INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM Creed '06 tosses her story to The Campus

Author: Zamir Ahmed, sports editor

Creed finished third in the hammer throw at last weekend's NESCAC Championship.

The Campus: When did you start doing track and field?
Whitney Creed: In sixth grade, in middle school.
TC: Why did you start?
WC: Because my gym teacher thought that I looked strong and I could do shot put.
TC: Did you play any other sports growing up?
WC: I'd played soccer ever since kindergarten and I actually grew up racing - ski racing as well.
TC: Why did you choose track and field?
WC: Um, it sort of stuck with me just because I happened to be better at it than all the other sports I was doing.
TC: What drew you to Middlebury?
WC: Definitely the campus. Since I was racing we used to race at the Middlebury Snow Bowl and so one day I came over to the campus after with my mom and I was just blown away. It was so gorgeous. And I knew that I would have a little bit of trouble getting in academically but, when it came down, track gave me that extra push and I knew this was the place to be.
TC: What do you feel are some of your responsibilities as a team captain?
WC: Um, I guess just to see how people are doing and give my other teammates the support they need, maybe. If they need like a pep talk before they go or whatever… I don't know. Just basic, basic stuff.
TC: Is there a difference personality-wise between track athletes and field athletes?
WC: Uh, I think field athletes get a more [laughs] brutish stereotype but I guess there is because we don't really concentrate on what we eat or anything like that. Um, you'll definitely see throwers coming up for seconds, dessert. You won't see a distance runner doing that. But I think overall what's great about the team is that we all get together, we all sort of mesh.
TC: Does it bother you that it is called track and field and not field and track?
WC: [Laughs] Uh, no. I used to run so it's OK. But sometimes a lot of other schools have shirts that - like thrower shirts that say "Whatever Field and Track."
TC: Do you have a sports hero?
WC: Um, I would definitely have to say Picabo Street because she was awesome. And Hermann Maier too because he was able to come back after basically almost dying and losing his leg in the motorcycle accident to win the world championships.
TC: How is competing indoors and competing outdoors different for you?
WC: Indoors is terrible. [Laughs] Uh, but competing indoors is harder because the meets seem longer and the implements are a little bit different. And they don't have hammer, which is my favorite event. But being outdoors is great because it's so nice out and you actually get to walk around and see all the different events going on.
TC: What is your favorite event to watch?
WC: I really like watching the steeplechase actually, and the 4x4 relay at the end, that's always the best.
TC: What is your greatest accomplishment in college?
WC: Um, I don't really know. I can't quite pinpoint one. I'd say doing track all four years and keeping up with all my schoolwork.
TC: What is your biggest regret?
WC: Not going abroad.
TC: Is there a reason why you didn't go abroad?
WC: I would have had to go abroad in the fall and I really wanted to go to South Africa and my parents said no. And so I don't take a language. It just wasn't in the cards for me.
TC: What are your plans after graduation?
WC: Good question. I'm taking organic chemistry at Harvard this summer, orgo one and two, but other than that I don't know. Hopefully a research job somewhere in Boston.
TC: What do you think of the recent doping scandal in track?
WC: Ooo, I don't know. Sometimes they're believable but sometimes they aren't and there's just so much controversy between them with like... Usually they only get caught because they're using one of the - I don't remember what they're called - like concealing drugs or something like that, which can be as basic as like cough medicine. But I think that if someone's really good then they don't even need the drugs so it shouldn't even be in the sport anyways.
TC: Track and field is so individually based. How is competing on a team helpful for you?
WC: It's great because when you throw, like to have other people come and watch you, it's just the most amazing thing. You want to do well and you wanna also like impress everyone who is watching. So it just gives you like that little extra boost to throw farther. And I love watching other people and supporting other members of the team and I think that if it was more individualized and people didn't come watch, then it would be really boring.
TC: What are you going to miss most about the team?
WC: Uh, the people, definitely. I think… Especially the throwers because this year was the first year we actually had a big group of people. We had like 16 throwers so it was actually a real team. During practice we're really segregated from the rest of the team 'cause the throwing field is farther away. We don't really see the other people. But having more than three people around to watch you and help you out is really beneficial.
- Zamir Ahmed, sports editor