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Freshman Lance Roller is a member of the Cavaliers’ track and field team this year, but doesn’t have a history like many other collegiate athletes. A graduate of Walter Panas High School in Cortlandt Manor, N.Y., Roller did not compete for his high school’s track team, he trained individually with Rachelle Clinton, the coach of Stars Track Club.
Roller still competed in some of the nation’s top high school meets, though, earning All-America honors in the 800m, in addition to winning the USATF Youth National Championship in the 300m and 800m. He was also named the US Army Reserve National Scholar-Athlete Award recipient.
For Virginia, Roller is a member of the Cavaliers’ distance medley relay team that automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships by winning the event at the Alex Wilson Invitational last Friday in a school record time of 9:29.45. Roller ran the 800m leg of the relay and will be joined by freshman Sintayehu Taye, sophomore Meikle Paschal and senior Andrew Jesien, in College Station, Texas this Friday to compete in the NCAA finals. The race is scheduled to begin at 8:40 p.m.
Question: Why did you choose to compete individually rather than as part of your high school team?
Roller: At first I had all intentions of competing for my high school. But I started training with a new club coach the summer before my freshmen year and saw how much I had greatly improved in some of my events – I dropped over 10 seconds in the 800m and 1500m that summer. When I went to try out for the high school team I asked the coach if he could be flexible with workouts – do workouts with both my high school and my club coach – since many club coaches work together with the local high school coaches. In the end, I was given an ultimatum to either run high school or club. I choose club because I was greatly improving with my club coach and I knew even though I ran club, I could still run all of the nationals meets such as Nike Nationals, NSIC, Simplot Games and USATF Junior Olympics.
Question: What was it like to train alone? What were your training sessions like?
Roller: Training alone wasn’t bad. It was just the coach, the track and myself. Other times it would just be the track and myself. The coach would give me a workout; we’d do the workout, discuss the purpose of the workout and then do the same thing the next day.
Question: Do you feel you benefited from the individualistic training styles?
Roller: I feel like I greatly benefited from individualistic training styles. It’s cool that you get a lot of one-on-one attention with your coach, so you’re able to discuss everything you want with them. Training individually has also allowed me to become more independent and have total confidence in myself. From training independently, if I run by myself or with others, I know I’m capable of doing what I have to do, without relying on others to push me.
Question: How were you able to gauge your progress?
Roller: My coach and I both kept a training log from every year of high school with the workouts, times, and meets I had done. We would go through our logs to see what type of shape I’m in, in order to see where I need to improve and be in best shape for nationals.
Question: Do you ever think that you would have preferred to run for your high school team?
Roller: No. Of course I would have loved to compete and represent my high school (go to states etc.,) but I’ve been doing club track and going to national meets since I was 10, so I will always love club track.
Question: Did you ever consider attending college but not train as part of the team?
Roller: Never. I always considered going to college and training as part of the team. It was one of the things I looked forward to while running in high school.
Question: Why did you decide Virginia was the place for you?
Roller: There’s no school that has a better combination of great academics and athletics than Virginia. When I first stepped on this beautiful campus, met the guys on the team and the coaching staff, I knew this school was the right place for me. Graduating with a degree from an institution such as UVa will say a lot many years from now when entering the real world.
Question: What is it like to now train with a team?
Roller: It feels great training with my team. They’re very supportive and make you feel good about yourself. Not only do they give me advice about track, they give me advice about school and life in general. They’re like family to me.
Question: What does it mean to compete for Virginia?
Roller: As for competing for this Virginia team, I feel honored every time I put on my singlet. It’s a great feeling competing against some of the greatest runners in the country, knowing that your team is behind you all the way. I know that every time I wear a Virginia uniform I plan to compete to the best of my ability and represent our Cavalier Nation with pride.
Question: What are some of the differences between training individually as opposed to for a team?
Roller: When you train individually you have to work twice as hard as someone who trains with a team. When you’re training by yourself, no one is waking you up so you can do your morning run. No one is telling you to suck it up and run when you start to get tired during a workout. No one is there to tell you to push yourself in order to get the best results during a workout or track meet. When training individually, you have to constantly motivate yourself and be very disciplined in order to get the results you want.
When working with a team you have people by your side to help push you, motivate you and help get you to where you want. Training with a team also helps you maintain your competitive edge. Not only do you have to be competitive when you’re at a meet, but you have to while at practice. Although track is a team sport, it’s an individual one as well, so you have to compete against your own teammates in order to achieve the ultimate goal of winning a championship. It’s nice when you’re able to train with a team. It makes things much easier.
Question: Not only are you a part of an entire track and field team now, you’re a major factor in a relay team, as well. The DMR automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships this weekend winning the event in which everyone competing hit a qualifying time for NCAAs. What kind of motivation does that bring for the upcoming national championships?
Roller: That race has given us a boatload of confidence going into nationals. Winning that race with a season-best time – and school record – has us feeling that we can go to nationals and contend for a title.
Question: Are NCAAs the biggest meet you’ve ever competed in?
Roller: By far, NCAAs are the biggest meet I’ve ever competed in. I can’t wait.
Question: How is competing in a relay event different than competing in an individual event?
Roller: When competing in an individual event you’re only in control of what you do during the race. Everything is all on you in an individual event. When you’re running a relay, not only are you responsible for yourself, you’re responsible for three other people as well. What you do affects each and every one of your teammates. Each member of the relay has to contribute something to the team in order to reach your ultimate goal. Competing in a relay is much more fun and exciting than competing in an individual event.
Question: What are you looking forward to next weekend? What are some of your expectations?
Roller: I’m looking forward to seeing and competing with the best collegiate runners in the country. Next weekend I also expect to contend for a national title in the DMR, run another personal-best and let the world know that Virginia is one of the best middle-distance/distance programs in the country.