REED CONNOR »» MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY BADGERING...
Senior Reed Connor was an All-American for Wisconsin in 2011, helping lead the Badgers to their fifth national championship. He returns for 2012, along with fellow team captain Maverick Darling and returning All-American Mohammed Ahmed. The Badgers' top three runners are expected to make their season debuts when UW hosts the highly-anticipated Wisconsin adidas Invitational on Oct. 12 at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Madison. UW heads to the Wolfie Invitational, hosted by Stony Brook, on Saturday.
What's your assessment of the team so far?
"We're looking pretty good. Doing the work as far as workouts go, we're ahead of where we were last year, and that's exciting to see. We just have to get guys hungry and racing big where it counts, and we haven't really been tested in that yet."
How difficult is it to defend last year's national championship? "The work's there, the talent's there, it's now about finding the fire. 'Finding the fire,' that's going to be the theme this year. It's kind of tough coming back off a national championship last year. It's easy to say you're greedy and you want another one, but there are a lot of teams that don't have one on their shelves. It's hard to say that they're not just as hungry as we are to go get it this year."
Between running and business classes, how do you relax during the season? "Honestly, I read textbooks. It's the first week of school and I've already read more of a textbook than I have in my entire career here. Other than that, just sitting. Whenever you're running 105 miles a week, just sitting around the house is the greatest luxury in the world, so I take pride and joy in those moments when I'm just sitting there."
Your dad is a commercial pilot. Where's the best place he's taken you? "I've seen some cool places. I've been all over Europe, to Italy, Norway, Switzerland and all those good places. We try to take advantage of it. This summer, my dad says, 'Hey, Reed, want to go to Hawaii and go tuna fishing?' So we hopped on the plane and went fishing. I snagged a 110-pound tuna, and we were living the life."
22 » VARSITY SEPTEMBER 13, 2012
