Colorado State University Athletics
Getting to know CSU's Freed
10/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 30, 2009
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- As the Rams prepare to travel to Orem, Utah, for the Mountain West Conference championships Saturday, CSURams.com sat down with Jeremy Freed, a senior business administration major, to give fans a chance to get to know him a little better.
Freed, a Colorado native and business administration major, was born July 7, 1987. Freed’s father Jeffery ran track at Temple University, passing on his running genes to Jeremy. Freed was a standout cross country athlete at Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Colo. He earned four letters in both cross country and track, and was named all-league from 2002-05, and all-state in 2004.
Freed has also had a very successful career while at CSU. He has consistently been one of the Rams’ top runners since his freshman season. In 2007, he finished a team-best ninth at the Mountain West Conference championships, helping the Rams finish fourth overall, and in 2008 he led the Rams once again with a 15th-place finish at the MWC championships.
On individual goals this season:
"I’m hoping I can get first-team all-conference and make it to nationals by being in the top group at regionals. From there, it is just a matter of racing tough at nationals; ideally I would like to be in the top 40 where I can be an All-American.”
On favorite part of running cross country at CSU:
"I have enjoyed it an awful lot. I have enjoyed going on trips, the little things at practice, talking with Coach Berryhill and all the other little things like going on runs with the guys. It has been a great opportunity and a great thing to look back on when I’m done with running. It has been a good ride and it has been fun to be around this group of guys.”
On how the team has been preparing for the MWC championships this Saturday:
"We really need to focus on getting healthy; we have quite a few guys already out. If we got a third place finish out of us that would be great considering all of the things that have happened this season; it would be great to see us at third place in the conference.”
On what the team can work on to improve:
"Right now we don’t have very much experience. I’m hoping that we can rise to the occasion. It is just a matter of me getting out there and letting the other guys know it is OK and that they just need to get out there and put out the best effort they can. I’m hoping that is what we can put forth and understand that even though some people are out, we can still put out our best effort and compete to the best we can.”
On his role as a leader on the team:
"I started out as an occasional leader on the team when I was in high school but wasn’t as vocal, and I feel now being vocal and making sure that the guys know how to do things like how to be part of the team and how to compete is vital. Doing things like giving people advice and making it obvious for them to know who they can come to for advice and to get help with certain things is good, so being a vocal leader is definitely important, as well as being seen out there working hard.”
On living and growing up in Colorado:
"I grew up in Colorado and I am a Colorado boy. I loved Colorado growing up and knew it was definitely a place I wanted to be for college. Coming up to CSU, I really liked the atmosphere in Fort Collins a lot; it is a very comfortable atmosphere. I also enjoyed the coaching staff we had at that point. I moved on from Coach (Del) Hessel, who was here before Coach Berryhill, and I thought that was a very good move. I like Coach Hessel a lot; he was a great guy, and Coach Berryhill has done just as good of a job as he did.”
On Favorite moments wile at CSU:
"I have enjoyed quite a few things. I have had some great races and bad races that have turned into fun times. This past weekend at pre-nationals we found a photo booth and got in there and just had some fun. I can’t honestly think of every good time I’ve had, but I have really enjoyed my time at CSU. When I get older I’ll be able to look back and remember what a good time it was for sure.”
A random fact people may not know about him:
"I have pretty much been injured every season, and have had pretty much every injury around. Literally, I have had stress fractures, stress reactions, Achilles’ tendinitis, tendinitis in my knee and pretty much everything else but I’m still standing (laughing).”