Freshman Feature: Q&A with McKenzie Yanek
9/29/2016 2:06:00 PM | Track & Field, Cross Country
Freshman McKenzie Yanek is already making an impact on the Alabama women's cross country team. The two-time state champion from Bettendorf, Iowa was the Tide's No. 2 runner in her collegiate debut at the Brooks Memphis Twilight Classic on Sept. 3 and will be competing with her teammates at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational this weekend in South Bend, Ind.
When did you start running?
McKenzie Yanek: "I was in fourth or fifth grade. Our neighbors are really good at our local high school for the 100 meter. Their dad used to make them run in front of this hill in front of our house. It made me say, 'oh, I want to be like them.' So, I started running on this hill that is in front of our house too. I fell in love with it. I didn't start training with the team or anything like that until junior high. That's when I first realized that I enjoyed running."
What made you want to stick to running?
MY: "It's kind of funny. I feel like most people played soccer or something like that to get them going with running. I just played cops and robbers and kickball a lot with all of the neighborhood kids. The running was definitely my favorite part of it. I was a little excited for cross country because I knew I liked running from that."
When did you realize that you wanted to run collegiately?
MY: "Probably in seventh or eighth grade. Since I started running with the team, I guess. Allison Gregg used to run here. She was four years older than me and lived in Cedar Falls, Iowa with me. I remember watching her run and that was really cool to me too. I [remember thinking] she can run in college and maybe I can too someday."
What were some of the colleges you were looking at and what was your impression of Alabama?
MY: "I had it narrowed down pretty quickly. My sophomore year, we started taking unofficial visits to colleges. We looked at a lot on the west coast. I was able to tell then whether I liked huge universities or smaller universities. I liked medium sized universities that have about 35,000 kids. I learned that I did not like big cities from visiting all of these different universities. It helped me narrow it down when coaches could start calling you the summer going into your senior year.
"[What I liked about Alabama] was the size. It was close to the 35,000 that I like. This is in that range. I thought the size was really good. I also like how the town is a college-centered town. The school pride is really cool. That drew me to Alabama."
Did you know anything about Alabama before you came to visit?
MY: "No. We had a couple of kids from Cedar Falls High School that went to Alabama for track and Allison Gregg for cross country. Other than that, I didn't know anything when I went to Alabama."
How has the college transition been for you so far?
MY: "The first week was pretty hard because it was a more competitive environment than I was used to. There were a lot of things to do, and I was trying to stay organized. I was going from summer mode to school mode really quick. You know how in high school, they kind of give you the first two months to get back into the school routine? In college, you had about the first two hours and then you had to be on it. So far, it's been really good. I'm not terribly far away from home, it's just 12 hours, but I just can't drive there on the weekends. Being away from family for that first week and adjusting to that [was a challenge]. But I think once I knew where I was going around campus and knew where my classes were, that was helpful. I wasn't walking around aimlessly. Now with the transition, it's been several weeks since we first came here. It's funny now how overwhelmed I felt the first week, and now it's just so smooth and second nature. Having teammates helps a ton. You get to see these people once or twice a day. It's great if you're stressed out because they can help you out with that. They are fun to talk to. I'm really glad that I'm part of this team. That's another thing that drew me to Alabama. I'm really glad that I chose here."
Is being a runner at Alabama what you expected it to be?
MY: "Yes, everyone says that Division I athletics are a step up. To me, it was like a stepping stone from high school to college. I didn't think it would be drastically different and it's not, but it definitely took some getting used to. The training is harder and staying organized is important. You have to make sure that you're using the planner really well. That helps."
What are some of your team and individual goals going into the season?
MY: "We are hoping to talk more in depth about [the team goals] hopefully sometime this week. We compete at Notre Dame this weekend. That will be a good gauge of where we are nationally. I think that we are a really young team. We are only graduating one person this year. That's really exciting for the next couple of years. It's also exciting to see where we will be headed in the future. We have great senior leadership on our team. Hannah Waggoner is someone that I look up to a lot and Rachael Reddy and Caroline Barlow too. I get really nervous before races, so they help me put things into perspective and [remind me] to have fun with it."
What is some advice you would give to someone who is interested in running in college?
MY: "I would say to definitely try it. I hope that they end up loving it. They need to know that it is a time commitment, but it's worth it because you get to meet some really awesome people. The training is harder so you'll probably end up surprising yourself at how much you can improve. Even over the past couple of weeks, I've been able to surprise myself at the pace I've been running at and how it's so easy. I never would have guessed [that would be the case] going in. Just know that it's worth it because it's cool to see your times drop like that."
Players Mentioned
