Washington Lady Husky Anita Campbell leads her team into the NCAA Division I Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana. In the past years she had only went as an individual. Let's see how she does after making the trip with her entire team to back her up.

PART ONE (BEFORE NATIONALS)

Can you talk about your training this far in the season?

My summer training went pretty well. I went home, I didn't stay in Seattle. I started with a good base and didn't run too much, just enough to feel good coming into camp the first week of September. School doesn't start until the very last week of September so we are there for a whole month. It's a good period to just focus on our training and doing all the little things. I've just been building every week.

What is your mileage usually like?

I usually hit 50-60, somewhere in between there. I've been building up since I got in college. As a freshman I was running 40 miles. Last year I was hitting about 50. It's been a good progression and I feel like I can handle it easily. My body feels good so hopefully I can keep moving up.

How do you think you're races went this year?

I took 12th at Pre Nats. It was a good race although I always seem to struggle on that course in previous years for whatever reason. It was the first time I race there and felt well the whole race. I needed that before nationals, to run on that course before. Our season started out at Sun Dodger, in West Seattle, a local meet. I won that one on a really fast course. I can't remember what my time was, but it was a really fast race and it was nice to win my first race. Then we headed out the Bill Dellinger meet in Eugene and all the good teams were there. I ran all right. A girl on our team, Katie Follett, ran really well as she got second to Nicole Blood. It was the first time we could see that our team was really progressing well and that it was going to be a good season for us. At Pre Nats, our team was tired and we know that we weren't going to ease off our training for that day. We came out with what we needed. We learned the course well and Amanda Miller ran second for us that day and she had been running well. I think that we may see big things from her at nationals. It was good because we tied ASU and we moved up to seventh in the national rankings. They don't really mean much, but it's nice to see that.

Do you have a team goal?

I will go out on a limb and say top five. It's definitely possible. We are in the PAC 10 and we see these really good teams all the time. Stanford, Oregon, those teams. We see these girls all the time and we are like, "they are the same as us". Anything can happen on race day.

What about individual goals?

Yeah, I want to be All American. I haven't done well at nationals when I went as an individual in the past. My learning experiences should be out of the way by now. I want to be way up there. I'm not tired out at all and my training has been going well. I feel strong and I just want to lead the team. As a junior now and it's time to start putting performances up there.

Do you think you're going to race any differently knowing that your team is going to be there behind you?

It helps a lot having a team behind me. I don't think it did my first two years when I went by myself. It makes a big difference not spending the first few days by yourself and having people there in the same situation as you.

What does Anita Campbell bring to the table?

I think that I am focused and train pretty seriously. I'm a "lead by example" person. That's the leader aspect that I bring to the team.

Can you talk about your team unity a little bit?

It's good. Coming in my freshman year we had a big group of seniors. After they all left we had to rebuild our team from there. Last year we had a huge group of freshman come in and they've build a good foundation. They're sophomores now and they are really good with helping the freshman. We have a good group of seniors right now. Everyone gets along well and everyone works hard and wants to do well.

What's your major and do you want to pursue that after college?

I'm majoring in French and environmental planning. I would love to continue running if my cards play out right. I want to keep improving and see if it's worth my while and keep it realistic. If I'm going to put all my time into this it's definitely something I want to do. I've just got to keep working hard.

What is your history with the sport of running?

It kind of started when I ran world youth in the 3K on a track in Quebec. I think I was in 10th grade. Then I did World Cross in France. It was all good experience, although I went to the two world cross races being injured. I never went fully healthy and ready to go, which was frustrating. That experience is the reason I've been able to transition so well into college running. It seems low-key to look back on those experiences in college and see the girls I've ran with. It helps me keep these races in perspective and makes it easier to handle.

What are your hobbies outside of running?

I like to cook a lot and I'm trying to get better (laughs). I like to do anything outdoors. Back home we watch a lot of hockey. My parents have season tickets to junior hockey teams. I like to watch movies.

What does your diet consist of?

I made lasagna last night for the first time and it was good. I make a lot of soups and stir fries. I cook for my family when I go home.

How far are you from your house?

About two or two and half hours, so it's not so bad. I live right across the border. It's not a bad drive at all.

Is that one of the reasons you chose the University of Washington?

It's part of the reason. I knew one of the former runners too. She gave me a lot of insight into the program and the coaches. I like Greg Metcalf a lot. He's a pretty energetic guy and made me feel like this was the right choice. I was full of questions and he answered all of them with the answers I was looking for. I haven't had any regrets.

What's the hardest workout you've ever done?

It would be a track workout that we do a few weeks before regionals. We do a hard 1000 with a 200m jog right after, then a hard 400 with a few minutes rest. We do that three times and it's always been hard for me. I've always managed to do pretty well though. It gets me ready for regionals.

Do you have an all-time favorite pair of running shoes?

The Air Max Motos.

Can you talk about your relationship with injuries?

Yeah, in high school I had a lot. I had three stress fractures. So, coming into college I was a bit nervous. I didn't want to be an athlete who goes through the years worrying about injuries. I've been able to avoid them. That's one thing the coaches are really good about. I've been fortunate not to have any situations like that. I don't know why I've avoiding them since coming to college, but I think it might be to slow progression of building up my mileage.

Which do you enjoy more, cross country or track?

I used to like running cross country a lot more. But since I've been here I've learned to like them both equally. It may be because I've had equal success in both, having positive experiences in both. Looking back it's nice because I've been to nationals in both and I've ran 16 minutes in the 5k but also made it as an individual twice in cross country. I like the toughness of cross country, but track is more of a spectator sport. It makes the year of running better when you can change it up a bit.

PART TWO (AFTER NATIONALS)

Anita placed 20th overall and her Lady Huskies took eighth place at the NCAA Championships.

All right, so you're an All-American, can you talk about the race a little bit?

It went really well. It was important to establish placing early in the race. That is something I've learned in the two years before. I got up there with a group I felt comfortable with. I think I was around 30th for the first quarter of the race. I knew I had to move up from there, I didn't want to stay around that area. I kept moving up and eventually made my way to 20th place. It was nice to keep moving up instead of backwards because I know that race brings out some tired races in people. Katie Follett, a sophomore on our team, came in right next to me, so the two of us had a great day. It was nice to share that with someone. We had two All-Americans for the first time ever. The rest of our team struggled just a little bit. But we still managed to pull out eighth.

You were happy with the team's eighth-place finish?

Yeah, we can't be disappointed with it. It's the highest our team has ever finished at this race, I think our previous best was ninth place. It's something that's never been done in our program before. There is a lot more potential to do bigger things at that meet. I mean, if we were one place higher, we could have gotten seventh, it was that close. If things would have been a little different, we could have gotten fifth realistically. It was a little bittersweet and we're going to keep it at that. We're excited to come back next year. We've got a motivation now. We return everyone except one senior.

So, will you be taking much of a break now?

I am. I'm feeling really good coming off this race so I don't know how much of a break I need. I usually just take two weeks completely off. As I get older and I haven't been hurt and my body is stronger I feel like I can do some easy running for a little while and get ready for indoors.

Does your team do much racing indoors?

We do a fair amount because we have the Dempsey athletic facilities, which is one of the best facilities indoor for racing. So we're lucky to have that. It depends, but the coach kind of looks at the individual and weighs it like that. This year I'm going to focus on it. In the past I'd ran it a little bit, my freshman year I still had to race in Japan for cross country and last year I made a run at the end of the season to try to make it, but I just wasn't quite ready for it. This year I'm going to make a legitimate effort to try to get to nationals. It should be fun, I've enjoyed indoor track since I've got here.