2004 NCAA OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Interview with Dathan Ritzenhein

by Parker Morse

Dathan Ritzenhein led most of the 5,000m at the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships before getting outkicked by Robert Cheseret in the homestretch. (Photo: Alison Wade/NYRR)

If his 2003 NCAA Cross Country title wasn't enough notice that Dathan Ritzenhein was back from the injury problems which plagued his second year in college, the spring track season certainly did it. Ritzenhein produced an Olympic "A" standard 10,000m at the Cardinal Invitational in late April, finishing just behind Bob Kennedy with a 27:38.50, then ran a 14:08.40 to win the 5,000m at the Big 12 Championships the next day.

Still, at the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Austin, Ritzenhein had to contend with an improving Robert Cheseret, a Kenyan running for Arizona who was planning a 5,000m and 10,000m double. When the rounds of the 5,000m, originally scheduled for Wednesday evening, were canceled, both Ritzenhein and Cheseret got an extra day of rest. Cheseret lost the 10,000m to Alistair Cragg when Cragg kicked from 600m out, but two nights later, Ritzenhein wasn't able to make the same move, and Cheseret sprinted by for the win (running 13:49.85 to Ritzenhein's 13:52.13 in very humid conditions).

Mensracing.com talked to Ritzenhein after the NCAA race.

MensRacing.com: You had to run the same race against Cheseret that Cragg did. You moved early, the two of you got out away from the pack; then what happened?
Dathan Ritzenhein: Well, I tried to out run him, basically. I thought that was probably the best way to do it. It's hard, it's hard to run from the front like that. I could've sat back and tried to kick, and seen how it went, but I wanted to try.

That took it out of me. It beat me down. I was trying to separate it out, take the kick out of him, but I couldn't quite push it fast enough, I guess.

MR: Do you feel like the heat was an issue?
DR: It's a factor for everybody. I'm in way better shape than 13:52, but to run that from the front, the heat definitely does make it tough on everybody.

MR: You've got two more years of track eligibility?
DR: And two more years of cross country, yeah.

MR: And so does Cheseret. You might have to race him for two more of these.
DR: Hopefully. It's the best competition.

MR: Cragg said on Thursday night that he was regretting not having the chance to race you more often.
DR: We raced a lot early on in our careers, but we didn't race at all, really, over the last two years. Which is disappointing, [because] we both got a lot better. He's a great competitor, and a great person, too.

MR: What's your plan for the rest of the summer? You've got Trials times for both the 5,000m and the 10,000m. And the Olympic time in the 10,000m.
DR: Well, hopefully, I'll have a chance to run the Olympic standard in the 5,000m as well. That will give me a lot of options. I'll decide what to do then.

MR: Will you try the 5,000m at the Trials, or before?
DR: I'll probably try before. I don't expect [the 5,000m] to be super blazing fast at the Trials.

MR: You'll have to run the 10,000m first, but it's possible to double back well.
DR: Yeah, it is. It's about as well set up as it can be. It couldn't get much better if you want to do the double.

MR: Is it tough to be at a sort of national pro level and still be running in the NCAA?
DR: It's tough, because there are great guys out there I want to race. But there are great guys to race in the NCAA too. The NCAA is still full of, for instance, foreign athletes, it brings in a lot of competition. I'm running against big guys. I have to run a lot more than some post-collegiate athletes do. I have to balance the NCAA season and open training, but you only get to do it for four years.

MR: Do you plan on using all of your collegiate eligibility? Or are you considering not using all of it?
DR: No comment.

MR: The last year was not necessarily your greatest in terms of injuries. Is that behind you now?
DR: Hopefully. I've been injury-free for nine or 10 months now... I'm looking around for wood to knock on. I'm getting better and better.

MR: Do you feel like you've got a base to work with now?
DR: I went from nothing for a year, basically. It was hard to get back into it, but it came back naturally. I feel stronger each week as I run. Hopefully I'll continue to get stronger.

MR: How is the fit with Coach Wetmore?
DR: It's still a good fit. We work really well together, and I respect him a lot. We have our differences, but we're consistent. We're consistently up there. A lot of people are up and down, up and down, and we're consistent.

MR: Does he drive the program and you argue, if you have differences?
DR: Fifty-fifty. We work together. He always says we have 51 percent of the say, but really he has 51 percent and we have 49.

MR: What's it going to take to win an NCAA title on the track, and beat guys like Cheseret?
DR: Each year I get better and better. That's the beauty of being a young runner. I don't necessarily have to increase my training, just another year makes me better. My speed's come down a lot. I led that whole race. I could have just sat behind, and kicked just the same. It's just harder to run from the front, it takes a lot of the sting out of your legs. A lot of people haven't seen a great kick out of me for a while. I haven't been in a race in a while when I've had to kick, since cross country. I did it there. I've done it before, and I'll do it again. I need to be in that kind of race.

MR: We've seen other Boulder-trained runners, like Alan Culpepper, develop a kick at altitude. But Coach Wetmore says that living at altitude is an advantage and training at altitude is a disadvantage.
DR: Yeah, that's true. The way I figure, it balances out. We develop our aerobic system, and our muscular system doesn't quite get the development. It evens out.

(Interview conducted June 12, 2004, and posted June 23, 2004)