Arkansas Razorback Scott MacPherson is an All-American and looking to keep learning under legendary Coach John McDonnell and make some noise this indoor season in the 5,000 and 3,000-meter distances.

How's your training going right now?

Pretty good. It's the beginning of the year right now so we're trying to get a lot done but not take it too hard, because it's a long season, which we kind of figured that out last year. We're just having fun though. We've got a few solid weeks of good running.

Do you think you over raced last season or something?

I don't think so. I just don't think I knew what I was getting into. It was my first year to go all three seasons. I don't think I was mature enough to do it, running wise. I learned a lot from it, that's for sure. This year should be fun.

What kind of improvements are you looking to make?

I'm definitely looking to make improvements. Every time I run I'm looking to improve and I think I have a good chance to do that this year.

So, you'll be going for the 5K again?

Yeah, and hopefully the 3K as well.

What steps are you taking to make those improvements?

Just the same stuff. It's obviously working. I keep improving my times. I think right now it's just a mental thing. I've got to figure out that I can run with the best guys in the country and just go and do it. I've got the same training as last year, just sticking to Coach Mac's plan. He's got it figured out pretty well. As long as I do that I'm pretty confident about the season and stuff.

Can you talk about Coach McDonnell and what he's like?

He's probably the coolest guy I've ever met. First of all, he's the nicest man, most selfless person I've ever met. He loves to win and he hates to lose. That rubs off on us, which is a good thing. He's a cool guy, he has a sense of humor and can be funny, but at the same time he gets down to business and when you're on the track, you're on the track and that's what you're there to do. He tells us to use our brains in the classroom, but use his brain on the track. He says he doesn't have much of one, but it also doesn't take much of one to run in circles. We just kind of listen to him. So far, I've been here two and a half years and have loved every second of it, even the bad times.

How is the team unity for your team?

Yeah, we've had our ups and down the past two years. We've kind of got our heads together and go everyone on the same page. It's been fun, because the guys I'm with, I really enjoy running with them and even hanging out with them on the weekends and stuff. They're a good group and I'm really excited to see what everyone does, including me.

Going back to cross country season, how do you think it went for you?

I don't know. (Laughs) It was a big blur and I'm not too happy with it. I started out OK, but none of us really ran the way we wanted to and it was kind of a disaster. We definitely put that one behind us...we don't like to dwell on that one. That was one of our less favorite moments. It was interesting and we're still trying to learn from the mistakes that we made. I think that next year we have a much stronger team coming back. There's more to look forward to than to look back on.

What's your history with the sport of running?

I played lacrosse in high school and thought I was going to do that for the remainder of my sports career. But it didn't take care of a PE credit that I needed to graduate from high school. My dad ran in high school and was pretty good. He ran 14:15 for three miles as like a junior in high school. I always knew what he ran and always had fun. During the drills for football and lacrosse, I would always finish way ahead of everyone on the running part. So, I went out for cross country and never had run more than two miles in my life and the first race I won by like a minute and a half and thought, "wow, this is kind of fun." So, I realized that on the lacrosse field I could have a good day but the team could lose and on the track if I have a good day, I have a good day. But if I have a bad day, it's my own fault. I fell in love with the sport from them on out, started really running and really training. I've always had great coaches. I've had three and have gotten really lucky, because each of them for different reasons is an amazing coach. Coach Mac is arguably one of the best coaches in the world. My high school coach taught me how to love the sport, why to run and the basics. In junior high, my first coach, was just an inspiration to me. He taught me how to think positive and he really believed in me throughout everything and that was a really nice motivation for me throughout my career so far.

You said your dad ran 14:15 in high school?

Yeah, I forget the story because he always changes it up every time he tells me, but basically there was a professional or collegiate runner doing a race in his town and his high school coach got him in the race. The main guy was like, "I don't know about this high school guy in the race." It was a three-mile race and my dad had never run more than two miles before, he'd only run that and the one mile. His coach was like, "go and hang on" and he did and it was pretty cool. He also ran 9:05 in high school and went on to run in college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, but he got hurt. He was a big mileage hound. Running on the roads got to him and they didn't have the sports medicine that we do today so he couldn't recover like we do.

Your high school PR for the 5K is mid 14s right?

Yeah, my 5K was 14:34 or something like that. I don't know what I did for three miles but it was about the same. It was fun, always having a competition between me and my dad. Whenever I would race, I was always trying to beat his time and I'd rub it in his face when I did and he'd rub it in my face when I didn't. It kept things fun to have that family competition.

What's the hardest workout you can remember doing?

My first indoor track workout here. In high school, my mile PR was 4:12. We showed up and Coach (Mac) told us to do a mile down and the first mile in 4:12. I didn't tell anyone, but I kind of went to the bathroom in my shorts real quick and was like, "wow, that's the fastest I've ever run." That was the first interval in the mile down, so I had to go faster down the ladder each time. It was interesting. That was a tough workout for sure. But, to be honest, I can't remember the hardest workout because every time we step on the track here it's a hard workout. I think that's one of the reasons why we're so successful. They're all pretty hard but that one sticks out because I PRed in the workout and that's pretty cool.

So, what do you have planned for indoor track this season?

They're all home, which is nice. It makes it easy to run races I want, I get to choose what I want to race, when I want to race it. I haven't planned out the season much, I just know I'm going to run the mile at the first meet and run some 5Ks and 3Ks at the next couple. It should be fun, I love running in front of the home crowd and the fans at our indoor track are pretty crazy and it keeps it exciting.