Interview: Senior General Jeff Crane

Full Name: Jeffrey Scott Crane
Academic Interest: Undecided
High School: Wade Hampton High School
Hobbies: Running, Music, Golf
Personal Bests: 15:56 5K
Brothers/Sisters and names: One brother, Jared
scrunners: With a state champion legacy that Wade Hampton has built in cross-country, how does it feel to be a member of the team?
crane: It feels great. I am really proud of being a part of each of those five consecutive state champion years. Each team was special. I\'ll always remember each one and the senior leaders on each team ... Craig (Caudill) and Chase (Phillips) the first year; Vince (Bechtel) and Nick (Reinhardt) the second; Alex (Kornfeld) and Robbie (Phillips) the third; Graham (Foster), Bobby (Glass) and Matt (Holmes) the fourth; and me, Joel (Hamner), FJ (Goodwin), Patrick (Rabb), and Asher (Hoffman) this year. And, of course, Coach Zeller. He\'s a great coach.

scrunners: How many state champion rings do you have?
crane: I have five rings for our cross country championships. 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003

scrunners: What kind of pressure has this placed on you and as a team when going to meets?
crane: Over the years, the pressure has really gone away because we know that if we all run to our capabilities, we are able to compete with anyone and any team.

scrunners: What were you feeling as you stepped to the line at the state cross-country championships for the last time in Nov. 2003?
crane: I was nervous and my heart was pounding, but I knew what I had to do.

scrunners: What made you decide to sign with ETSU?
crane: I liked the coaches a whole lot. I enjoyed the time I spent with the team, and the campus is great. ETSU has a real competitive program. I\'m going to like that.

scrunners: What other schools did you make official visits to and what other colleges were interested in you?
crane: I visited Coker College and College of Charleston. PC and Francis Marion also showed an interest (in me).

scrunners: What kind of goals are you looking to accomplish in college, academic and athletically?
crane: First of all, I want to graduate in four years. I want to regularly make the Dean\'s list and, athletically, I want to make a big contribution to both the Cross Country and Track teams.

scrunners: When did you start run, where?
crane: Well, I won a race when I was in kindergarten. It was a K-3rd grade race. But I started to run again in the summer after the sixth grade. I quit before the season started, but I again trained in the summer after my seventh grade year ... and have been at it ever since.

scrunners: When did you join Wade Hampton's team?
crane: At the beginning of the eighth grade - August 1999.

scrunners: What gave you the idea to run cross-country and track?
crane: A friend of mine, Brock Putman, convinced me to join him one day during summer training. He didn\'t like it, quit, and switched to football. I sorta liked running with the older guys and hung in there.

scrunners: Do you prefer to run cross-country or track, why?
crane: Not really sure. I never really ran track until this year. However, I stayed injured the whole year, plus I had a bout with the flu, so I can\'t answer this question. I do really like cross country, though.

scrunners: What are you going to remember the most from Wade Hampton upon graduation?
crane: Cross Country and winning the state championships --- both with my teams and individually. Plus, I\'ll always remember my coach, Coach Zeller.

scrunners: What kind of goals did you set going into the season, individually and as a team?
crane: Win county, region, Upper State, and state, both individually and as a team. I did everything except county, and FJ (Goodwin) ran away with that one.

scrunners: What kind of training do you do during the track season, in the beginning, prior to the season and near the end of the season?
crane: I never really ran track for a whole season. I always played on the golf team. However, this year I was committed to track, and ... well ... the injuries kept me away from it.

scrunners: During a normal week in the summer, what kind of mileage did you run and how man miles per week did you run during the cross-country season?
crane: Probably 35 to 40 miles a week.

scrunners: What is your favorite workout in cross-country and track?
crane: I love running the trails at Paris Mountain State Park. I really don\'t have a favorite workout for track.

scrunners: Does or did anyone else in your family run? If so, where and when?
crane: My dad ran for fun, just to get in shape.

scrunners: A few years ago Wade Hampton runners were involved in an accident on Paris Mountain. What year was this? Were you running on the mountain and where were you compared to the accident? How did the team and the whole state of runners and track and field athletes come together at this time? After the incident was it hard to get back on the roads?
crane: The accident happened in April 2000. I just finished a practice round with the golf team and was playing basketball in my driveway with some of my golf team members. I remember hearing the siren and wondering where the accident was --- since I live close to Paris Mountain. I was really shocked to hear that it was my Cross Country/Track teammates. I remember that the accident was real difficult on Coach Zeller. But those guys that got injured were tough. They were back by Cross Country season and the whole team had something to prove, and we did. Another state championship in November 2000.

scrunners: What keeps you motivated to get out the door everyday?
crane: I am very competitive. I like to win.

scrunners: What do you look for in a coach and what do you expect a coach to look for in you?
crane: I look for someone who has a similar coaching style to Coach Zeller. And don\'t ask me to describe that. Seriously though, Coach doesn\'t say a whole lot, and neither do I, but I learned to know pretty much what\'s on his mind.

scrunners: Have you been injured? What happened? How did you recover and stay motivated throughout the time of injury? What kind of cross training do you do?
crane: Yes. This year has been interesting. Two weeks before the state cross country championship my car slipped out of park and ran over my foot and hit my leg. I overcame that injury. Early during track season, I developed a sore knee and got the flu and that set me back a while. I pretty much recovered, but two weeks before the state track meet, I fell off a ladder and banged up my other knee. I couldn\'t compete the rest of the season. My cross training is usually water workouts in the pool.

scrunners: Do you have an individual pre race tradition and does Wade Hampton have one?
crane: My pre-race tradition is getting lost in my music. I always have my headset on. As for the team, we huddle during the stride outs for a special cheer, just before the start of the race.

scrunners: What is the most prestigious meet you have competed in?
crane: I really don\'t do a lot of meets outside my high school competition. But I did compete in the AAU nationals in Dayton, Ohio this past December. I had a blast in the cold and mud. I finished 15th.

scrunners: What kind of race tactic works best for and if your strategy changes in a race, how do you handle the situation?
crane: I usually try to get a feel for the race the first mile then pick it up the next two ... if it changes, I go with it.

scrunners: If there is one thing you could do in the world what would it be and why?
crane: I can\'t narrow it down to one thing. I\'ve got alot of things I want to do.