University of Minnesota Athletics
Freshman Friday: Molly Roach
10/13/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
MINNEAPOLIS -- Molly Roach joins the Gopher women's cross country and track & field teams after a five-year athletic career at Bloomington Jefferson High School. A standout mid-distance runner, Roach was a four-time all-conference and three-time all-state honoree on the track along with a two-time all-conference and all-section honoree in cross country.
Roach recently completed her first collegiate 6K race, posting a time of 24:56.5 while running unattached at the Blugold Invitational. The Bloomington, Minn., native reflects on how she began running, transitioning from high school to college, and more.
Gopher Sports: How did you first get into running?
Molly Roach: My parents ran and so did a lot of my cousins. I also played soccer, so a lot of that was running and I always like the speed aspect of soccer, so I went out for track in middle school.
GS: Did you ever run cross country in high school?
MR: I ran cross country for the high school my eighth and ninth grade years, and then I did a few cross country races my junior and senior years.
GS: When did you realize that you were a talented runner and it was something that you could do in college?
MR: When I went out for track and cross country my eighth grade year, I realized that I liked it and there was some talent, then it wasn't really until the end of my junior year that I thought about college running.
GS: What was your process like for choosing a college and how did you pick the University of Minnesota?
MR: I really wanted to try and be in the Big Ten, so I looked at Nebraska, Wisconsin, and the U, mainly. It came down to Wisconsin and the U because of the distance from home, and I just really liked the team and the atmosphere.
GS: Do you consider yourself more of a cross country-sided runner or a track-sided runner?
MR: Track, definitely.
GS: What's your favorite distance to race?
MR: It's not my best one, but I like the 4x400m relay, but probably my best one would be the 800m, so I like that, too.
GS: What are you thinking about majoring in?
MR: Something business related. I'm in the Carlson School of Management, so we'll see.
GS: What are you most excited about for this year?
MR: All of the new things, like new friends, and especially this cross country season, the team has a lot of big goals so it will be fun to soak it all in as a freshman.
GS: What has surprised you the most so far?
MR: Coming into it, I thought it was going to be hard, hard, hard all the time, because that's what you think of when you think of college athletes. I mean, it is working hard, but it's also taking care of your body, so just the balance of it all has been surprising.
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Players Mentioned
