Q&A: Betsy Flood

Sept. 30, 2010

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Betsy Flood is into her junior season at the University of Iowa and she has already participated in three NCAA national championships in cross country (2008) and track and field (2009, 2010). The distance ace from Des Moines (Iowa) Dowling High School is off to a flying start this cross country season, finishing runner-up at the Hawkeye Invitational (Sept. 3) and third at the Iowa Invitational (Sept. 18). An academic all-Big Ten selection, Flood is majoring in sociology. The Hawkeye women compete at the Notre Dame Invitational on Oct. 1 in South Bend, Ind., beginning at 3:15 p.m.

Q: After two early early meets, things look good for the University of Iowa women’s cross country team. What is your assessment?
A: Practice seems like it’s been going well; we have a pretty tight pack. I don’t think we can really gauge how things are going to go so far because both our meets are half the distance (3 kilometers) of what our normal race distance will be, but I have a good feeling. Everyone’s staying healthy so it seems to be going well.

Q: In what ways has the Iowa program helped you improve as a runner?
A: I’ve definitely improved since I’ve been here. Coach (Layne) Anderson emphasizes that you have to listen to your body and train by how you feel that day. It’s nice to be able to run in a pack and have people around you that are pretty much the same talent level; that helps a lot too.

Q: Being a local girl from Des Moines, are there any special feelings competing for the Hawkeyes?

A: My family was always a really big Hawkeye-fan family, so I was kind of brought up to think Iowa State was evil. But I don’t know if I actually ever thought I would end up at Iowa. I really like it here and my family is glad that I came here. It’s exciting to go back to the Drake Relays, and nationals are in Des Moines this year; those are both really exciting things.

Q: What were some of the reasons you decided to attend the University of Iowa?
A: I didn’t really know if I wanted to run in college, so I wanted to go somewhere where I didn’t have to pay out-of-state tuition if I decided not to run. It ended up going really well and I love running, so I’m still here.

Q: You have been a participant at multiple national championships in cross country and track. Select a few athletic highlights so far.
A: I would say all of the nationals I’ve been to have not been highlights, but more-so just being around the team and at practice. I found that I have a lot more fun doing well as a team than doing well individually, although being at the national meet is inspiring and it helps you see where you need to be. I haven’t personally performed my best at any of those.

Q: What was the team’s mindset after narrowly missing the NCAA championships in cross country last fall for the first time in four seasons? How did that serve as incentive for the off-season?
A: It was kind of like two days of, `I think we’re going to make it, I don’t think we’re going to make it.’ Then we found out we weren’t in. We all cried a little bit, but it made us more excited because we only lost one person (from the 2009 team) to try to make it back this year. We don’t really have an off-season because we have track in the spring, but I think it brought us all closer together and made us all want to do more together. I think last year was more like, `Oh wow! We’re doing really good! This is a surprise,’ but now we know we can do that and it set the standard a little higher.

Q: The Sept. 27 USTFCCCA rankings have the University of Iowa women 24th in the nation and second in the Midwest Region. Your thoughts?
A: Second in the Midwest is good because you have to be top two at regionals to go to nationals. Twenty-fourth in the nation is exciting, but the ranking doesn’t really mean anything yet, so we’ll see what happens.

Q: How nice is it compete for a team that not only has 26 runners, but five competitors who ran on the fourth-place Hawkeye team at regionals in 2009?
A: It’s actually really exciting; it’s a lot of fun because most of these girls are ones that I came in with my freshman year and we’ve been running together since then. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and we can play upon those and we have a lot of experience running together so I think that helps.

Q: In high school you had the luxury of training with younger sister Katie, a three-time state cross country and 11-time state track champion. Was it a rivalry or did you feed off each other?
A: I was actually saying a couple of days ago how lucky I have been because I’ve always had people around me to push me. A lot of girls that run in college are just on these `one-man teams’ and can’t train with anyone in high school. We wanted to beat each other, but I loved running with her and she made me so much better. I look up to her more than any other person, so it was a friendly competition.

Q: What has to happen this fall for you to consider it a successful season?
A: One major thing we’re focusing on this year is not to comparing ourselves to others, or not only finding success if we beat other people, or getting beat by somebody on our team. I think we want to be happy for our teammates and focus on doing our personal bests, and if we all can do that, then it will come together for a great season.