Green, Gold, Gator | Schmidt heads to NCAA Cross Country Championships
Published Thu 21 Nov 2024
Few athletes embrace the chaos like Gabby Schmidt and few races provide it like Saturday’s NCAA Cross Country Championships. Less than three months after finishing seventh over 5000m at the World Under 20 Championships, the 18-year-old is making her mark for the Florida Gators.
For an athlete who finished seventh at the World Under 20 Championships and 21st at the World Cross Country Championships this year, Schmidt’s loose goal of “top 100” in the field of 250 for this weekend sounds modest at first, but ultimately speaks to how competitive the event is.
Set to take place in Madison, Wisconsin over 6km for women and 10km for men, up to 22 Australians will fly the flag for their colleges in the annual war of attrition.
“It’s definitely weird to be racing in what you see on the TV. I have found that back at home you go out quick, then you settle before you finish hard. There is just no slowing down here,” Schmidt said.
“I ran the Pre-Nationals which were also at Wisconsin and there were two huge pile-ups in the first kilometre. I just heard a bunch of girls screaming and then two seconds later there was a pile of humans on the ground in front of me.”
As her World Under 20 Championships teammates made the return leg from Peru to Australia, it was a shorter trip for Schmidt to her new home in the United States where she would soak in her performance with a month of light training.
“It’s been better than I expected, I thought I would struggle a lot more with the homesickness. The girls here are really good and the coaches are awesome, so it’s been an easy transition and a fun start,” Schmidt said.
“I definitely prefer cross country but obviously the track is good fun. The season hasn’t really been what I thought so I’m just happy to be racing.”
A two-time World Cross Country Championships representative at the age of 18 after making her Australian team debut at Bathurst in 2023, Schmidt is only set to grow in experience with her first NCAA Championships appearance.
“This weekend the high is supposed to be two degrees, so that’s very different to Bathurst where I swear it felt like 40 degrees. The field is a lot bigger and more experienced, so I just want to hang on for as long as I can,” Schmidt said.
“Coming over here is also about the life experience for me. If I didn’t run, I would have done some kind of exchange somewhere, so this is just such a great opportunity to get my education at a top college and do some serious racing.”
Following in the footsteps of Olympic silver medallist Jessica Hull and Commonwealth champion Oliver Hoare as an Australian in the NCAA system, Schmidt has been buoyed by the success of her senior counterparts on the world stage as she begins her collegiate career.
“Coming off the Olympics is so cool, especially watching Jess [Hull] get the silver medal. The other night we were watching replays of NCAA’s in previous years and you could see Jess which is crazy that she has run on the same course,” Schmidt said.
“People at Florida ask me if I know Gen [Gregson] because she went here too.”
The 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships will take place this Saturday, November 23 in Madison, Wisconsin and will be streamed via ESPN.
A full list of Australian athletes on the provisional entries can be found below.
Women’s 6km (Sunday, 2:20am AEDT):
Gabby Schmidt (Florida), Brooke Mullins (Florida State), Klara Dess (New Mexico), Nikita Moore (Northern Arizona), Keira Moore (Northern Arizona), Hayley Kitching (Penn State), Ada Rand (Penn State), Amy Bunnage (Stanford), Nicola Hogg (Stanford), Heidi Demeo (Syracuse), Saskia Lloyd (Washington).
Men’s 10km (Sunday, 3:10am AEDT):
Charlie Rogers (Alabama), Matt Rankin (Iona), Kang Nyoak (Northern Arizona), Alex Stitt (Oklahoma State), Toby Gillen (Ole Miss), Doug Buckeridge (Purdue), Jack Coomber (Villanova), Bailey Habler (Villanova), Charlie Sprott (Wake Forest), Thomas Diamond (Washington), Adam Spencer (Wisconsin).
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted 21/11/2024
