Alabama Cross Country Q&A: Josh Short
9/28/2017 1:10:00 PM | Track & Field, Cross Country
Josh Short is the captain of the 2017 Alabama men's cross country team. The junior from Cedarburg, Wis., was a member of the Crimson Tide's NCAA South Regional and Southeastern Conference Championships squads as a sophomore in 2016. Short and his teammates will be in action Sept. 29 at Notre Dame's Joe Piane Invitational in South Bend, Ind.
As a captain, how do you rally a team before a race?
Josh Short: "I just tell everybody to go out there and compete as hard as we can and just be Alabama while we're out there."
What is the team mentality this year?
JS: "I think last year we were a team that was on the bubble to make it in (to the NCAA Championships), so a lot of things had to go our way for us to be able to make it to the national meet. This year I think we have a lot of talent up front. We have three guys – Alfred Chelanga, Vincent Kiprop and Gilbert Kigen - who can compete for the top 20 in the country. We also have better depth than we've had since I've been here. We've just really filled out the team through the first eight spots better than we have in the past. It's exciting."
What is the atmosphere like on the team?
JS: "Just excited. We had our first big meet in California a couple weeks ago and our first really big test is Notre Dame this weekend (Sept. 29). That's when we'll see where everybody is fitness-wise and see how we're going to stack up against teams in our region, in the SEC and around the country."
What are the team's goals for this season?
JS: "We want to finish in the top three at the SEC Championships and finish well enough at regionals to qualify for the (NCAA Championships). As a team we'd like to make it to nationals. That hasn't been done here since 2009."
What have you learned since your freshman year?
JS: "Oh so much. Our older guys did a really good job of showing us the way. We had some great upperclassmen when I was a freshman, and they were some of my best friends. They definitely set the tone for what this team is about and what we can be. I definitely still look up to Conner Thompson, he's just an amazing influence. He was our team captain last year. If I can be anything like him, that's the way it should be. He's just a great guy."
What makes this season special?
JS: "This could be my last season because I'm going to law school, so I don't know if I'm going to compete again. I want to make sure I'm coming into every workout, every practice and treating it like it's the last time I'm ever going to do that workout. At the meets I'm definitely going to be thinking about leaving it all out there. I don't want to look back in two, three years and think, 'I wish I would have taken this more seriously.' I want to come into the race with as much intensity as I can bring to that meet, and treat it as if it's my last race."
Players Mentioned
