October 22
October 22, 2007
Richard Weaver
October 24, 2007
Despite only being a college freshman, Michaela Guidry has surged ahead as the top runner on the Nicholls State women’s cross country team.
The 2005 Class 5A state champion from South Lafourche High School posted a 19:32 5K personal-record time at the Crimson Classic in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and a 23:23 6K finish at a meet held at LSU.
The Sports Net caught up with Guidry to talk about her early success and the many sacrifices she makes to participate in the sport she loves.
Sports Net: How has the season been going so far?
Michaela Guidry: It’s been going pretty well. My first meet of the season we came out really well and got third place. I’ve personally been reaching a lot of my time goals this season and we’ve been going to a lot of really big meets and doing really well so far.
SN: I saw that both the men’s and women’s teams recently did well at a meet in Mississippi. Do you do a decent amount of traveling as a college athlete?
MG: Yeah, we do a lot of traveling. Our closest meet that we traveled to this season was about two-and-a-half hours away in Lafayette. Pretty much every weekend we’ve been traveling somewhere at least two to three hours away.
SN: What’s the furthest distance?
MG: Nashville, Tenn. That was about seven hours away.
SN: Does this mean a lot of time on a bus?
MG: Yeah, a lot of time.
SN: How brutal can that get?
MG: It’s not too bad. I get to travel with my family and I bring my baby to the meets. We usually follow the bus, but it’s pretty long hours – especially with a baby in the car.
SN: How old is the little one?
MG: He’s 13 months old.
SN: Has to be a big challenge taking a baby to the meets, in addition to participating as an athlete and trying to balance your studies.
MG: It gets pretty stressful at times, and I wonder why I’m doing it sometimes. But I really enjoy running and being part of the team. My coaches really work things out for me and make it as easy as possible. I’m grateful.
Everybody on the team brings their school bags and we study on the way to meets. You just have to make time for everything and make sure you get your studying in and keep your grades up.
SN: What is your major at Nicholls?
MG: I’m majoring in accounting.
SN: And how are your grades?
MG: I finished the first semester (in the spring) with a 4.0 and this semester I’m keeping As and Bs so far. So, I’m happy.
SN: So what does a typical week look like?
MG: I commute from Galliano, which is about an hour drive. And I only go to school three days a week – Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Those days I wake up at 5 a.m. and leave my house at 6. I start classes at 7:30. I stay at school until practice at 4 p.m. So I’m usually not getting home until about 6:30 or 7. They’re long days. Then on Tuesdays and Thursdays I train with my dadŠ
SN: He’s a runner?
MG: Yeah. He ran in high school and now he runs with me to stay in shape. He helps a lot on my days off when I’m not at school. Tuesdays and Thursdays are also spent doing school work.
SN: And changing diapers in between.
MG: Oh yeah. I change a lot of diapers and spend a lot of time in the park where I can study and let him (baby) run around.
SN: Stick to any strange running diets?
MG: I don’t stick to any kind of diet. I drink a lot of water mostly. I try to eat healthy – I eat a lot of sandwiches as often as possible while I’m at school and on the road. But no particular diet.
SN: With the Southland Conference Championships coming up, what can we expect to see from the women’s team?
MG: I think we’re going to do really well this season. We’re doing better this season than Nicholls has ever done before. The past two years, Nicholls hasn’t really been coming out too far ahead in the meets, and I’m thinking this year, hopefully, we’ll have a top-seven team performance.
SN: Any personal goals?
MG: My personal goal is to be “Newcomer of the Year” at the conference meet. I don’t know if I’ll get it, but I’ve been training hard. I know there is a new freshman that hasn’t beaten me so far this season, but not by much. So I’m still reaching for that goal.
SN: With all the hard work cross country requires, do you think it’s worth it in the end?
MG: Oh yes, definitely. At the end of a meet, it’s definitely worth it. You definitely get a sense of accomplishment, especially if you achieve your time goal. And then it’s nice to know if you have a day to rest after a hard week of training.
Michaela Guidry (No. 116) keeps busy maintaining good grades and good running times as a student-athlete at Nicholls State University. (Photo courtesy of Nicholls State )
