Jack Driggs just competed in his third Nike Cross Nationals as he led the York (IL) team to another NXN berth with an 18th place individual finish in the race at Portland. After hoping for a top 10 finish in Portland, Driggs will get an opportunity to redeem himself this weekend as one of the 40 finalists for the 2010 Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego. It will be his first time racing at Foot Locker Nationals, but Driggs has plenty of national caliber meet racing experience from his three previous appearances at NXN with his York teammates under the legendary coach Joe Newton. Driggs was ranked #17 in the MileSplit US rankings prior to NXN and is one of the nation's top returning milers after winning the Midwest Distance Gala mile last June with a 4:08 performance. MileSplit US interviewed the Illinois state cross country runner-up Driggs heading into his trip to compete at Balboa Park for the Foot Locker Nationals.
Interview with York (IL) senior Jack Driggs
MileSplit US: How did you first get started running and why?
Jack Driggs: I started to run in middle school but only for recreational purposes, kind of to fill the void between soccer and winter. I decided to drop soccer in high school because I wasn’t particularly good at it and I had some minor success in track the previous spring. I just thought that if I was to have any success it would be on the cross country team and Mr. Newton. I was too small for football and just not all that fantastic to stand out on any other sports so I decided that cross country would be the right choice, and I instantly fell in love with it.
(Photo right by Paul Everett)
MileSplit US: You were a member of the 2008 NXN runner-up for York and the past two teams have not performed as well and failed to break into the top 10. Why was the 2008 team successful and the past two teams which York has sent to NXN not done as well?
Jack Driggs: I don’t think much has changed, we had some great runners on the team from 2008. We were a really tight nit group of guys who really wanted to go at it and redeem ourselves after state that year. One of the things that had changed though is the caliber of individuals and teams from around the nation. It seemed as if after that year everything was taken up a notch with all the elite teams starting to focus on NXN rather than shutting down after state. We may not have broken the top ten like we wanted these past few years but I think that’s mostly because we didn’t have that crazy 1-2 punch we had in ’08 with Jordan Hebert and Steve Sulkin. Most teams won’t have two guys in the top 15 in the nation and that helped us out a lot during that entire season.
MileSplit US: You finished 18th in the NXN this past weekend. How did you feel about this performance and what you could have done better in the race?
Jack Driggs: I was pretty unhappy with the race right after, but as I looked back I ran an okay race. I could have ran a lot better but even though a had a decent start I still was in about 40th place at the mile and with those conditions and with that type of field it would be hard for anyone to move up, but I think I did the best with the position I was handed. I let myself down by getting myself in that position but I didn’t give up because I knew my team needed those low team points, so I continued to work and even though I didn’t get top ten like I wanted I got some low points. Hopefully I can redeem myself this weekend.
MileSplit US: Is there anything you can take out of your race from Portland to motivate you or learn from to use in your upcoming race in San Diego?
Jack Driggs: Yes I really feel like I have some unfinished business in terms of cross country. At NXN, things really didn’t go the way I wanted them to go and hopefully I can redeem myself in San Diego and run a great race.
(Photo left by Matt Shatkus)
MileSplit US: Are you looking forward to a more clean race this weekend with less worries as far as getting out in a much smaller field of 40 runners at Foot Locker Nationals?
Jack Driggs: Yes most definitely. Here in Illinois we never have to deal with anything like what everyone had to face in Portland. It just didn’t seem like real racing to me, the conditions were so awful but everyone had to deal with it. I got out well at NXN but all of the pushing and shoving kind of slowed me down so hopefully, it will be a clean start where everyone has some room to move around comfortable during the early stages of the race.
MileSplit US: You have raced several years at NXN, but this will be your first time racing at Foot Locker Nationals. Do you consider yourself at a disadvantage compared to the experience you've had at NXN or do you look forward to the new racing opportunity?
Jack Driggs: I’m really looking forward to racing in San Diego, some of the best runners in the nation are going to be there and its really a great opportunity for everyone to show what they’ve got. I don’t see myself as being at a disadvantage because I’ve run in such high caliber races in the past with some pretty awful conditions.
MileSplit US: What are your goals for Saturday's race?
