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Big River Interview: Brandon Funderburk, Ryan Moore, and Kyle Rood

There are three weeks to go in the Missouri High School Track Season and that means we are three weeks away from the end of an era in St. Louis and State-wide distance running with the impending graduation of the fearsome foursome from Fort Zumwalt South High School; Pat Cole, Brandon Funderburk, Ryan Moore and Kyle Rood. We interviewed Cole earlier in the season and then caught up with the other three two days before Districts to talk about the State Championship season, Nike Outdoor Nationals and their outstanding high school careers.

.................................................................................................Left to right: Rood, Cole (obscured), Funderburk .................................................................................................and Moore (far right).
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Fort Zumwalt South Tale of the Tape:

Cross Country Team: 2004 (7th), 2005 (1st), 2006 (1st)
Cross Country Individual All-State: 2005- Rood (3rd), Cole (20th) 2006- Rood (1st), Cole (4th), Funderburk (7th), Moore (16th)
Track All-State: 2006- 4 x 800 (7th), Rood (8th- 800)
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BR: Let's start off with the conference meet. How did it go?

KR: The mile was the coolest thing ever. We got to go 1-2-3. Pat and Ryan ran their PR's which was amazing to watch. It was cool to turn around and see them coming in right behind me.

BR: What were the times?

RM: Kyle was 4:14, Pat had a 4:20 and I was 4:22.

KR: That also solidified our chances to go to Nike Outdoor Nationals for the 4 x Mile so we're thinking about that because Brandon has a 4:28.

BR: That would be right in it. Are you guys going to do that for sure?

KR: We're talking about it pretty seriously. I don't know if our coach can go but my dad said he'd take us down there. We really want to do it. [Ed. Note: Last year's winners at NON from Fayetteville Manlius ran 17:18 and FZS' times add up to a 17:24]

BR: And what else did you guys do at Conference?

BF: I ran the 4 x 8 and the 2 mile.

RM: I did the mile and the 800 and the 4 x 8.

BR: Kyle, did you do the 2 mile also?

KR: Yeah I did all of them. I'm glad the 4 x 8 was on day one though.

RM: You don't get that luxury at Districts though.

KR: Or Sectionals, Sectionals is even worse.

BR: So your lineup for Districts is Kyle; all four. Brandon what about you?

BF: Just the 4 x 8.

BR: Ryan?

RM: Just the 4 x 8 and 800.

BR: And Pat?

RM: The 4 x 8, the mile and the 2 mile.

BR: Is the plan then to get as many of you through in as many events as possible so you can then score a bunch of points at the State Meet?

KR: Right. We're going for fourth place in everything [at Districts]. In the 4 x 8 we're going to just try and stay in 4th place, just whatever we need to do for that. In all my open events I think I'm just going to go for fourth, just move on. It's going to be a long day.

BR: Will the plan be the same at Sectionals then?

KR: Yeah, pretty much. I think it's working out good too that our mile is stacking up pretty well because King and Masters have decided that they don't want to double, they're just going to run the 3200. So it's me, Pat and two Hickman kids under 4:30 and the next kid is 4:35.

BR: Now focusing on the 4 x 8 for a minute, obviously you're going to let it loose at State. What do you think you can run in that race?

KR: We have one record in mind. That's 7:47 set by our senior guys [in 2004]. It's going to be a tough race to do that.

BR: Do you each have a split in mind that you'd like to hit?

RM: Probably 1:56, 1:55.

BF: I just want to hit 2:00, maybe break it that would help.

BR: Kyle, looking at the mile for you and Pat how do you see that race playing out especially since it will be your first race of the weekend an you'll have the freshest legs for it.

KR: I think, well I hope, that it's going to be a battle between me and Quigley. I am definitely focused on the mile. First the 4 x 8 and then the mile. Definitely that's my favorite race. I want to go out hard in that one and it worked out so good that the first race is the mile. It should be a fast race because everybody's going to be fresh.

BR: I know Dan will be going for his school record of 4:13. What's your school record?

KR: It's 4:14. Actually, at the GAC Meet our 4:14, 4:20 and 4:22 were all faster than the old school record when we got here. So we have the school's three fastest milers all in the same year.

BR: Speaking of that, you guys have been blessed with just a great class of guys. Talk a little bit about the program and what it was when you got here and how it's progressed over the last four years.

