University of Minnesota Athletics
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
Meet the Newcomers: Ananya Vegesna
10/3/2019 8:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Men's Track & Field, Women's Cross Country, Women's Track & Field
Get to know Gophers freshman Ananya Vegesna, a distance runner from Eden Prairie, Minn.
MINNEAPOLIS -- Freshman Ananya Vegesna joins the Gopher track & field and cross country program as a distance runner from Eden Prairie, Minn. Vegesna explains how she got into running, how she feels about track & field compared to cross country, why she chose the University of Minnesota, her intended major, and more.
Gopher Sports: How did you first get into running?
Ananya Vegesna: I didn't have a sport in middle school and a lot of my friends joined track for fun. It was the easiest sport to jump into without having a lot of experience. So I started and thought I was more of a sprinter, but then I did an 800-meter race, and it was fun. Not a lot of people did the 800m, so I thought, "Might as well do this." The high school cross country coach came and talked to us in eighth grade, and I wanted to continue doing what I thought was fun, so I started that.
GS: Did you play any other sports growing up?
AV: I did figure skating for a while, and a little bit of swimming, but that was when I was way younger.
GS: What was your high school running career like?
AV: I started out at the bottom of the team. I was definitely not the fastest person, but I improved consistently every year. Junior year, I made the effort to keep training and stay in shape through the winter, and I noticed the next track season in the spring, I dropped a minute and thirty seconds off my fastest time in the 3200m. That's when I saw that I had the ability to be good at running, so I wanted to get more serious with my training. I continued to improve from there.
GS: Was there a turning point for you?
AV: It was weird because one of our meets was cancelled in the winter, so there were a lot less people there than there would have normally been, and I noticed that I was having fun running and being successful at it as well. I stuck with a group of girls that I had been way behind before the winter season, so that felt really good.
GS: How did you pick the University of Minnesota?
AV: I picked it mostly for the academics. I really liked being in the city because I realized a lot of the schools I applied to were in smaller, college towns. I like that there's a lot to do here, and that it's close enough to home, but still feels like I'm away at college.
GS: Do you know what you want to major in?
AV: I'm thinking either Environmental Engineering or Geo-Engineering. I'm not set in either of them.
GS: What is it about engineering that interests you?
AV: I always liked math and science in school. I would like to be working in the field rather than at a desk job, so I am able to work on-site with both of these careers.
GS: Do you consider yourself more of a track or a cross country runner?
AV: That's a hard question. I like racing track better. I like that it's a little bit faster and that the events are more condensed. I like the team environment in cross country better. Everyone is a lot closer to each other because it's a smaller team than track & field.
GS: What's the biggest challenge of running track compared to running cross country?
AV: Staying engaged in track is hard, especially during the longer races, because you're just running in a circle. For cross country, the hardest part is the longer distances and staying engaged. It's hard to see where you are at in the race in cross country, so you never really know where you are.
GS: Do you have a pre-race routine or any superstitions?
AV: I have lucky socks. I always wear those. I love joking around with my teammates and having fun. I want to be loose before races, so that helps.
GS: What are you most looking forward to this year?
AV: Meeting new people! I've already met so many amazing people in the first month of being here. Also, I'd like to keep improving my times.
GS: What was your first impression of the team?
AV: Everyone is so different, and the team is full of so many different personalities. I feel like I can really be myself around them. No one is the same.
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Gopher Sports: How did you first get into running?
Ananya Vegesna: I didn't have a sport in middle school and a lot of my friends joined track for fun. It was the easiest sport to jump into without having a lot of experience. So I started and thought I was more of a sprinter, but then I did an 800-meter race, and it was fun. Not a lot of people did the 800m, so I thought, "Might as well do this." The high school cross country coach came and talked to us in eighth grade, and I wanted to continue doing what I thought was fun, so I started that.
GS: Did you play any other sports growing up?
AV: I did figure skating for a while, and a little bit of swimming, but that was when I was way younger.
GS: What was your high school running career like?
AV: I started out at the bottom of the team. I was definitely not the fastest person, but I improved consistently every year. Junior year, I made the effort to keep training and stay in shape through the winter, and I noticed the next track season in the spring, I dropped a minute and thirty seconds off my fastest time in the 3200m. That's when I saw that I had the ability to be good at running, so I wanted to get more serious with my training. I continued to improve from there.
GS: Was there a turning point for you?
AV: It was weird because one of our meets was cancelled in the winter, so there were a lot less people there than there would have normally been, and I noticed that I was having fun running and being successful at it as well. I stuck with a group of girls that I had been way behind before the winter season, so that felt really good.
GS: How did you pick the University of Minnesota?
AV: I picked it mostly for the academics. I really liked being in the city because I realized a lot of the schools I applied to were in smaller, college towns. I like that there's a lot to do here, and that it's close enough to home, but still feels like I'm away at college.
GS: Do you know what you want to major in?
AV: I'm thinking either Environmental Engineering or Geo-Engineering. I'm not set in either of them.
GS: What is it about engineering that interests you?
AV: I always liked math and science in school. I would like to be working in the field rather than at a desk job, so I am able to work on-site with both of these careers.
GS: Do you consider yourself more of a track or a cross country runner?
AV: That's a hard question. I like racing track better. I like that it's a little bit faster and that the events are more condensed. I like the team environment in cross country better. Everyone is a lot closer to each other because it's a smaller team than track & field.
GS: What's the biggest challenge of running track compared to running cross country?
AV: Staying engaged in track is hard, especially during the longer races, because you're just running in a circle. For cross country, the hardest part is the longer distances and staying engaged. It's hard to see where you are at in the race in cross country, so you never really know where you are.
GS: Do you have a pre-race routine or any superstitions?
AV: I have lucky socks. I always wear those. I love joking around with my teammates and having fun. I want to be loose before races, so that helps.
GS: What are you most looking forward to this year?
AV: Meeting new people! I've already met so many amazing people in the first month of being here. Also, I'd like to keep improving my times.
GS: What was your first impression of the team?
AV: Everyone is so different, and the team is full of so many different personalities. I feel like I can really be myself around them. No one is the same.
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