Jack Driggs: My goal for this weekend is to run the best that I can and hopefully be in that top ten position, I really believe that I can and if I run my own race and execute it properly I believe I can do it, but nothing is guaranteed so I’m going to go out there and give it my best shot.
MileSplit US: What has your training been like the few weeks into the post-season and now this upcoming week? Will any of your York teammates still train with you this week even after their season's ended at NXN?
Jack Driggs: I really had to ‘re-peak’ after state because that is our main focus all year, we really started to do long runs for the first week leading up to NXN Midwest. After that we dipped down onto more speed things on the track. These past two weeks, really have been low key and if we do anything on the track it really has been at race pace with a lot of rest, not but an active rest where we will be jogging for a extended period of time before the next interval.
(Photo right by Ryan Kelly)
MileSplit US: You get to race against defending Foot Locker national champion Lukas Verzbicas several times in Illinois. Do you think he is beatable or unbeatable going into this weekend?
Jack Driggs: Lukas is a heck of an competitor and never really seems to slow down (laughing), but not trying to put him down but I don’t think one person is ever unbeatable, but he does have a heck of an advantage of being the defending national champion and having such experience at these high level races. Having raced him four times already this year I know that he likes to surge throughout the race and if he can continue to put the pressure on the rest of the field he is going to be very tough to beat.
MileSplit US: You ran a great race to cap off your outdoor season last spring with a 4:08 full mile performance at the Midwest Distance Gala. Talk about that race and how significant of a moment that was for you as a runner?
Jack Driggs: That race really was one of the first times I was able to just go after it because throughout the year I was either doubling for the team or running the 4x8 or the two mile. Coming into that race I was really under the radar because I hadn’t put up a really impressive time like most of the other competitors. I really just stuck my noise into the race and with about 300 or so too go I heard my coach say take a chance, and I dug down deep and was able to real in 4 guys in the last 225 or so and hold on for the win. That race and win really opened the world for me, I don’t think I would be having some of the schools looking at me if I didn’t run that race because I was never really exposed to such competition and I felt like this really brought the best out of me.
MileSplit US: What is one of the more memorable talks that Coach Newton gave to either you personally or the team that stands out for you and you might always remember?
Jack Driggs: During my sophomore year of cross country, I went into Mr. Newton’s office to talk to him prior to the NXN Midwest meet, I was a bit upset after state because I felt as if I had run a bad race and let my team down when we had lost by just one point. He told me that it doesn’t matter how many times you fall down but how you rebound from those losses, that their will always be another race and that no one person can lose the race for a team. I really took that to heart because I couldn’t keep beating myself up over something that I could no longer change but in fact look forward to the upcoming meets and try to help the team to the best of my ability and it worked and I ended up stepping up as the team’s 4th man to get 25th place at NXN Midwest that year.
MileSplit US: How well do you think the Midwest Region will fair as a whole at Foot Locker Nationals? It appears that the guys will be especially tough with Lukas and Futsum leading your region.
Jack Driggs: I think the Midwest Region is going to surprise a lot of people with how deep we are. Every one of the guys are really great runners and I don’t think any other region can really match what we have up front as well as our depth. Anyone of us ten could be in the top ten on any given day.
MileSplit US: What would you say has been your best race this season and why?
Jack Driggs: I think the best race I’ve ran this year was NXN Midwest for sure. I ran FL Midwest with the idea of just trying to advance because I really didn’t want to go all out three straight weeks in a row, knowing just how taxing that could be on my body. At NXN Midwest, Lukas, Zach, and Michael took of shortly before the mile, but I decided to stay calm and lead the chase pack with Chris Walden. I really worked the second part of the race, which had a bunch of minor elevation changes and in the final 500 meters I was able to reel everyone but Lukas in and get second in a big PR of 15:05 on a very tough course.
MileSplit US: Where are you at currently in the college recruiting process? What schools have you visited and have you started to narrow down a list of top schools?
Jack Driggs: I’m about to start taking official visits, I decided to not take any during the year because I wanted to stay with my team and focus on the task at hand which was winning a state title. I’ve started to narrow it down and I’ve got about 6 schools in mind. Arizona State, UNC, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Villanova and Georgetown are more or less the final few that I’m looking at.