Wolverine Athlete Spotlight: Anna Pasternak
10/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Oct. 1, 2015
Fifth-year senior Anna Pasternak has worked hard to emerge from the stable of talented distance runners brought in each year by head cross country coach Mike McGuire. On the track, that emergence peaked last spring, when she scored at the Big Ten Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, but during cross country, Pasternak has been on a steady upward trajectory since early in her career. She first scored at the NCAA meet in 2013 as a junior/sophomore, and picked up her first career victory in 2012. Now she has emerged on the course as a steady presence, and off it as a leader. Pasternak will need to be one of Michigan's most valuable and reliable pieces if the team is to reach its goals this season. She sat down with MGoBlue.com to discuss the team's progress early in this 2015 slate, her personal development and embracing a leadership role in her final season in Maize and Blue.
On taking on a bigger leadership role this year as a fifth-year senior ... "When I was younger on the team, we had some great role models and for me in particular, that group was led by Jillian Smith. The longer I have been here the more the team has meant to me. I like being a mentor; I like being someone that people can come to just to ask for advice or talk to if there is something going on. I like to think of myself as capable of being empathetic. I enjoy the relationships that I have with people. I want to continue what I experienced in the years; I want to set an example and I'm hoping that the younger girls just continue adopting the mindset and creating the atmosphere we have going this year, because we have it pretty strong this year."
On things that she observed and learned from upperclassmen in the past, that she is trying to bring to the team now ... "A lot of it is leading by example. That is more the style that I take on as a leader. For me personally, going into my fifth year, I think back on watching Meg Wesch (former co-captain Megan Weschler). Her last season, there was no distraction for her with it being the end of her eligibility. It was something she embraced in a good way; she made the most of it and was fully committed. Even though she had some class conflicts and things like that to work around, she was very much involved and so were our other captains. I think it was more of leading by example than anything that I learned from them. As a team under Coach Mike and under previous captains, we learn to be leaders gradually; there isn't one specific time that it clicks, it just builds."
On her personal growth the last few seasons ... "I think it has been more of a gradual improvement. There were a few distinct moments like my sophomore year when I won a smaller meet nearby at the EMU Classic at the end of October. That was the first time I was under 18 (minutes) for a cross-country 5K. Also, the first time I scored at nationals in 2013, but there has never been a time where I felt drastically better after a certain moment; it has been more of a gradual improvement. For me, I really make use of the summers and that is when I really try to make the most of my time to improve."
On her evaluation of the team's progression early in this season ... "I thought overall, our team effort at the Commodore Classic was really good. Coach Mike had really wanted us to improve upon running as a pack and not just trailing after each other. I think we improved on that at Vanderbilt; I think it can still be improved but that plan was executed really well. Just seeing some of the younger girls stepping up and all of us being able to run good times this early, we want to continue that momentum as much as we can."
• Previous Spotlight: Gina Sereno
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard
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