Jackson. Prior to those accomplishments she was the 2004 Pac-10 champion in the 3000-meter steeplechase. In her final collegiate race outdoors last June, Hastings finished fourth in the 10,000 meters at the NCAAs in Sacramento.

Her personal bests include 9:04.87 in the 3000 meters (set in February), 15:30.17 in the 5000 meters and 32:37.27 in the 10,000 meters, an Arizona State record. Described as ASU’s most decorated female distance runner, Hastings credits her coaches—Walt Drenth, who left the Sun Devils in 2004, and Louis Quintana—Drenth’s successor—for much of her success . With a move up to Flagstaff to train, she is now coached by Jack Daniels and is sponsored by adidas.

New York Road Runners: Congratulations on making the team that will compete at the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland. What do you hope to accomplish there?
Amy Hastings: I want to place as high as possible for the team at World Cross. I want to be in a good position and anything above being last on the team will be good. I have met all the girls and I know Renee Metivier Baillie especially well. And after the trip I am sure we will all know each other even better. It will be a great experience. It is going to be fun and I am really glad I get the chance to do it again after representing the USA at Junior World Cross in 2003. I think we have a good team. I’ve never been to that part of the world before and I can’t wait.

NYRR: Are you worried about the muddy conditions on the course that people keep talking about?
AH: I think the mud will be good for everyone—we will all have to run through it. Actually I hope it will be that type of course. In Kansas it tended to get kind of muddy and I did well when the USA Cross Country Championships were in Houston in 2003 (she placed third in the junior race; it was really muddy on that course.

NYRR: How did the USA Cross Country Championships in San Diego play out for you when you finished eighth?
AH: My goal was to be in the top six at that race—that definitely was what I was going after—but I made some tactical mistakes. First of all, I went out a little too fast. I saw some of the runners go out fast, runners who are absolutely great, and I thought “I could run with them”. I paid the price for that but at least I still finished in a good position.

NYRR: How has your training been going up in Flagstaff?
AH: It was a hard adjustment when I first moved up to Flagstaff. I couldn’t do both the workouts and the mileage because of the altitude. But now I am finally back up to the normal mileage that I did during college, which was 90 to 100 miles per week. I am getting used to it. I am doing workouts a couple of times a week along with the high mileage so things are progressing.

NYRR: Who do you run with there?
AH: My training partners are Alicia Shay and Renee Metivier Baillie. I competed against both of them when I was in college (Alicia was at Stanford and Renee at Colorado). Renee has moved here permanently now. And my roommate is Brianna Torres (who also went to ASU) who runs for McMillan Elite here in Flagstaff. There is a large community of people to run with and groups are coming here all the time. Right now the German national team is here.

NYRR: Has there been a lot of snow in Flagstaff this winter?
AH: There has been, but I was traveling when the snow was really bad, so I missed a lot of it. The snow comes but then it is sunny and the roads are clear. It’s not depressing at all or dreary and gray like it was in Kansas.

NYRR: Since you graduated last June, you’ve transitioned from being coached by Louie Quintana to being coached by Jack Daniels. Has that been a smooth transition?
AH: Throughout college I came up to Flagstaff to get out of the heat in Phoenix so I was familiar with the area and wanted to move up here. Louie started out coaching me but it was hard to train without a coach on site. So Louie and I talked about it and he suggested I work with Jack. Louie actually uses the Jack Daniels approach so it is awesome that I can still go down to ASU at any time and Louie will know what I need to do. It’s nice to have both resources.

NYRR: Were you coached by Louie the entire time you were at Arizona State?
AH: When I first came to ASU, Walt Drenth was the head coach but he left just before my junior year and then Louie became the head coach. But Louie was there even when I came on my recruiting trip. He was a graduate assistant at the time and he was in charge of taking me to one of my academic meetings. He fell asleep during that meeting and it is kind of a joke now – I tease him about it. My first two years of college he was an assistant coach.

NYRR: What made you decide to go from Kansas to Arizona for college?
AH: I was recruited and visited a lot of Midwest schools but I was ready for something different. Georgetown was big at the time so I looked there along with Arizona State. When I came to visit Tempe, Desiree Davilla (now with Hansons-Brooks) was my host. She was really great and is still a good friend. I also really clicked with all the girls on the team. I had a really great experience at ASU and am very glad I went there.

NYRR: Did the women’s team go to the NCAA Cross Country Championships all four years you were there?
AH: Yes, we made it all four years to NCAA Cross. We placed 23rd my freshman year and we decided from then on we would do better. We all really worked for it. I think we finished 14th my sophomore year, then it was ninth place my junior year, and when I was a senior we placed fourth and made it to the awards stand. The women’s distance squad is still very strong. They were fourth again last year and they will be going after the title this year.

NYRR: Did you have much of an indoor season this winter?
AH: I went to the University of Washington Invite on February 2 and ran a personal best in the 3000 of 9:04 – my previous best was 9:13. I had it in my mind that I wanted to run 8:57 there but the pacer was a little slow. It worked out just fine though. After USA Cross, I went to USA Indoor at the end of February. I finished sixth in the 3000 in 9:16:08 and I was pretty disappointed about that. More than anything I was hoping to be in with the front bunch of women. I am not really sure what happened there.

NYRR: After World Cross, when will you start your outdoor season?
AH: On April 12 I will run the 5000 on the new track at Arizona State at the Sun Angel meet in Tempe. Next will be the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational on May 4, where I will do the 10,000. The 10,000 will be my event for the Olympic Trials in Eugene. At Cardinal, I am hoping to go under 32 minutes; that is one of my goals. The main thing will be the Trials. I really want to make that team.

NYRR: Do you plan to race in Europe this summer on the track?
AH: I was there last summer for three weeks but I only raced once, a 5000, and it wasn’t a good race. I was talked in to going over there even though I didn’t have a very good showing at USA Outdoor in Indianapolis last June (ninth in the 5000 meters in 16:08.71). I was pretty tired by that time coming off my college season. But I ended up having a really fun summer. My running wasn’t as good as it had been and I took a break and that will be better for me in the long run. Now I know what to expect in Europe and I have the experience and I’m looking forward to going back there this summer to get in some races.

Interview conducted March 22, 2008, and posted March 27, 2008.