Big River Interview: Hilary Orf

Marquette junior Hilary Orf started off 2006 with a bang by winning the inaugural Forest Park Cross Country Festival on September 9th . In the process she established herself as one of the favorites for the Class 4 title this Fall by besting second placer Lauren Borduin from Rock Bridge. Orf and her Mustangs finished second to Rock Bridge in the team standings but should be right there at the State Meet in November.

BR: Congrats on the big win last week. How many times have you raced so far?

H: Once, well twice. We had the Eureka Ekiden which is like a relay and then the Forest Park Cross Country Festival.

BR: Tell us a little bit about the Forest Park race?

H: Well, it got really hot by the time we ran but I had been on the course a couple times for the [St. Louis Track Club Cross Country] Kickoff so I had done a lot of it. I don't know, it was just a good day.

BR: Was that the plan for you to go out and take the lead early or is that just how the race developed?

H: There were a couple girls in front for maybe the first 400 meters so I was behind at first.

BR: By the mile you were already in the lead though. Were you worried about Lauren Borduin being behind you since she has so much speed? [Ed. Note: Borduin ran 2:09 for 800 meters last Spring]

H: Yeah, I was. I looked back a couple times.

BR: So what was your official time and how does that stack up to your personal best?

H: I ran 19:07 . That's my PR.

BR: Well, now that you don't have a race until next Friday at the Fox Invitational you guys are probably in serious training mode. Can you take us through a sample week for the Marquette girls squad?

H: Monday is our longer distance day. Then we'll have a workout on Tuesday. Then regular mileage runs for the rest of the week and we normally have a race on either Friday or Saturday.

BR: What might some of those hard workouts be?

H: 800's, mile cutdowns, 400's, and we've done some 200's.

BR: At Marquette you get the opportunity to run with a great team around you. Not all top runners have that luxury. Talk a little about the team aspect and how that helps you.

H: Our team is really good and it's good to have the girls to run with every day. It's great to have a lot of different people.

BR: As a team you seemed to have an interesting race strategy last year at the State Meet. I seem to remember you guys starting off in dead last and just moving up the whole time. Was that the game plan?

H: If we just stay back and hit our pace and do what our coach tells us we knew that we would be at the back in the beginning but we knew we'd be moving up in the second mile. We were still way back at the mile. [Ed. Note: Orf moved all the way up to eighth place with teammate Laura Gosen finishing in sixth!]

BR: So with an eighth place last year what is the goal this time around?

H: Top five definitely. That would be good. I'll definitely have to work harder.

BR: You already do have one top five finish at State- in the 3200 at the State Track Meet where you finished third. How does track compare to cross country?

H: It's a lot different because in cross country there are almost 200 girls and it's longer distances so you have a lot of time to catch up and get to where you want to be. In track there are only 16 and it's a shorter distance so you have to position yourself and know exactly what you're going to do and exactly when you're going to move.

BR: Okay, now that you're an upperclassmen you have to answer the ‘ol advice question. What type of advice to you give to the younger runners on your team?

H: Just that they've got three more years and and it gets better as you get older. You know a lot more and you know what you're doing. It's going to be a lot of fun.

Thanks for a great interview Hilary. Good luck this season!