[singlepic id=493 w=320 h=240 float=right]Ryan Glavey
Sports Editor
Senior year is a time for college athletes to leave their final impression on their collegiate careers. One athlete taking this to heart is all-American cross-country runner, Paige Mills.
“I have big goals this year, and I keep them in the front of my mind,” Mills said. “I definitely want to win at regionals, losing last year was the single greatest frustration of my career.”
“Her goal is to win it all,” cross-country head coach Peter Thomas said, “And she will definitely be one of the people with a chance to.”
Mills recounted her second place finish at the Northeastern regional meet last year, when a mistimed kick lead to her falling just before the finish line, costing her the race.
Mills said she has developed a rivalry with the girl who beat her at the NCAA regional meet, Jennifer Gossels from Williams College.
She said a big goal for her is to get Gossels back this year.
“She’s a very athletic person, she has speed, strength, endurance,” Thomas said, “but her best attribute is her determination.”
It may not have been obvious based on her top finishes last year, but Mills had been dealing with injuries all year. In fact, Mills said she has been dealing with injuries her entire running career, and really wants to make her last year at Keene State College count.
“I’ve always been plagued with injuries,” Mills said. “Junior year of high school I had stress fracture, senior year I was hurt again, I was like, ‘I’m too fragile for this sport.’ I almost gave it up.”
Mills said she came to KSC with the intention of not running cross-country, and just focusing on her studies, but Thomas would not accept ‘no’ for an answer.
“She was fairly easy to talk back into it,” Thomas said. “Because she’s just that kind of competitive person.”
Mills said she went into Thomas’s office one day to tell him she wasn’t going to run, and to stop asking her. She said she left Thomas’s office that day signed up for the cross-country and is infinitely glad she did.
“It’s my life, and I didn’t want to give it up,” Mills said.
Mills said she had heard that Thomas and the cross-country team at KSC were very good at helping athletes with injury problems. Thomas said he laid out a plan with Mills on how they could try to keep her healthy. Thomas admitted it hasn’t worked as well as he had hoped, as Mills is just a fragile person.
He said he always tries to get Mills to rest every tweak she has in an attempt to keep her on the course. Mills said while she was dealing with injuries last year, she did a lot more cross-training, but now that she’s healthy she’s back to a more traditional training regimen.
“I run about 70 to 80 miles a week, with two workout sessions, like a hills workout or speed work on the track,” Mills said. “We usually take it down before meets. Depending on how big it is I’ll rest for a day or two before it.”
Mills said she has been running cross-country since ninth grade.
She said she picked it up while her family was going through a difficult time, and chose cross-country, because she was to intimidated to try-out for the soccer team.
Thomas said Mills hasn’t been able to accomplish everything she would have because of her injuries, but she still ranks up there with the best to ever run at KSC.
“We’ve had a woman finish third at nationals, one finish forth, and Paige finished fifth, so in terms of best finish, she’s the third best woman runner we’ve had,” Thomas said.
Mills now has one year left to give everything she has and leave an enduring mark on her KSC legacy.
“She will be greatly missed,” Thomas said. “Hopefully she will be an inspiration of dedication and work ethic to her teammates.”
Ryan Glavey can be contacted at rglavey@keene-equinox.com