Former Leon standout Matt Mizereck had an incredible high school career winning six individual state championships, one runner-up title, a third place finish, and three team state championships. Along with dominating the state competition, Matt also took his talents up to North Carolina and won a national championship in the 5k at New balance Outdoor Nationals his senior year as well as being a Foot Locker Finalist in cross country. Mizereck chose to compete for the University of Florida and represent the Gators. Find out what he has been doing along with his future plans.
First off Matt, Can you talk about the injury you were previously dealing with?
Well my injury actually happened a couple weeks before the SEC Championships, but I never got it x-rayed. I kept running through the pain thinking it was tendonitis and it would go away with treatment. It wasn't until after the SEC Championships when I realized how bad it really was. I ran my first race and it was starting to bother me again, ran the second one and it was starting to hurt to where I would limp, rested that night and ran my third race the next day and again began to limp slightly. When I finished the DMR mile leg I crossed the line and all of a sudden I had a sharp pain in my ankle. I literally had to have teammates carry me back to the tent. so we finally got the xray and sure enough it was a stress fracture. People have told me I had some real heart racing like I did with the stress fracture hurting. I just knew if I could walk I was going to do everything I can for my team. My injury is now gone and I am back to normal, but unfortunately it took me all of summer and almost all of my cross-country season this year to start running normal again. I have high hopes for this up coming track season.
How has your experience running for the Gators been?
My experience running here at the University of Florida has been just as good as I was hoping it would be. Sure it didn't happen exactly how I thought it would with the injury and coaching changes and such but none of these things have stopped me from being happy with the school I have chosen. My favorite part about running for the University of Florida is traveling with my teammates and experiencing different cities with them.
In what ways is running in college different then high school?
Running in college is much more different than high school because in college every athlete has proven themselves as good runners with potential to be great and has made that step to the next level. Every person you race is going to be competitive, where as in high school, you get some people who just do cross-country to stay in shape for other sports or others who just don't take the sport seriously. It's especially different when I was so use to winning every race like I did in high school to all of a sudden fighting to get in the top 100 in a major college race. Also, my high school training was much more distance oriented and was all about high mileage, but at UF they mix speed and distance. Since I run the mile instead of the 10k I am much more speed oriented than distance when track season rolls around.
What advice would you give to incoming runners to help prepare them for the competition in college?
To all incoming runners that are coming into college I would tell them to be patient and hard working. It is very rare to be a stud your first couple years and some runners don't really make an impact until their last year. Work hard and be patient and if you do that your time will come, and most of all just have fun with it.
What goals do you have set for this track season and before you graduate?
My biggest goal is to break the four minute mile barrier. I believe I am capable of doign that this year if I train hard, do all the little things, get in the right race, and trust myself and the coaches.I also want to get the DMR team to Nationals. My goals before I graduate are just to help me and my team win all the SEC Championships possible, get our team to Nationals any time I can, and eventually help our team score points at Nationals.
What are your plans post collegiate running?
At this point all I am worried about is graduating college with a degree and running to the best of my potential for my Florida Gators. I would say I would like to at least go to the Olympic trials in 2016 or 2020, but again we will see what the future holds.
Personal Bests
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10,000 Meter Run30:51.41
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3,200 Meter Run8:55.75
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5,000 Meter Run14:17.90
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8000 Meter Run24:28.14
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800 Meter Run1:51.88
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One Mile Run4:09.34
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