The Finishing Kick With Anna Maxwell
October 02, 2015 | Cross Country
After a great first fall in 2014, sophomore Anna Maxwell is looking for even bigger, better, and faster things this season. One of the top recruits in the class of 2014, Maxwell had run on several USA Junior National Teams, and was a Foot Locker All-American out of Felton, California. In her freshman year, Maxwell was the No. 2 Husky finisher at Pac-12s (finishing 17th), at West Regionals (finishing 15th), and at the NCAA Championships (finishing 124th) as the Huskies placed 23rd with a young squad. Maxwell started her sophomore season out well, taking third at the Sundodger Invitational, and she talked after practice this week about the adjustments from freshman to sophomore year, her busy fall class load, and what's currently stocked in her fridge.
GoHuskies.com: Once the track season wrapped up, did you head back home for the summer, and how did your summer training go?
Anna Maxwell: I went home for the summer which his back in the Santa Cruz mountains, and I trained there with different collegiate runners who I ran with in high school and were also back. I ran with some of my old high school teammates, and local runner friends. The trails there are really conducive to running, with super soft surfaces, it's shaded, there are beautiful forest trails, so it was a treat. I pretty much stayed there all summer. I didn't have much of a track season, and I didn't have much of a base, so I was starting from ground zero, and just started to build up. I'm not super patient usually, so I was really working on actually hitting the mileage the coaches wanted me to hit, and doing what they wanted me to do. So I think it was a lot better than what I had coming in freshman year.
GH: What are your thoughts now looking back on freshman year? What was surprising or maybe more challenging than you expected?
AM: Freshman year I came in and I think I was just mentally pretty exhausted from a really long high school season, and had just not stopped for two years. I hadn't had a great summer of training because I took some time off to kind of come back from that exhaustion, and I think the longer distance races and the big boost in mileage took me a whole year to get a handle on it, but I think I have it figured out now.
GH: Despite that, you really helped get a pretty inexperienced team to the NCAA Championships last fall, so that must have been a pretty satisfying experience.
AM: I think we had a pretty pieced together team, but we really came together and bonded over getting our team to NCAAs with what we had. The girls were fantastic and everyone stepped up every race to get us there. We weren't ranked very high, but I think everyone just came together, and set some precedent for continuing to build into this year, and how we're going to act as a team. Coming into this fall, I think I just knew I needed to start from a better place. I think just this year we have pieces back that we didn't have last year, and I think everyone, when there is a big group of girls all running well, it creates an energy that brings everyone up along with it. Just get on the bus and you go, so I think that's just kind of sweeping us along. It's really fun.
GH: As a freshman last year, how much did it help having Maddie having such a great year, knowing she was going to lead on race day and in practice?
AM: Maddie's the ideal role model and captain. She's so mature, everyone loves her, she's kind; she's great. She helped me at least along because she was our number one girl and I always had someone to look up to and chase after. She just had a fantastic season, and I remember at training camp, our second week it was just me and her on Humptulips, which is the hardest run we do. She would wait for me at the top of the hills and I'd see her and yell “Maddie!” So she was literally helping me along all season.
GH: How did you feel that you and the team ran at the Sundodger? Was it an encouraging race for you guys?
AM: The general atmosphere and feeling during preseason was we had a lot of pieces back, and we had some great freshman talent, so we could have a really good go of it this year. Sundodger was an example of how we have a really strong group, we have a lot of numbers up front that we didn't have last year. I think it was reassuring but it was also very low-key, so I think the Washington Invite will go a step beyond that.
GH: Is there anything you're hoping to take away from Friday's race?
AM: I'd like to see the team do really well and run as a pack for as long as possible, kick some Duck butt, just have another strong showing. Any girls that didn't have the best race last week because we were training through it, hopefully they feel better and get some confidence and run really great this week.
GH: Are there any specific goals or places that you are hoping to hit for yourself this fall?
AM: At preseason camp we talk about all our goals, individual ones and team ones. Last year I think I was 15th at Regionals, so I'd like to see four other girls maybe top-15, our whole top-five, that would be awesome. We'll see what we can do if everyone stays healthy, but I think we'll do really well at Pac-12s. I got like 17th last year, I'd like to be top-10, but we'll see how the other teams are doing.
GH: You got to travel a lot and compete out of the country in your high school career. What were some of your favorite experiences from your high school days?
AM: Anything out of the state is just so fun, especially when I got to go with my team, because that is that much more exciting. Some of the big ones, the different World teams. I got to run in Ukraine in this stadium that doesn't exist anymore. Scotland was awesome, ran with great teammates, one of the girls that was there with me got second in NCAAs last year, so a very talented group. Any travel is good I think.
GH: Classes are starting up this week so what does your fall in the classroom look like?
AM: I'm supposed to take 19 credits, I think I might drop landscape architecture, but I have an ESRM (Environmental Science and Resource Management) class, something about management of wildlands, I have a Poli Sci class, which is international human rights, I have nutrition, and I have literature of the environement. I think I'm going to try for an ESRM and Poli Sci double degree at this point, but it will depend on if I decide to stay here and do summer classes for the next three years.
GH: Are you out of the dorms or rooming with anyone on the team this year?
AM: I am rooming with six girls on the team, it's lots of fun. We had the recruits over for pizza and charades the other night, and our house is just packed full. It's a new and improved experience. It's nice to have a car, and a door that can be shut. It's good to be settled in. Freshman year you don't realize how much certain things impact you until they already have, so it's calmer this year.
GH: Living out of the dorms, are you doing a little more cooking so far this year?
AM: I've really been hitting the breakfast foods hard. We do have six girls and one refrigerator, so there's not a lot of room for food, so I pretty much just have stuff for breakfast in my fridge, so it's a go-to for yogurt, granola, eggs … I make a large variety of foods with eggs. Then occasionally for dinner, when I don't eat out, chicken and pesto pasta is really good. Some summer squash, zucchini, that would be my other go-to meal. I've been gluten free for three or four years, and there are a lot of girls on the team who are now.
GH: What are some of your hobbies or passions?
AM: I'm really outdoorsy I would say, so anything outside. I hiked a lot this summer. Kayaking, rafting, biking, I did a lot of bike-swimming cross-train stuff this summer. When you're tired of running I think it's good to switch it up sometimes. I would say eating is a hobby of mine.
GH: How would you describe your hometown?
AM: Felton is like a little mountain hippie town. Pretty close to the beach, so you also get some of the Santa Cruz beach vibe, but we're more in the mountains. Very liberal, lots of outdoor activities.
GH: What's currently in your Netflix queue?
AM: Oh my gosh, well, West Wing, cause I'm a Poli Sci major. Also Parks And Rec, Portlandia, definitely Orange is the New Black, Arrested Development, we'll stop there. I just watched a great movie on Netflix called Mile…Mile & A Half, it's about hiking the John Muir Trail. It's cool stuff.
GH: Thanks for stopping to talk and good luck on Friday!
AM: Sure thing!
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