Photo by Doug Austin

Stony Brook's Lucy van Dalen recently won the Notre Dame Invitational 5,000-meter run, crossing the line in 16 minutes, 22 seconds against an impressive field of some of the NCAA's best runners and teams. With impressive indoor and outdoor seasons under her belt, van Dalen, a 1,500-meter specialist, is set to have a killer cross country season that could end with her in the top handful of female harriers in the NCAA. Make sure to check out Lucy and her fellow Sea Wolves in the White Race at the Pre-National Meet this weekend.

How was your long run today?

Oh, it was good. We did 10 miles, just going out with the girls. It was fun.

Can you walk me through your season so far? I think you've only raced once at Notre Dame.

Yeah, my first race was Notre Dame. That went well. I was hoping to go out with the front pack to see what happens. Both Holly (van Dalen, her twin sister) and I found it to be really comfortable. We had a little break and then came back ready to go. It's really fun to be out there racing with the girls to see where we were at right now for the season. We're heading to Pre Nats next then conference, then regionals then nationals. It's exciting.

If this season goes 100% perfectly, individually and as a team, how would you see the season concluding?

If it goes perfectly, individually I'm just looking to be really competitive with the front pack at nationals and really not setting any limits for going out for it and doing my best. Being All-American is the ultimate goal. I just want to fight to the line. As a team, we obviously just want to do our bests and go out and compete. If we get ranked high up in the country, that would be awesome.

Where are you ranked as a team right now?

We're ranked 12^th in the country. That's awesome. We're obviously looking to stay around that area. We'll see how the season goes, but it's going well so far.

Is that the highest Stony Brook has ever been ranked?

We ranked 12^th two years ago, actually after Notre Dame as well. It's exciting. It's funny how we're ranked 12^th again.

You seem a bit modest about your accomplishments, but you and your sister have had a big impact on Stony Brook's running program. Does it feel pretty good to have been such a big part of that? Weren't you the first Stony Brook athlete to go to indoor and outdoor NCAAs?

I was. (Laughs) Both Holly and I have high goals for ourselves individually and the program is starting to be recognized as a national-class team. It's also due to a lot of those other girls who have been through the program and built it up. One girl, Dana Hastie, was the first girl to get to outdoor nationals and the team is just getting better and better year-by-year. It's just so amazing to be a part of that. Andy (Coach Ronan) has done an amazing job with the girl's team and it's really cool to be a part of that. Holly and I have been really pleased with how things have gone at Stony Brook. We're obviously looking to improve every year and so far every year has been another step toward obtaining the goals which we have set out.

How have you seen the recruiting change since you started there?

It's funny. Stony Brook is appealing to a lot of international students. Other international students are here and there were a few when we came here. It really appealed to us because we were all on the same boat—all being away from home. When it comes to that with people deciding on where they want to go to university, the international students are drawn to the ones which have other international students. I think quite a few Kiwis are interested in Stony Brook just because there are quite a few of us on the team. It's cool to be one of those people who can honestly say that we love it here and encourage other Kiwis to come along. The recruiting has been a success over the last few years and it's been going really, really well.

What were some of those selling points that work on you when you were deciding?

Definitely having other international students here was appealing, but also Andy Ronan—we had heard a lot of great things about him and were really excited to work with him. Those were the two major factors. Also, being that close to New York City and in such an amazing part of the country, we were excited to be able to go to New York City.

How often do you go to New York City and what do you do there?

When we do go, it's usually for shopping. (Laughs) We go on breaks and stuff like that. Spring break or Thanksgiving or if family comes over, we might go in to see a show or something. It's fun, though. We love the contrast of living in a small, quiet area like Stony Brook, but also having the city close by if you want to see a musical or go shopping.

It seems New Zealand is the place to move to on the map and you and your sister have moved away.

(Laughs) Definitely New Zealand is paradise, but it's different when it comes to running, a lot of good runners will leave overseas to go to Europe or America to race. We have a really close-knit running community in New Zealand. It's really cool. That's what's so appealing here, is you can run and do college at the same time—but it's so hard to balance the two back home in New Zealand, just because the university system doesn't really support athletes like it does in America. New Zealand is awesome and does support runners, but as far as getting a degree and following your running dreams...America does it really well.

Do you know Nick Willis?

Yeah! Everyone knows everyone in New Zealand. If you're in the running community, then we all know about each other. I've been at a camp with Nick Willis. I was racing in Boston once and Kim Smith was there. We were both cheering for each other and it was really exciting to have that whenever you go to a meet here. You come from the same place and it's really cool.

When you're back home, are you training in the beautiful landscapes like where they filmed “The Lord of the Rings” movies?

(Laughs) I'm not training in the areas where they filmed that, but I'm definitely training in beautiful areas. Where I live there's a gorgeous lake where Holly and I run around. You can go on such beautiful runs in New Zealand. It's really awesome.

How often do you get to go back home?

