University of Minnesota Athletics
Kargol Enjoying Success as a Rookie
10/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
MINNEAPOLIS - Abby Kargol has finished among Minnesota's top five runners in each of her last three races with the Gopher women's cross country team. This season marks her first year competing in uniform for the Maroon & Gold after redshirting the 2015-16 season, and the Downers Grove, Ill., native has been pleasantly surprised by her contributions to the team. GopherSports.com caught up with Kargol as she looks forward to the postseason.
Gopher Sports: How has the season been going so far?
Abby Kargol: The season's been going great so far. I didn't expect, coming into the season, that I would be in the position that I'm in now, but I've really been in enjoying it. I'm learning a lot and learning from the older girls. Just being a part of a really young team has been a lot of fun so far.
GS: You had your PR at Wisconsin, and your third straight finish in the Gophers' top five, so how do you want to carry that momentum into the rest of the season?
AK: Well, I've been talking a lot with Coach Hopkins and what this means, what it means for Big Tens, and the expectations, not just on me, but my group as a whole. There's the top group of a couple people who have been finishing in the top -- Madeline Strandemo, Megan Hasz, Bailey Ness, and Bethany Hasz. Then behind them, there's this gap, and Coach Hopkins has been telling me and the girls I run with -- Patty O'Brien, Tamara Gorman, and Emily Betz -- to work on closing that gap and getting closer to the front group. That's what we really need to focus on if we want to do well at Big Tens and in postseason competition.
GS: Do you have any more personal goals for the rest of the season?
AK: My personal goal would be to help this team as much I can to make it to the national meet. That would be an absolutely amazing experience for us to have.
GS: Looking at the team this year, what's really made this group special?
AK: It's all very new to me, so I can't really compare as much to last year. I think it's the fact that we're so young, and everybody is just learning, and every single week is better for all of us. We've learned, and we've taken what we've done last week and in previous weeks and used that in each new meet that we've come into. That's what Coach Hopkins has been saying, too. Every single week we're getting better, and we might be the kind of team that peaks at the very, very end because we all finally figure out exactly what we're doing and put it together at the right time.
GS: As a redshirt freshman, how has this season been different from last season?
AK: The travel is definitely the biggest change. It's an adjustment, but it's definitely a good thing. You have to set up your life and figure out how you're going to miss two days of school and make that work. But it's totally worth it to be able to kind of remove myself from the campus for a little while and just focus on running, bonding with my team, being with the girls that I love to be with and doing what I love.
GS: Do you have any pre-race superstitions or rituals that you do?
AK: I always wear the same pair of socks in every race. One is purple, and that goes on my right foot. The other one is green and it goes on my left foot. I can't switch it up, because that's not allowed. It has to be that way. I've worn those same socks since high school racing, so it's this thing that's carried through my entire career as a distance runner.
GS: How has the academic side of the year been going for you?
AK: Academics have been great. My schedule is super packed this year, but I'm finally at that point where I get to enjoy all my classes, and they're things I like to do. It's all biology and chemistry and things I'm interested in, so I don't actually mind being in class. It's a different feeling from freshman year.
GS: What is your major?
AK: I'm majoring in biochemistry, and it's been great so far. It took me a while to figure out that that was what I wanted to do, but now I'm here. I'm taking the classes I like, and I'm really enjoying it.
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