March Runner of the Month: Emily Infield

Gopherarun's featured runner for the month of March is Georgetown  University Senior, Emily Infeld. Emily is a graduate of Beaumont High School in Cleveland Ohio. While at Beaumont, Emily acquired numerous impressive credentials that include, but are not limited to: Two individual State Cross Country Championships, two 1600m State Championships, and four (yes, 4!) 800m State Championships . Emily's accomplishments at Georgetown University are outstanding as well. While at Georgetown, Emily has garnered 10 All American Honors as well as school records in the DMR and 4x1500 relay, and a NCAA Cross Country Team Championship this past fall. Her PR's include a 4:08.96 1500 (converts roughly to a 4:27 mile!) and 15:38 for 5k! Emily recently won the NCAA Division 1 3,000 Meter Run indoors and is currently on the "watch list" for the Bowerman Award in which the most outstanding Track and Field Athlete in the nation is honored! We wish Emily the best of luck in 2012 and be sure to follow up on her outdoor season as she makes a push for another National Title!

1. The Gopherarun "Runner of the Month" feature is used to showcase talent from the state of Ohio and to allow our readers to gain knowledge of the amazing accomplishments of runners from our very own state! Could you describe your experience as a high school athlete in NEO and what ultimately influenced you to continue your running at the next level at Georgetown University?

 I loved running in NEO and feel that we have some of the absolute best competition. I am so excited to have 2 current teammates from NEO (Maddie Chambers and Hannah Neczypor), who are both so talented and great people! Coach Emery was phenomenal and really got me to love running; I knew that I wanted to continue running for as long as I could. I had such great experiences in high school with a great coach and awesome teammates that it made me love the sport and very excited for th next level in college.

 

2. Your older sister, Maggie, was a standout runner for Beumont and Georgetown University as well. How has that relationship had an impact on your running?

 I have always looked up to Maggie and I actually started to run because of her. I watched her at one of her meets and saw how much fun she had and I knew that I wanted to follow in her foot steps and compete as well. Maggie is an amazing person and a great role model, she has taught me so much and is always there for me. This has helped me with my running and to enjoy every minute of running. She inspires me in so many ways but especially through her hard work and dedication; she is competitive and so tough in racing which I think has helped me a lot in looking up to her in racing.

 

3. With a resume such as yours it must be hard to pick one race or moment that was especially meaningful to you but has there been that one race that stands out?

 I think having our team win this past Cross country Nationals stands out for me as it was a complete team effort and so exciting to see everyone really race tough for one another in order to win. My teammates are so talented and incredible people, it was so inspiring to watch each one of them throughout the season and see how much they wanted to win. It was truly an amazing experience and one of the happiest moments of my life. Coach Miltenberg never gave up on any of us throughout the season though there were many ups and downs (I took 2 weeks completely off and another week with little running at the beginning of the season, and a few of the girls had different minor injuries, as well as a couple of my teammates red shirting due to injury). The positive attitude of Coach Milt and my teammates showed how much of a family we are and how important this is to each of us, and winning was just so incredible and I know everyone worked so hard to achieve that goal.

 

4.One of the most impressive accomplishments, in my opinion, is your ability to perform at the very top level in the NCAA in, not only track, but Cross Country as well. How are you able to have such incredible range and if you had to pick, which sport is your favorite?

 It is hard to pick because I love them both for different reasons. I feel different racing in track opposed to Cross Country. I always thought of myself as an 800 runner in high school but in college I have moved on to longer distances and really started to love Cross a lot more. I think Coach Miltenberg's philosophy of focusing on running great track really helps us in the Cross season. I think that fact that girls run 6k for Cross is also a big help, as I was used to the 5k in high school and have started to run longer distances in track. I think each season benefits the other.

 

5. What is up next for you? With 2012 being an Olympic year, will you focus on that?

 I am focusing on NCAA outdoors and the trials. I am hoping to be able to be competitive at the end of the year, it will all just be a cool experience for me. I will still be focusing on the college season and then hope to improve and be able to compete in the trials but I will take it week by week. Coach Milt is great at preparing us for the future, he wants to make sure that we are training for long-term development which I truly appreciate as I cannot imagine not running and I want to continue to improve in the upcoming season as well as years to come.