Rocky Grove Invitational Photo Gallery
Rocky Grove Seeded Varsity Boys Photos-Part One
Rocky Grove Seeded Varsity Boys Photos-Part Two
Rocky Grove Seeded Varsity Girls Photos
Jed Christiansen, Greenville.
Christiansen
at the close of his record-setting Rocky Grove race
PTXC:Did you come in here today looking to break Andy Weilcher's
record?
Christiansen:No. I knew he had run here, but I didn't really have
any idea what his time had been, so I wasn't really thinkng about it. I
was focusing more on my competition. Especially Grant Allen, he usually
becomes stronger at the end of the year, so I knew he'd be there. He
almost beat me last year at States. And this morning I heard about the
Twin Valley guy (Shawn Moore, 12, 2nd in 16:24), so I was expecting him
to be up there too.
PTXC:Talk about the race. What was your mile split?
Christiansen:I think it was 5 minutes. I wasn't sure how fast we were going out
because of the hill (400 meters uphill just after the start). I didn't know how much that
slowed us up. I started opening it up on Allen at the mile, and at a mile-and-a-half, I think
I was 30 yards ahead. I didn't think I was ever trying to break away, he just fell behind.
PTXC:How is your season and training going?
Christiansen: It's been going well. My times have been much faster than what I was
doing during the summer. It's really tiring, but I have been improving a lot. My mileage is down
from a few weeks ago.
PTXC:Your's was the third Christiansen win of the day. Jacy and Job are carrying on the
front-running familty tradition.
Christiansen:Jacy has been running pretty well. (She won the 1.6 mile Elementary race
in 9:55). This has been her first race in cross country against other kids. I think she'll do really well when she gets up
there. And Job broke a national record for his age group in the Applefest 5k (low 16's on 10/4 in Franklin), and
he has passed my other brother who was 13th in Varsity today.
PTXC:Who are you seeing as your States' competiton?
Christiansen:Definitely Spooner. And I have been thinking about Mock for several years. Before
this year, he hasn't been mentioned as much as he should have been. I think Brian Soder can be up
there. And I think Grant Allen has the ability to stay with the pack. But there are always
surprises.
Grant Allen, Eisenhower.
Grant
Allen stayed tough to get 3rd.
PTXC:You and Christiansen gapped everyone a bit by a half mile?
Allen:Yeah, we went out in five-flat. I didn't want to push it too hard. A couple of
weeks ago, we went out in 4:48. Then he gapped me 10 feet, and then he kept going, and I kind of
fell apart during the middle of the race. I got beat badly here last year, and by the end of
the year, so I feel like even though this is a disappointing loss, I feel like I can do a lot
better in a couple of weeks. We ran a hard workout Thursday, so I think I ran on tired legs today,
which I've been doing all season. The time was faster than last year, so I think I'll be faster at
Districts and States, as well.
PTXC:Were you surprised by Shawn, from Twin Valley?
Allen:No, he beat me last year, too. I knew he'd be there. He didn't catch me
until the last mile or so I knew he was coming, but I was running on fumes. He rolled past me
and I don't usually finish real fast, so I didn't have it.
PTXC:Are you pleased with your season so far? Has there been a highlight?
Allen:I ran 15:52 at West Middlesex the second week of the season. The season's going
great. This summer, for the first time, I ran some 70 mile weeks, 65 miles weeks, and for me, that's
a lot. The most training I've ever done. So I feel like I'm in a lot better shape. I feel like
I'm fitter. Now over the next coulple of weeks is when we start putting in speed, so we'll find out
where we really stand. And the team is solid. Not like we were two years ago when we were state
runners up, but we're a solid team, and we hope to finish high at States.
PTXC:So you feel like your team is in good shape in District 10?
Allen:I think so, after winning here. The only team in the west that can run with us (AA)
is Quaker Valley. They were sixth at States last year, and they have all five guys back. And this
year, we beat them at a race, and they beat us by a point at the other.
PTXC:What does the AA individual race look like this year, crowded.?
Allen:Crowded, yeah. Exciting. It's kind of frustrating to always run in somebody's shadow.
But last year I surprised a lot of people when I was sixth, so I'd like to come to States again and
surprise people. But you've got the big names, Spooner, and Christiansen, and Soder, and right now
they're beating me pretty bad, but I'm pretty confident that I can be close, at least, at States.
PTXC:And Mock has been coming on, too.
Allen:Yeah, there's a lot of really good guys. And there's always somebody who surprises, too. Like
Jon Pastore, last year. There's always somebody who comes up that nobody really thought about.
PTXC:What colleges are you looking at so far?
Allen:Cornell, William & Mary, Duke, and Dartmouth. I'm doing official visits to all
those. I want to major in mining, or oil and gas engineering. Like geology. My dad has some oil
wells, so I have some experience with it. And I like being out in the woods. I don't want to sit
in an office.
PTXC:Are you looking forward to Foot Lockers?
Allen:Definitely. My brother is flying in from Arizona, where he is the assistant coach at
(D1 #3) Northern Arizona University. And our whole team is going, actually. Some of the other guys
want to get the experience of running there, so we're going to have four or five guys there. That's
a crazy race. Terrible things can happen. Last year I ran well, so I think I like the 16th returning,
so we'll see what happens. There's probably 50 kids across the Northeast that are dreaming of
going to Foot Lockers, so I might as well, too, right?
PTXC:So who's going to tell Andy (Weilacher) someone
broke another of his course records?
Allen:Andy's not going to be happy.
Eisenhower with their first place award, is looking strong again this season.