Hackenberg, Shepherd to Race at NCAAs in California
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BLOOMSBURG- Bloomsburg University runners Justin Shepherd (Cranberry Twp./Seneca Valley) and Amber Hackenberg (Middleburg/Middleburg) will travel to Ponoma, CA for the 2005 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships to be held on Saturday morning.
Shepherd took third in the Nov. 5 East Regional race held at Lock Haven University, running the 10,000-meter course in a time of 31:16. Hackenberg led the women's team to a fourth-place finish, taking fifth-place on the 6,000-meter course in a time of 22:07.
Both Shepherd and Hackenberg spent the season leading the Huskies in each of their respective races, including strong finishes at the Penn State Spiked Shoe Invitational and the Penn State National Race, both dominated by Division I competition. Head coach Karen Brandt said Hackenberg, a sophomore, saw the biggest changes in the Division I-strength races.
"I think the biggest change in Amber from last year is her confidence that she truly is one of the best runners in a field and that she has every reason to expect that she should be running at the front of a field," Brandt said. "She is much more aggressive in her starts this year and doesn't shy away from going after the best women in the field, even when they are Division 1 runners."
When Hackenberg came to Bloomsburg, she told Brandt she had one thing in mind: she wanted to compete on the national level.
"I knew at the time she didn't really understand how much work that entailed and I think she figured that out last fall," Brandt said. "She knows now, college running sure isn't like high school because it is so much more intense and requires a lot more dedication."
That dedication took its toll on Hackenberg last year, as she missed qualifying for the NCAA Championships in track and Brandt felt as if she really had to look deep down to decide if college running was something she wanted to really focus upon.
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"I think the dedication required almost pushed her over the edge last year during track and she had to search her soul if she really wanted to continue in this direction," Brandt said. "I'm pleased to see that she decided in favor of pushing forward with her goal."
For Shepherd, the story's a little different. After having a successful freshman year, earning All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and All-East Region honors, Brandt said his approach to his workouts has changed.
"I think the biggest change I've seen in Justin over the three years I've known him is that his already established sense of commitment and work ethic have deepened and matured," she said. "He had high goals when he arrived here but he didn't quite understand the amount of work it was going to take to achieve them."
At the 2004 East Regional race, Shepherd took eighth place, missing a qualifying time by just a few places.
"He was extremely disappointed and frustrated and I think this year's qualification run was born that day last year," Brandt said. "He worked really hard during the track season and made the national provisional list at 10,000 meters but still was just short of making it to nationals."
Brandt sat down with Shepherd at the end of last season and told him that mileage was the only thing holding him back from a spot at nationals. Instead of 55 to 60 miles over the summer, Brandt told him he needed to run 80, if not 90 miles a week. Shepherd averaged about 70 miles over the summer, at and first, Brandt wasn't sure how much it would help him this season.
Though he turned in his average mileage, there were a few things he left out about his summer vacation.
"What he didn't tell us, we learned it later in the season from his parents, was that he had been working two jobs, 12 to 14 hours a day, and getting his workouts in sometimes at 1:00 a.m. in order to do those 70 mile weeks or perhaps worse yet, he was getting out in the heat of the day when the humidity and temperatures were their worst," Brandt said.
The summer workouts paid off as Brandt has seen a change in his drive during races and tough practices this season.
"I've never seen Justin as focused as I have seen him this year nor have I ever seen him handle pain like he has this year," she said. "I know he goes to the line every time with the mindset that he is going to run as hard as he can for as long as he can and wring absolutely everything out of himself."
That drive and determination will be imperative for both Shepherd and Hackenberg this weekend, as they compete in the national title race.
"The competition will be fierce and intense; every man and woman in that field on Saturday has one goal in mind and that is to be an All-America athlete," Brandt said. "To have a chance to do that, everyone will go off the line at a dead sprint, much faster than they should, but they need to in order to establish a position at or near the front of the field before the entire pack converges in the middle of the opening 1/4 mile."
According to Brandt, in addition to pure talent and speed, the race will also be a very physical race, as everyone will be doing whatever they can to get in front.
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"There will be pushing and shoving and elbows in faces and sides as runners jockey for position while still trying to run as hard as they can and negotiate an undulating course," she said.
Anticipating this type of race, Brandt knew the Division I races would be a good experience to help give the Bloomsburg runners a taste of what nationals would be like.
"It was an intense, predominately Division I field they faced and we knew if they did well there they were getting good preparation for a possible trip to Division II nationals," she said.
At the Penn State national, Shepherd finished 26th, while Hackenberg took 54th. These places came behind two runners in the region, Jeff Weiss from Slippery Rock and Mindy Sawtelle from IUP, two runners that Shepherd and Hackenberg will shoot to stay with this weekend.
"As the season has progressed, Justin has closed the time gap to Jeff and the plan is for Justin to keep Jeff in sight throughout the national race and hopefully they will both end up in All-America positions," Brandt said. "Amber's plan is similar. She was the second Division II runner at that race with only Mindy ahead of her. Like Justin, Amber has closed the gap to Mindy since then so the plan is the same; keep Mindy in sight and never let up until the finish line."
Regardless of who they are able to run with and their individual strategies, Shepherd and Hackenberg are in for a tough race.
"Justin and Amber are going to participate in the toughest race of their lives so far on Saturday," Brandt said. "It's not that it will be the most difficult course they have faced or maybe not even the most talented field overall but it is the pressure they will feel knowing that they have made it to the national level race."
The pressures and nerves are something they've been handling well all year, according to Brandt, and she has no doubt they will compete with the same attitudes as they have race in and race out.
"They both do a good job of keeping their fear and nerves under control but I'm sure they will have a lot of flutter in their stomachs," she said. "I am confident however that when their respective guns go off, they will immediately focus on the job at hand and run like seasoned athletes. We will be extremely proud to see them in that field."
