Sports
NCC Spotlight: Cross Country's Alicia Zimmerman
North Central College senior runner does interview for new weekly series.
The women's cross country team continues to hold the No. 8 spot in the Midwest Region in the third installment of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association regional rankings, released Tuesday.
The Cardinals continue to be the top-ranked College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin squad in the regional poll, maintaining its No. 8 ranking in the second regular season poll. CCIW-rival Illinois Wesleyan University climbs up one spot to ninth.
placed seventh overall at the 28-team Illinois Intercollegiate Invitational on Sept. 16 in Normal, Ill. Alicia Zimmerman highlighted the Cardinals' efforts, placing 17th overall to earn CCIW Runner of the Week honors.
The Cardinals return to action Saturday at the Wheaton College Invitational hosted at Saint James Farm in Warrenville.
What's it like being a key member of North Central College's cross country program? Describe your role on the team and list your individual goals. Being a member of this team is such an amazing opportunity. Being a senior on this team is even more of an amazing opportunity. My freshman year (Narayanan) Mahesh, my coach, was rebuilding the program. That to be said, we got to help him rebuild it, and today the program is what we have made it. Our program is led by the seniors and juniors who have been here for the remodeling process and who have dreams for not only our team but for the program in the future. That to be said, we are determined to make this the best season women's cross country has ever had. In practices, I let my role on the team be in my running. I will push during the workouts to make sure that I will never settle during a race. We each have different roles on the team — some people are the endurance runners, some are the kickers, some are the encouragers. Put all those different qualities together and we have a team full of girls who will push and pull each other along every step of the way. Our No. 1 goal this year is to place well at nationals. We want to make an impact on the women's side from Naperville, Ill. That way, when people think of cross country, it won't just be the men's program but the women's program making our own name. And personally, I want to be All-American. That would be a great end to my four years at and my seven years of cross country running.
What's the attraction to running, in general, for you as an athlete? Is there a sport that you enjoy more and maybe didn't have the ability to attempt playing in college? I love to run because I love the feeling I get from a good workout or run with my friends. I love going to practice after a long day at school and work and just leaving everything that is bothering me at the door and being a part of a team. I absolutely love to run as well; there is no other sport I would rather be doing.
What's the dynamic like between the women's program and the men's program at NCC? Is there camaraderie there or maybe even competitiveness? Honestly, the men have their own program and we have our own program. We have the same name but we are two separate teams.
Finish this sentence: To be a runner at North Central College means ... believing that consistent, quality training over a period of time will yield positive results. That is our team motto and what we live by for the four years we are at .
Give an example of one way you apply something you've learned while running at NCC to something else in your life, whether that be school, relationships or what-have-you. Running is a metaphor for many things in life. One of the main lessons that I have learned while being a part of this team is that someone will be there to pick you up when you fall down. A team is not made up of one person. A team needs the whole group in order to succeed. Maybe one day I won't have a good race; and if I do not have a good race, the team picks it up. If Amanda (Marek), Krista (Cota), or Kala (Bingham) don't have a good race, one of us will be there to pick it up. When I am not having a good attitude, or I am not having a good workout, I have someone there to say to me, "C'mon, you can do it ... don't give up now ... keep pushing ... you lead this one." In life it is the same way. When I am having a bad day, or things just aren't going the way I want them to, I have my teammates and friends there to say to me "C'mon, you can do it ... don't give up now ... keep pushing ... I'm here for you." We all run and we all know that not everyone is going to have a good day every day, in either running or life, but we all know that not a single person on this team is going to let someone else fall without stopping and picking them back up.
And one more thought from Zimmerman: This team is my life and these girls are my family. There is no other place I would rather be at this moment in my life, and there are no other girls I would rather be with than these girls. We are making a name for ourselves this year, we are 19 strong and are not going to settle for anything.
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