Photo by Emei Thompson
As a member of the cross country and track teams, freshman Molly Doruska is running strong for the Vikings, competing hard on and off the field. She ran her best indoor 3,000-meter race in a shade over 12 minutes, and is primed to surpass her 5,000-meter time this outdoor season after trying something new (the 1,500-meter) in the first meet last Saturday.
Wes Hetcher: Where are you from? What made Lawrence different to you?
Molly Doruska; I’m from Ankeny, Iowa. I chose Lawrence because it offered me a really good academic program and the option to run. Other places I visited, people were kind of athletes first. Here, you’re a student first. Everybody is studying, and the team dynamic is just super great.
WH: Could you elaborate on the team dynamic, and where you’ve noticed it?
MD: Everyone’s so supportive, and we eat dinner with each other. It’s kind of like my second family, and it’s so great. Everyone’s cheering each other on for workouts and races.
WH: How was the transition from high school to college running?
MD: For me, it was a big jump in distance, and it took a little while, but running longer workouts has helped get me used to the longer distance.
WH: How did you feel about the cross country season?
MD: We did well in meets throughout the season; we were ranked in the region. But conference was a little bit of a rough patch for us.
WH: For track, what events have you been running?
MD: Indoor I ran the 3K and 5K. Outdoor I’m running the 5K, I ran the 1,500 [in our first meet], but that’s not happening again.
WH: What did you think of the Indoor Track season, and moving outdoors?
MD: I feel really good about it. It’s a lot easier to run outdoors. I ran indoors twice in high school, but I’ve never had an indoor season. It was good, [but] winter running’s hard.
WH: Do you have any specific individual and team goal for outdoor?
MD: I’d like to break 21 minutes for the 5K, to kind of get back to where I ended high school. I’d also really like to run a 10K. I also like to keep making sure I’m pushing everybody in workouts—to just be competitive within the team.