We go home about every Christmas and also during summer. It's been nice to be able to do that. Now we'll go home for Christmas, but we probably won't go home for about a year and a half. We'll be closer to Andy and have a lot of quality training, instead of traveling. It's a long way to New Zealand. We're pretty pleased to be able to go home on breaks and see our family. A lot of family and friends come over here as well.

What was your summer like?

After Oregon, at NCAAs, we went to Hawaii. It was while we were going home. We went there for a few days, which was lovely, and then we went home. We only stayed there for about three weeks because we came back for summer school. We did summer school here instead of struggling in the humidity and heat. It does get a bit hot back home. We were just training and we didn't do any races.

What about the training you're doing right now? Can you break that down for me?

I do about 60 miles a week right now. A normal week would be two workouts and a long run. I'll probably get up to about 12 miles for a long run. We have double days with five and five on those days. My average run is probably eight miles.

How much of that is with your sister? Is she doing similar training?

We do exactly the same, but Holly usually does two-three miles longer on her long run and during the week, I'll do eight and Holly will do 10. Holly is always out on the road a bit longer than me. She's a 5K runner and I'm more of a 1,500-meter runner. We do everything together with workouts, depending on what Andy wants us to do.

Is there a lot of twin confusion? Is getting twin questions annoying?

No, it's fine. Our whole life we've been mixed up and asked questions about our twin. We're used to it.

Do you run many 800s anymore?

I do a few eights as speed work for the 15. I'll also do a few 3Ks, just for base and strength work for the 15. That's the main focus, the 15. I love it.

Is the ultimate goal to move up or is that not even in the cards?

No, I'm going to stay with the 15 outdoors. Indoors is a bit of a guess. I might be doing a bit of the 3K indoors, but I'll also be doing the mile. I'll really do anything that gets me stronger for the 15. It's my love and passion.

What would a time goal be for the 15?

I'd love sub 4:15 for the 15. I have goals of hopefully getting times for the World Championships next year and represent New Zealand. That's getting down to about 4:08. We'll just see what happens, but I'd really love to run a fast 15. Last season, in outdoors, Andy peaked me for nationals. When it comes down to nationals, it's very tactical and I was really wanting to get in a fast 15 at some stage and didn't get a chance to. I'm really getting excited for outdoor season and maybe be able to run a really fast 15 as opposed to tactical races—which is what happened last year. It all worked out well, though.

Representing New Zealand over the next few years, do you know where you rank and what it would take?

There's a girl—Nikki Hamblin—she runs for us. She's running the Commonwealth Games at the moment. I'm ranked second in New Zealand, I think, for the 15. Obviously, all those international meets are so appealing and I would love to make it to all of them, but with running, you never know about that. Definitely I have dreams and aspirations to get there, but, at the moment, my focus is to be competitive within the NCAA.

What are you studying and what would your non-running dream job be?

I'm studying sociology as my major and as a minor I'm doing child and family studies. One day I would like to work in social work or something to do with families and that sort of thing. That's what I want to do.

Do you see yourself pursuing that after college or pursuing running?

My actual dream would be to carry on with running after college. I'll stick with it as long as I can, because I love it. We'll see what happens because it's also awesome to be able to get a degree and run at the same time. It's like pursuing two passions at once. It's really cool. I'd love to compete at running before anything else.

If you could have one meal, prepared by anyone, what would you have and who would make it?

Definitely my mom would be the person I'd love to have cook my meal for me. She makes this amazing chicken meal with yummy stuffing all over it. We have cranberry sauce and potatoes and it's amazing. My mom is so amazing and I'd love to have that any day. I definitely had it when I went home. It's usually the first meal on the table. She's amazing.

Shout out to Mom!

Go, Mom! (Laughs)

Can you share a crazy running-related story?

I don't know if this is wild, but it's a little bit strange. It's more of a twin thing AND running-related story. Holly and I were about 15 and we went to our first competitive race in New Zealand. We were both running the 15 and we were in different heats, but BOTH ended up running eighth in our heats and ran the exact same time. It was just very odd. That's about as weird as it gets!

About the Running Warehouse:

My KWIK-Es are sponsored by runningwarehouse.com, located on the California coast in the small community of San Luis Obispo. The folks over there include one of the owners, Joe Rubio, a two hour, 18-minute marathoner and current head coach of the Asics Aggie RC. Jonathan Spiros oversees footwear buying and served many years as assistant coach at College Park High School helping Lindsay Allen. Erik Dube is in charge of accessories and helps with footwear buying. Erik has finished the Western States 100-Mile Race several times and was assistant coach at San Ramon Valley High School helping Scott Bauhs through high school. Erik’s wife, Tera, is in charge of customer service and is an ultra marathoner and former track star at Campolindo High School, where her brother Chuck Woolridge is currently head coach. The entire online and phone customer service representative staff at the Running Warehouse, including the staff listed above, have spent considerable time working the retail floor. This, along with the coaching and personal athletic experience, enables the company to have a unique perspective of understanding the needs of every level of runner from beginner to All-American. Check them out when you get a chance!