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MEET WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER AND OLYMPIC EQUESTRIAN HOPEFUL MADELEINE CAREY
MEDFORD - Whether on foot or horseback, Tufts sophomore
Madeleine Carey (Albuquerque, NM/Alburquerque) is passionate about
competing. As a member of the Jumbo cross country team, she's part
of a young and promising group that has its eyes set on qualifying
for the NCAA Championship this fall. Also a participant
in many horse sports, Carey aspires to be an Olympian in
the sport of equestrian eventing (comprised dressage,
cross-country, and show jumping).
An outdoor enthusiast in general, Carey's top performance on the cross country course this season was at Franklin Park in Boston on September 24 when she covered five kilometers in 19:49 for 24th place overall out of 251 competitors. As a high school equestrian athlete, she was nationally-ranked as high as seventh as Junior Training Rider.
Madeleine had a lot to say about both sports when GoTuftsJumbos.com asked her to be the next Tufts athlete to be put In Focus:
With All-American Amy Wilfert graduated, the Tufts cross country team features a deeper group of young talent this fall. What's the focus of the team as you progress through the season towards the championship races, and what are the team goals overall?
MC - Without a doubt, our goal is to go to Nationals. We have been racing really well as a pack this season, with our top five finishing within a minute of each other at most of the races. Last year, Middlebury won Nationals without any All-Americans, but finished their top five within 20 seconds of each other, so it is possible to have a very competitive team without an Amy. And as always, we want to keep everyone healthy. With a solid six weeks of working out and racing under our belts, this is the point in the season where we have to train very smart and get faster without getting hurt or burning out. It's a fine line between peaking at the right time and over or under training, but I think we have a great group of girls that are capable of walking it, hopefully all the way to Winneconne, Wisconsin!
Beyond pure athletic ability, what other skills do successful cross country runners need to have in your opinion?
MC - For lack of a better way to describe it, you have to have a desire to suffer. We all toe the line knowing that the next 20 minutes are going to hurt. What makes a successful runner is being brave enough to push harder when it starts to hurt. You have to be willing to find your limits and discover just how far your body can go. For me, that's the best part of running, the fact that you can always go faster. The clock will never register 00:00:00. All the fun is in seeing how close you can get. Additionally, even though I hate to admit it, there is something to be said for living the runners lifestyle. The difference in how you feel when you eat and sleep right is unreal. Putting as much effort into non-running activities such as stretching and icing as you do your workouts can make a world of difference in your performance. In the end, it all comes down to who wants it most, from having the commitment to take care of yourself all season to pushing past that hurt in the middle of a race. There will always be someone three steps ahead of you and someone else three steps behind. The trick is to beat them both to the line.
You aspire to be an Olympian in the sport of equestrian eventing.
What do you love so much about the sport and what's it going to
take for you to rise to the Olympic level?
MC - The sport is the ultimate test of horse and rider. It has three phases, each of which test you in a unique way, which means your training has to prepare you and your horse for everything from finesse to boldness. I love the variety of the sport and how much it makes you use both your body and your mind. But without a doubt, the part I love the most is being on a team with one of the greatest athletes I know. The horses can dance a ballet one day and then go out and jump over the bed of a pickup truck the next. They are a combination of Michelle Kwan and Bobby Orr. Getting to work with them inspires me to train harder in all my athletic endeavors. Next to working with the horses, the adrenaline rush of galloping full speed at a four foot solid object, knowing that it's up to me to get us there safely, is pretty tough to beat. That moment when you leave the ground and everything goes quiet is simply the best. The hardest part of getting to the Olympics will be having the right horse at the right time. Beyond that, it will just be putting in the hours in the saddle, building a relationship with my horse and getting the experience to be able to compete on the international level. Right now my riding is at a place right where I can ride anything. The next step will be to ride anything well. This summer, I spent a lot of time working on having a more proactive ride. That is, paying attention to subtle shifts in balance and connection in the horses' bodies and correcting problems before they arise, and feeling when the horse was about to drift right and stopping it, instead of just letting it happen. What gets you noticed is not necessarily winning lots of big competitions, but your versatility and ability to ride lots of horses well. Equestrian sports can get very lucrative, so being able to make the most out of what you have is definitely a key to success. I will probably not have the money to purchase an Olympic partner outright, so developing my skills so I can train one instead of buy one is a key piece of the puzzle. As a side note, many current members of the US Equestrian team are in their 40s, which is fairly uncommon for a professional athlete. Knowing this has made it easier to take a break from riding to pursue my running.
What factors led to your decision to come to Tufts out of Bosque School in Albuquerque, New Mexico?
MC - To be honest, I am not really sure how I ended up at Tufts. I was on a road trip with skis with my parents and we were driving through Wyoming and I said, 'I think I am going to apply early to Tufts.' That night, I sent in my application. Other than that, I really just needed a change. Anyone who has met me knows I love New Mexico and everything it has given me, but it is not a land of opportunity. I wanted to go somewhere where I would have access to cultural and intellectual resources I hadn't had access to growing up.
Now that you've been here for over a year, what are some of the non-sports aspects of Tufts that you like most?
MC - This past summer I received a Career Services Summer Internship Grant to intern at an ecosystem monitoring program at home in Albuquerque. I really feel that at Tufts, if you have an idea or a project, the university and departments can find a way to make it happen. As a result of this summer, I now have a long-term research project that I am in charge of and the biology department has been great about providing me with the support that I need.
Madeleine and the rest of the Jumbos have meets at Connecticut College and another at Franklin Park before the championship season begins on October 29 with the 2011 NESCAC race hosted by Amherst College.
2011 Tufts Women's Cross Country Schedule
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