Tina Muir just recently completed her first cross country season at Ferris State. She most certainly turned some heads as she finished 12th overall and helped lead her team to a 17th place team finish. Ferris State had not been to the national meet since 1987. Read on to find out more about Tina and her thoughts on the US, Ferris State and the future.
RM: Congratulations on your 12th place finish at the NCAA meet. What were your goals heading into the meet?TM: Thank you, it was an amazing feeling to know that all my hard work has paid off. I have to say that I wasn't quite sure what to expect going into the meet as this is my first cross country season in the US and its quite different to England. My coach and I knew that the conditions were right for me as I generally do well when its bad conditions and I love hills! I would say I had a personal goal of top 25 but I would never have guessed I would come 12th! But on the day I just was in the right mindset to just keep pushing myself to see what I could do.
RM: What did you do over the summer to make such big jumps in fitness?TM: Over the summer I would have to say that the main difference to previous years was commitment. I made sure that I was doing everything that was set and giving myself the best chance to do well in the fall. My mileage was higher than it had ever been but I was able to cope with it and I felt stronger and more powerful than ever before. I was also enjoying running more than than I had in the past.
RM: Heading into the season, what were your goals as an individual and for the team?TM: As I mentioned earlier it was difficult to set goals for the season as cross country is so different in America, so my coach and I did not set specific goals for any of the races other than regionals. I just ran as hard as I could and tried to make the most of each opportunity. I knew from the start that I wanted to get into nationals and that would take a top 5 finish in regionals to guarantee I would be going as our region has a lot of high quality athletes. As for the team, we were unsure what to expect but everyone was doing so well in practice and running PRs in races that it soon became our goal to get into nationals.
RM: What brought you from London to Ferris State? What were your impressions of Ferris when you first arrived on campus?TM: I have always enjoyed the way that America looks after athletes and provides them with the best way for them to achieve their potential. I feel that schools over here are much more supportive and rewarding. I was lucky enough to have a coach in my hometown recommend me to the former coach at Ferris and I thought Ferris was a good fit for me. When I arrived I immediately knew I had made the right choice, it just felt right and I loved everything about it. Now I couldn't be happier nor think of a university I would rather be at.
RM: What are your goals for track?TM: As I am still on my downtime I haven't set specific goals yet but my first goal is to get into nationals in both indoor and outdoor. I would love to be able to get down to the low 17s in the 5k but I also want to see what I can do in some of the shorter distances such as the mile and maybe even the 800m. I had never really enjoyed track in the past until last track season where I had so much fun and was gaining confidence all the time. I am very excited to see what I can do in the coming track season.
