The night before the 10,000-meter run in the Atlantic Coast Conference championships, Margo Malone went out with teammates for Mediterranean food and watched Modern Family on Netflix in their hotel room.

The next night, Malone placed first in the event and broke the Mike Long Track record (Tallahassee, Florida) with a time of 33:33.69 .

“I just try to stay calm, and sometimes I try to visualize the race and kind of think of different situations that could happen,” Malone said.

But Malone didn’t have to visualize anything last Thursday. As she stood at the top of the podium, her gold medal added to an already impressive season. At the Stanford Invitational on April 4, Malone broke the Syracuse school record she set last season in the 10,000-meters with a time of 32:29.89 and entered the ACC championships with the league’s top time in the event. Malone said she is hoping to channel the confidence from winning when she runs in the NCAA East Preliminary in Jacksonville, Florida, beginning May 28.

“I’m definitely a goal setter, so I like to look in the future that way,” she said. “But I think the most important thing, and my coaches have always reminded me of this, is to enjoy the process.”

Entering the race, Malone said her strategy was to hang back and avoid overexerting herself. The intense Florida heat and additional qualifying races still to be run discouraged her from starting at a breakneck pace.

Instead, Malone ran methodically until she made her move with two laps to go, bursting to the front of the pack from third place.

“I didn’t want to lead early, so I just tried to find a relaxed rhythm … And then just kind of took it with two laps to go and went for it,” she said.

While Malone hadn’t prepared specifically for the intense southern heat, she said the extreme cold at Syracuse helps her adjust to different conditions and acclimate to being uncomfortable.

Four Syracuse distance runners from the women’s side will race next week in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA East Preliminary, as Malone, Shaylyn Tuite, Jessie Petersen and Maura Linde will all try and qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, which start on June 10.

Malone is aware of her accomplishments, but doesn’t get caught up in them. Rather, she said she takes it step by step, day by day and remains thankful for each opportunity presented to her.

Said Malone: “I just feel very blessed to have such a great support system. I mean, my family and my teammates and my coaches … it’s really cool to kind of see it all come together.”

Published on May 21, 2015 at 5:03 pm

Contact Matt: mralex01@syr.edu