RM: I guess when we came in it looked pretty good because we had a really good senior class. I guess me and Brandon and Pat were the only ones there then. I was really excited because I was a pretty good freshman and I guess I don't know exaclty what to say about it..I always looked up to those guys.

KR: It was like there was no way we can post those times and now looking back it's like all we needed was the training. I mean, we have the best coach.

BR: Coach Enke is known in St. Louis for being a great coach and a great guy. What do you think it is about him that makes him so special. Obviously he has a good training system but beyond that.

RM: I guess his relationship with us is a really key part of it. I think the seniors when we got here were a lot more serious and we're a lot more laid back. We work really hard but it's just different.

KR: You never want to disappoint him. We still joke around with him and stuff but when it's time to get serious we know when that time is.

BR: Take us through a week of training at FZS.

RM: Monday would be an AT, so keep your heart rate at 180, for like 30 minutes. Then maybe some shorter stuff afterwards like some 600s. Kinda like a harder day I guess. Tuesday we come in in the morning and lift weights and run a little bit. In the afternoon we run 8-10 miles and do ab work. Wednesdays are our hard days and we do 400s, we do about 12 of them with 1:1 rest.

BR: Are the 400s at a certain pace and do you build up the number as the season goes along?

KR: I think we were hitting them at 65-66-67. We build up the number as the season

goes along. We build up our distance runs as well. We build up to the 12 400s and we did that for 4 weeks in a row.

RM: Then we come back down. Just this week we did six of them and they were all under 60 or right around 60.

KR: Thursday is like a long run/recovery day. We still have morning practice.

RM: Friday is the easy day, just like three miles.

KR: I like Fridays.

BR: Is that similar to what you do in cross country then? I assume the workout is longer?

KR: It's pretty much exactly the same. Coach Enke likes routine. We do the same thing every week except in cross country our peak workout is 800s not 400s. In cross country and track we do 12 mile Sunday runs. He doesn't like track because we have meets on odd days like Tuesday or Wednesday. He likes races on Saturday so we can have our normal routine.

BR: Even though the workouts remain the same is there a day that you can remember over these last couple of years that you can look back and say that was an amazing workout and everybody was rockin' and rollin'?

KR: I'd say our peak 400s this year. We were all rollin' pretty good.

BR: Do you guys switch off leads when you're doing those?

KR: No, we're always in the same order. Me, Pat, Ryan and Brandon. We're really just in a pack. Back in cross country season we were all together on all of those. I felt so fast on all of them and so confident in our team.

BR: Back to track for a second do you have a team point total in your minds that you're shooting for?

RM: I don't think we're looking so much at the team aspect of it. I mean I know Andre' [Thomas] is going to do really well and I know we can all do really well. I think if we were to do really well we could end up sneaking in for fourth. I know there are teams like Raytown South that are really good.

KR: I think the thing we have going for us is that we are going to try and have so many people in the distance events so we can pick up points. If we have me and Pat in the mile we can get two sets of points. If we have Ryan in the 800 we can get two sets of points. Stuff like that. I think we are aiming for 30 points or 40 points in the distance events and then Andre' if he can get 20 points we could be in the top four.

BR: Let's change topics and talk college choices. Kyle, you chose Mizzou.

KR: I went on a couple visits but I finally ended on Mizzou because I liked the guys on the team. Even though I didn't know them I knew all their names and it just seemed like I had known them since grade school. I liked the coach [Jared Wilmes], he is a nice guy and I liked the head coach [Rick McGuire], he reminded me of Coach Enke. He does the motivational speeches and stuff and it was a bonus that Quigley and King decided to go there.

BR: Brandon?

BF: I'm going to SEMO. I picked it for the education and I'm going to run there. I wanted to go to Mizzou, that's always been my dream school. I thought about it more though and I felt like I might not be able to run until my senior year because there are so many good runners there. I talked to the coach at SEMO [Miles Krieger] and he told me I could probably run my freshman year.

BR: Ryan, what about you?

RM: I'm going to Truman. I haven't decided if I'm going to run or not in college. I'm not leaving it out of the question I guess.

BR: So there are three weeks left. Is it a weird feeling to know that it's almost over after running together for so many years?

RM: I don't know. It still feels like it's going to keep on going. It doesn't feel like it's going to end.

KR: It doesn't seem like it could be over this fast. I mean it's districts and it's like, 'wow'. We would always joke with the older guys that there was always next year. Now we're the seniors. It's kind of like leaving a family really.

Guys, thanks for an awesome interview. Best of luck over the next three weeks and at NON!!

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