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Jason Drake

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Moderator: Good morning Cougar fans and thank you for visiting wsucougars.com and today's online chat with Washington State Head Cross Country Coach Jason Drake. Jason, thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to join us this morning.

Coach Drake: Thanks for having me.

Moderator: Okay, let's get to some questions.

Saul(Mission Hills): How can i be recruited to the cougar team?

Coach Drake: Saul, the best way to contact us is to shoot us an e-mail or to fill out a recruiting questionnaire that can be found on our website at the cross-country front page. In our sport, track or cross-country, it is pretty easy for us to evaluate marks. We assess all inquiries and contact those we feel can make a contribution to our program. I always encourage people, if they happen to fall a little short of the requirements, to keep me posted throughout the season and to send me e-mails with your results. I can be reached at jzdrake@wsu.edu.

Corey D (Coeur D'Alene): Coach. I'm in a rut. I'm trying to build up my distance but i'm stuck at about 7 miles (10k) max. I run 3 days a week between 4 and 6 miles per run and just can't get over that 10k hump. What sort of training do you recommend.

Coach Drake: Corey, I first recommend that, if you are not currently running with someone is to find someone to run with. It is always easier to run with a partner or in a group. Another recommendation is to, if possible, add another day of running a week. You can run 4 or 5 days a week, even at a shorter distance. Eventually, you will be strong enough to tackle longer runs.

Tom (Tucson): Would you consider Pullman Washington to have weather conducive to XC running? I've heard it referred to as a "pleasantville" for runners?

Coach Drake: Tom, that's funny, I often refer to Pullman in the fall as Pleasantville. If you look at the 10-day forecast for Pullman at weather .com, every day the highs are in the 70s and the lows are in the 40s with plenty of sunshine. Typically, we run in the morning when it is 45 or 50, very comfortable conditions. It is hard to beat the weather in the Palouse during the fall.

Steve (Selah): Coach, can you discuss the distance running talent in the state? Do you focus strictly on in-state talent or do you look everywhere?

Coach Drake: Great question Steve. I actually have a runner from Selah, Evan Blanshan. We definitely look nationwide for recruits but the talent in the Northwest is second to none, not only in the Northwest, but locally in Spokane. Typically, I try to start our recruiting as close to Pullman as possible and move out from there. Being a state school, I definitely feel athletes in the state of Washington should be given first opportunity for athletics scholarship to our university. Our cross country and track teams are made up of predominately Washington student-athletes.

Jim (Spokane): I notice more Spokane kids on the roster. Can you tell us more about them?

Coach Drake: Thank you for the question Jim. I've made an effort in the last several years to try to get the Spokane kids to stay close to home. As with the state, there is tremendous talent in Spokane. Two years ago, I recruited David Hickerson and Peter Miller and sold them on what I called the "Spokane Revolution," basically saying that we could have an NCAA team every year with just Spokane athletes, because there is that much talent in the area. This year we added five more Spokane athletes: Steve Hicks, Mark Moeller, Daniel Renz, Jason Stoker and Jayson Taylor. A third of our men's team is now Spokane-area athletes. In a couple years these guys will make a name for themselves.

Lisa (Seattle): Jason, what are your training facilities like?

Coach Drake: Lisa, I think people are always surprised by the facilities at Washington State. Whenever we have recruits over, the first thing they always say is that they didn't realize this was here, or something like that. From a distance-runner standpoint, the rural landscape surrounding Pullman gives us miles and miles of dirt roads with wonderful rolling hills. It makes it a distance runners' paradise. Even if the weather fails us in the winter we can run in Lewiston (30 miles south), where it rarely snows. In addition during the winter we are blessed with a wonderful indoor facility with a 200 meter mondo track. Even in the winter, very rarely are we not able to get on the roads due to snow.

Bill (Yakima): Coach, how do you see your teams doing this season?

Coach Drake: We had our first competition last weekend and we are about a month into practice at this point. We probably have one of our strongest men's teams since I have been here. The veterans all had great summers of training. Team captain Drew Polley looks stronger than ever along with Sam Ahlbeck, Dominic Smargiassi and Dan Geib. All four are coming off their best track seasons ever and all have several years of varsity experience under their belts. Add in freshmen Jono Lafler, and Justin Englund, and we should be able to make a run at the NCAAs. On the women's side, I've been pleasantly surprised during the past couple weeks of training. We lost four of our top five from a year ago, which is never good, but the returners have all stepped up significantly. Two-time Pac-10 steeplechase champion, Sara Trane, leads the team. Lisa Egami is so far ahead of where she was at a year ago, and Chelsea VanDeBrake, Amanda Andrews, and Marisa Sandoval, all are light years ahead of what they have been in the past. The top three teams at last year's Pac-10 Championships finished in the top four at the NCAA Championships so the conference is extremely strong but I still feel we can be in the top half. That would be a great accomplishment with the depth of the Pac-10. If that happens, we may have an outside shot at the NCAAs.

Moderator: Okay, that's all the time we have. Jason, thank you for joining us once again.

Coach Drake: Thank you. Go Cougs!