RT Journals: Craig Huffer - The Huff turns into a grizzly

I thought I would give everyone an update seeing though it’s been a while since Australia has seen or heard from me. Believe it or not I have turned into a grizzly... an Adams State Grizzly. Adams State College is in Alamosa, Colorado, USA. Most people are probably thinking like where, what, why would you go there?  In this blog I will try and answer a few of the questions that I have been asked.

Australians have probably never heard of Adams State College yet in the American running community it is one of the most talked about running programs. Adams State indisputably is the most successful running collegiate program across all divisions.  It has won over 50 national cross countries, indoor and outdoor national titles in the NAIA and NCAA Division 2.  This is staggering considering it is only a small state liberal arts college in the middle of the San Luis Valley in south east Colorado.  The program was founded by world famous coach,  Dr. Joe Vigil who was later the coach of Deena Kastor (Current American Women’s Marathon Record Holder and Olympic Bronze Medalists) and Meb Keflezighi (Olympic Silver Marathon Medalist). Vigil also coached Pat Porter who attended Adams State College. Porter is arguably America’s best cross country runner winning 8 consecutive US cross country titles in the 80’s and five top 10 finishes in the World Cross Country with a best placing of 4^th.  Probably the most well known feat of ASC is the 1992 Men's cross country team that became the first and only team in collegiate cross country history to record a perfect score at the NCAA D2 National Championships.

The current head coach of Adams State is Coach Damon Martin who took over the reins in the 90’s after serving as Vigil’s assistant for many years.  Coach has even taken the program to another level in his time. We have won the last 3 national cross country D2 titles (which I was lucky enough to be a part of this year’s championships). Last year the team also won the indoor championship and had a team of 5 athletes who ran under 14min for 5k with Brian Medigovic and Aaron Braun running PR’s of 13.29 and 13.35.

Why did you go to college? Couldn’t you have got a contract or just continued to train in Australia?    

 If you really want to be a full time athlete from Australia you need to be down around the low 3.30’s.   As an Australian athlete there isn’t a lot of support out there. As much as I wanted to stay in Australia I knew it wasn’t a viable option financially as well as not having a system in which I could achieve my full potential. My brother has been over in America for the last two years and I felt like he was living the runners dream, while I was training away, alone in Newry with my parents support and trying to complete a Commerce degree at university. I came to Alamosa earlier in the year so my brother Dean (who is my coach) could keep a closer eye on my training as I made my comeback from injury. Over that time I was able to get a good look into the college athlete’s lifestyle. Over that time I saw that I was missing out on a lot… Dean had training partners, great facilities, an amazing training environment and a support team around him day in day out. 

Why wouldn’t you go to a big D1 school?                                                                                                           
 Adam State doesn’t have the million dollar athletic budgets like the D1 schools but I feel I have everything I need.  Here at Adams we are kind of like the blue-collar workers. Of course going to a D1 college would have been a great experience and plenty of fun, but I knew at Adams State that this was the place that I could stay focused and receive the support and guidance that allows me to best achieve my potential. Adams is known for developing athletes not recruiting athletes. It doesn’t get footlocker finalist they get athletes like Aaron Braun. Braun only ran 4:24 for the mile and 9:34 for the 2mile in high school yet ended up closing his collegiate career running 13.36 for 5k, one of the fastest 5k times across all divisions.  

However, probably the biggest reason why I did come to Adams was because I didn’t have to change much. I am still coached by my brother Dean, who works closely with Coach Martin bouncing ideas endlessly trying to work out what’s best for me. I also knew that training at altitude (Alamosa is at 2300m altitude) worked for me. I was able to run over a 3sec pb with only a couple months training and after having 5 months of no running because of injuries.  My running goals have always been centralized around Olympics and World Champs. Coach Martin understands my goals and is in full support of me achieving them.

My first semester at Adams has been a great experience. I am grateful of being given this opportunity and I really feel as if I am a part of something very special here at Adams State. I have the opportunity to train with people, be surrounded by great facilities and have a fully supporting team that really believes in my ability.

It was an amazing experience being a part of a winning team when we won the National Cross Champs in the snow at Louisville, Kentucky. I kind of missed out on playing team sports like cricket and footy as a kid as I choose to be a runner at a very young age. Therefore, it was an amazing experience to share a championship with the team. I ended up finishing 14^th overall and was 4^th man on our team. The D2 cross country champs are an event to be seen… the crowd is amazing it was as if you’re in the tour de France. Adams holds a fierce rivalry with Western State. The rivalry is something I had heard about but I didn’t expect it to be like it was. The hostility between fans is probably similar to that of the River Plate and Boca Juniors fans.  One of the great things about Adams State is that we do have a big following and that there are a lot of diehard fans who travel a long way to watch us race.

I know personally from my semester here that I wouldn’t have been ready for the training load and structure of the American college system straight out of high school. I was close to coming over here from high school but I think I made the right decision in waiting those two years. I think the Aussies with the most success over here have been those who have waited. But I guess it depends on the athlete.

At the moment I am busy putting in my base prep for the indoor and Australian season. I hope to see everyone when I get back home for the Sydney Track Classic and Australian Champs in a couple of months.

Merry Xmas & B Good

Craig Huffer