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When Eric Fernandez graduated from Parkway West in 2008, he could have easily retired his
spikes and been content with his amazing performances as a high school runner. During his
Longhorn years, Fernandez placed 11th, ninth and first in the cross country state meet and
went undefeated his senior year. Additionally, he was a cross country scholar athlete all four
years. While some people might give themselves a break from their athletic career to focus on having a so-called “true” college experience, Eric Fernandez is definitely not of that mindset.

Now a red-shirt sophomore at the University of Arkansas, Fernandez has stepped up his game and is more than holding his own with some of the top college men’s runner’s in the country. During his freshman campaign in 2008 Fernandez won SEC Freshman of the Week honors, garnered All-Region honors and was Arkansas’ second finisher at the NCAA Championships. He red-shirted the 2009 track seasons while training for the US Junior Cross Country Championships and red-shirted his cross country season last fall due to an injury. Big River Running’s Courtney Chazen spoke to Fernandez about coming out with a vengeance at the Stanford Invitational, his experiences with the college recruiting process and whether or not he’s broken his father’s PR’s yet.

You just ran in the Stanford Invitational on Sept. 25 where you placed 11th on the Men's 8k course with a time of 23:52. Were you happy with your performance?
Where we're at in the season, that meet was a stepping stone for us. As coach likes to say, “We pulled out our three wood and we're saving our driver for later.” These early meets are all workouts for us. [Stanford Invitational] was a tempo run for us. We don't want to show too much of what we've got. Everything we've been doing is just mileage, but it was a great meet for our team and we made a statement.

Sticking with the Stanford theme, take me through the Spring Stanford Invite when you ran your first 10k in 28:37. What was going through your head?
I didn't know exactly what to expect, but I knew I had to run fast.  I wasn't sure how I would feel, since all I'd been doing was aerobic work and feeding off fitness from indoors. When the race started, I turned my brain off. I stayed close behind my teammate Lane Boyer and didn't worry about my splits. What caught me by surprise was with two miles to go, I thought I would be hurting, but I was still feeling comfortable. Same thing happened with one mile to go, which shocked me because we were going fast. At three laps to go I took the lead, which eventually took me out, but I had set the pace. For my first 10k it was a fun experience. Stanford really knows how to put on an event.

Traveling from Arkansas to California is a long time on a plane. What's the traveling been like?
Great. You can't complain about the travel when when your school is paying for it and you get to miss class. While other college students are doing the same old thing, we get to experience California, New York City, and Philadelphia. Of course when we first arrive, we're all business. We get our legs flushed out and do some shakeouts. Then we sit in our hotel rooms waiting for the race. As soon as the race is over and before we get back on the plane we turn into sightseers, which is one of my favorite parts.

You were a cross country scholar athlete all four years of high school and you've consistently made the honor roll while at Arkansas. How do you maintain a high GPA with such a tough schedule?
The NCAA and the University of Arkansas have made strong efforts to ensure that we graduate, but it all comes down to the staff. We have a great academic center for tutoring and great academic advisors for the athletes. Plus, being interested in what you're studying makes a difference. I'm a history major and right now I'm learning exactly what I'm interested in.  Even when we're traveling, I use a four-hour plane ride from Texas to California to work on papers and study for exams. I also make sure I'm only taking 12-hours of classes per semester.

Dorian Ulrey (a 2009 member of Team USA for the World Championships in Berlin) is one of your teammates. What's it like training with him and what have you learned from him?
Running with someone of an international caliber is always inspiring. I've also had the opportunity to train with Scott McPherson and Alistair Cragg, but Dorian is just a normal person. I consider him, along with my whole team, one of my best friends. When you run with him you realize that you can be that good of a runner. He just works so hard and the same goes with the rest of the guys on the team. He's an inspiration to the whole team with the work ethic he brings. He won't hesitate to tell us to stop messing around and to not over train. Dorian will call you out and make sure you're giving yourself recovery days.

What are some of your goals for the remainder of the cross country season?
I think we have the capacity to be in the top 5 or top 10. When it comes to Nationals, I know we're a podium team and we're going to take that attitude to Nationals. I know we can field seven All-Americans. Individually, at our home meet (The Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival on October 16), I'd like to run a fast time, but I'm not going to over do it.

After you're done at Arkansas, where does your running future lie: in the 10k or in the marathon?
Good question. I don't know. I've got three years of eligibility to figure it out. I think a marathon will be at the final stage of my career. Right now long runs are my best workouts. If I continue to improve in the 10k, then I wouldn't mind running that on the track after college. Right now, I'm not looking any further than Nov. 22.

Let's reminisce for a second. Describe what the recruiting process was like for you when you were a senior in high school.
I had the benefit of having a solid year in track, so I had a lot of schools contact me, but for as many that were contacting me, I was also contacting schools. I was really interested in Oregon, so I contacted them. Once that initial contact with a coach is made, it's good to keep in touch with a weekly call. I learned very quickly that if I didn't like a particular school, then I was upfront with that coach because I didn't want to waste their time. That was a beneficial part of the process.

I also made the decision that I was not going to make any recruiting trips during cross country season, so I kept building relationships over the phone. If a coach was pushy about having me make a visit, then I would not be interested in that school. Once the recruiting trips did start, that's when the real fun began. After every visit I would think, “I want to go to that school” because they give you a 5-star experience. But with Arkansas they sought me out and I knew I was interested in them, so it went both ways. When I came for a visit the facilities were incredible, I meshed with the team. You have to visit the school before committing and factor in what the city is like and what the proximity it is to your home.

It's tradition for an Arkansas athlete that if you make All-American, you get the hog tattoo. What are the chances that you'll be sporting some Razorback ink in the near future?
Let's just say this: I already have a couple of tattoos. I'm waiting until I'm able to get the Razorback and I plan on having one the next time I see my mom, which will be at Thanksgiving.

Rapid Fire Questions with Eric Fernandez:

Favorite running moment from high school: 2007 State Cross Country Meet.

What has been your favorite city to race at? It's a toss up between New York City and Palo Alto.

Who is your running idol? Scott McPherson.

What's the toughest workout you've done at Arkansas? They're all tough, but the mile cut downs and the two mile repeats are pretty tough.

Which is the superior mascot: A Longhorn or a Razorback? Well, the University of Texas is a rival now, so I've got to say Razorback.

Have you finally beaten your dad's time in the mile and the 800? He'll be mad that I said this, but yes. In fact, I've beaten them in practice.
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