MileSplit Fast Four: A weekly glimpse at four of our nation's best
Each week here at MileSplit we will be giving you a quick look at four of the nation's best runners in our new feature called MileSplit Fast Four. Featured this week are Matthew Sonnenfeldt (TN), Becca Addison (MI), Jimmy Tarsnane (PA) and Jessica Tonn (AZ).
Matthew Sonnenfeldt
Sr., Knoxville West H.S.
Knoxville, TN
Highlights: 2008 Tennessee State AAA XC Champion (15:42), after finishing as the runner-up to Sean Keveren in 2007 and 2006 … Sonnenfeldt (Right, Bill Luton photo) was exposed to the sport at an early age as both his parents were collegiate runners, and his father, who is also his coach, is the Youth Athletics Director at the Knoxville Track Club … Placed second at the Great American XC Festival (15:42) … Finished fourth at the McDonald’s XC Festival at Maymont (16:02) … Won the Tennessee Classic (15:41) and Region 2 Championship (15:42) … Finished 21st at the 2007 Foot Locker South Regional
Coach (Marty Sonnenfeldt) says: “He is very easy to coach. It’s not typical for a high school kid to be able to separate coach and dad; especially at that age where they seek independence He’s been very mature in that regard. His work ethic is second to none, in terms of getting the work done and being consistent with it. When you’re running 70 miles a week, you do have to give up a lot of things in your social life that some of the high school kids have. I think he’s real good at understanding what his goals are and willing to sacrifice to reach them. From a racing standpoint, he likes to get in there and mix it up. He likes to race at the highest level; and if he gets beat, he gets beat. He learns a little bit of something every race he goes into. He enjoys his running for the sake of running.”
Sonnenfeldt says: “I didn’t get really serious about running until 8th grade. I actually wanted to play football heading into high school. I was debating on whether to play football or run track. I guess, as I got older, I got better with track. As I got older my love for the sport grew, and now I am a track and cross country fanatic. I just love the sport. I want to do something with the sport after I’m done college.”
Summer mileage (max): 70
Weekly mileage: 68
Training shoes: adidas Adistar Sequence
Superstitions: Sonnenfeldt eats pizza the night before every big race
Hobbies: Hanging out with friends, movies, Guitar Hero
Favorite movie: Black Hawk Down