The Villanova women's cross country team took a big step toward continuing its national-caliber program when New Jersey high school state champion Megan Venables committed to run for Gina Procopio and the Wildcats.
Venables is one of the nicest people you'll meet, but also one of the toughest when it comes to competing during races. Venables comes from a solid program at Highland High School in New Jersey. Led by Bill Collins and Bob Wagner, Highland has produced several good runners and some national-level runners over the last 25 years. However, they each said that Venables was the toughest runner they've ever had.
Give credit to Collins and Wagner for knowing the kind of talent they had in Venables, bringing her along slowly and progressing her training each year. She set the course record in New Jersey at the difficult Holmdel State Park course in 17:28 by seven seconds in November. It had been held for 27 years.
A lot of credit goes to Venables as well. She not only does what she's told, but does the workouts with conviction and determination. She's not just a good listener, but someone who takes her training to heart.
The Wildcats have been NCAA champions each of the past two seasons. They just got a champion runner and person. It should be a good fit.

It's not unusual for distance runners to make big goals for an upcoming year. There are a variety of ways to set goals. It can be a matter of wanting to lose some weight, maybe you had a good year, but want to make this one better. Maybe you need to get fast enough for colleges to notice you during spring track or cross country season in the fall.

Goals are a part of everyday life for runners. Goals can vary from completing a certain amount of miles for a run, or a week, or a year. Or maybe setting a goal-time for a big race, like the Broad Street Run in Philly in early May, or a 3,200-meter time in the spring, or even a 3.1-mile time for cross country.

It's important to set primary and secondary goals. For example, if you set just one goal and don't get it, you might be trapped into the thought of being failure, and that's not good. So, you may set a goal of running 2,500 miles this year, just a little under 50 per week. But, so many things can happen, setting a secondary goal of 2,000 is good as well.

Or if you haven't made it out the door to run in a few weeks, and you want to start back, don't be too bold too soon. It's important to build gradually, so you may want to start at 10-15 miles a week, then go to 15-20 miles and so on.

So, with goals in mind, here's a quote from T. Alan Armstrong that might help you stay motivated in the winter months.
"Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character."