Big River Interview: Paul Chaney, Eric Hunt and Stephen Simmons

With the State Meet only a few days away, Big River is going to try and do an interview a day leading up to the big meet. Today we are starting off with a trio of sprinters from St. Louis University High School , one of the favorites for the Team Championship. Paul Chaney, the defending State Champion in the 100 and 200, will be defending those titles as well as running anchor on the 4x200 and 4x400 meter relays. Stephen Simmons is the top returner in the 300 hurdles from last year's meet and also scored in the 100 and 200. This year he will join Chaney on the relays, try to win the hurdle title and run the open 100 as well. Eric Hunt is the new guy, a football player who decided to run track his senior year to try and help win the State Championship. Hunt is one of the top seeds in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles and will join Chaney and Simmons on SLUH's lethal relay squads.

BR: How do you guys feel coming off of sectionals?

SS: I feel good. I ran 39.7 jogging so that's positive. [Ed. Note- Simmons eased up in the homestretch at Sectionals, saving energy for the 4x400]

BR: Eric, how about your 38.6? That is a PR right?

EH: Yeah it was. I struggled over the last couple of hurdles but I've been getting closer to [Eddie] Calvin over the last 2 weeks so hopefully I'll get right up with him this week at State.

BR: Did you hold up all right Paul?

PC: Yeah. Feeling good. Team's doing good. Got a lot of guys qualified for State. Guys are PR'ing and running good times. They're getting themselves in good position for the State Meet so we're just real focused right now.

BR: Last year you guys [Chaney and Simmons] scored the bulk of the points. Now all of a sudden this year you have all these guys with you. How does it feel to be part of such a good team?

SS: Winning State . Point Blank. I mean there is no reason we shouldn't get the same amount of points we had between me and Paul plus we have Eric in the 300's and the 110's. I honestly think that Eric can get second if not first in the 300 hurdles and in the 110's he can do what he does. 4x4, 4x2 we could be able to win those. That's like 28-30 points extra that what we had last year plus we have Ben [Murphy-Baum] coming back plus Matt [Lawder].

BR: Who are the big teams you are looking out for?

PC: St. Louis University High School

SS: Ourselves. We aren't worried about anybody else.

PC: We have to come out and compete. That's all we can do.

BR: What's it like at practice for you guys? Do you compete? Do you help each other out? What's the dynamic?

PC: We help each other out. We're all buddies out here so it's all fun. We all want to get better, win State Championships, PR, things of that nature. So we help each other out but we're all trying to get better at the same time.

BR: Talk a little about the 4x400.

EH: In the 4x4 I'm hoping everybody can get 50 point or under. You know you're going to get that out of Stephen and Paul and I'm confident that I'll go at least 50 point, most likely 49. We all know what to expect out of Ryan [Brennan] also. He has been running hard all year.

BR: Did you split 49 at Sectional?

EH: One time had me at 49.99 and one had me at 50.02 so it's just right there and it can definitely come down if I'm chasing somebody and the adrenaline starts flowing.

BR: Last year you didn't have any sprint relays at State. Do you look at the relays any different than the open events?

PC: Open events, that's mano y mano. The relays you have three other guys depending on you and you're depending on them. It's just a good display showcasing what your team's got in a relay. That's what I want to do. Show that it's not just about me and Ben and the highlight guys. It's everybody. Everybody can go out and we can win as a team as well.

EH: I think it says a lot about our team that we qualified three relays. It shows the depth. We can be State Champion in two of those and I have no doubt our 4x1 can get us some points as well.

BR: Tell us about this freshman, Ronnie Wingo.

SS: Freshman phenom.

EH: He's obviously young and it's going to be a great experience for him. He's a real laid back guy if you talk to him off the track but as soon as he gets on the track with the big boys he's all business.

BR: One more meet for you guys. Any last thoughts?

PC: Lace ‘em up. Let's race.

Thanks guys for a great interview, good luck this weekend and in the future.

[Ed. Note - Paul is headed to the University of Iowa to play football and run track, Eric will attend Brown University to play football and may run track, and Stephen will enter Nothwestern University where he will play football.]