Interview: Catching Up with Emily Pritt

Emily Pritt (Massillon-Jackson) had a stellar Cross Country season in 2007, and is looking to translate her success into the current track season. Emily is one of the many distance standouts on the female side in Ohio. While Emily’s main event is the 1600m, she will run anything from the 400m to the 3200m this track season and will likely be on a few relays for her Massillon-Jackson team.

Emily owned the seventh fastest Cross Country time in the state last season, finished fourth in the OHSAA Division I Cross Country Championship, and also finished third in the 1600m at the 2007 OHSAA Track and Field Championship. OHRunners webmaster Jim Finlday caught up with Emily the day after signing her National Letter of Intent.

An Interview with Ohio Distance Standout Emily Pritt

OHRunners (OHR): First off congratulations on an outstanding Cross Country season and great track season last year. There have been rumors about where you are going to run next year. I’ve heard Colorado and North Carolina State the most. Where have chosen to go, and how did you come to that decision?

Emily Pritt (EP): I chose North Carolina State. There wasn’t really one factor that stuck out the most, it really was a combination of all things. The school, the girls on the team, the coaches, the academics and the environment were all factors in my decision. This felt like a place where I could start the next chapter of my life, both as a student and as an athlete.

(Editor's Side Note: Emily was also considering attending the University of Colorado, the University of Wisconsin, and Syracuse University)

OHR: So you’ve chosen your school for next year, let’s focus on this year now. What are your goals for the track season?

EP: With this being so early in the season I haven’t really thought about goals too much, but I do have the obvious ones like making it to the state meet and performing well at the state meet. I’d really like to get my 1600m time down to a 4:50, which is going to be quite an improvement. I’d also like to qualify for the Nike (Outdoor Nationals) meet.

OHR: With the OATCCC IndoorState meet becoming ever more popular, do you, or your team have any plans to run in the qualifying meets?

EP: My team really doesn’t run indoor meets as a team. I was going to do an Akron meet earlier in the year, but I was recovering from the flu, and felt that it was better to recover rather than run. I will be running at Akron on the 23rd (February) and at Kent on the 24th. At Akron I am going to run the 1600m and at Kent the 3200m. I haven’t ran much of the 3200m before, so I want to get an early time on it.

OHR: How’s your training for the track season coming along?

EP: My training is going very well right now. I’m doing pretty basic training, three to four easy runs a week. With two of those runs though, I do at a little faster pace. I also have a day that I train speed, and a day that I work on hills. I like to cross train also, I used to swim a lot, so I’ll swim to help my cardio or do water jogging.

OHR: Thanks for your time Emily and good luck this season.