North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Foster Dreams Big
1/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Track
Jan. 20, 2006
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH -- NC State sprinter Ebony Foster is tired of being an All-American. She tired of being an ACC Champion. She wants something bigger.
"I want to win (the NCAAs)," says the senior from Lynchburg, Va. "I want to take it home. I am tired of looking up to everybody. It's awesome being an All-America and All-ACC, but I have higher goals."
Her quest to reach those goals began last weekend in Chapel Hill at the Carolina Opener, when the Wolfpack began its indoor track and field season and continues Friday and Saturday when Coach Rollie Geiger and his team compete in the Niswonger Invitational in Johnson City, Tenn.
This time last year, however, Foster was unable to compete in the indoor season, forced to wear a boot to help heal a stress fracture in her right foot. That kept her inactive for about six weeks and forced her to redshirt the season, the second time she has had to miss one of her seasons because of a stress fracture.
She spent that time getting stronger, and was at her peak for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles with a 13.03-second performance, earning her first All-America honors. A couple of weeks later, she was the top collegiate finisher in the USA Outdoor Championships, finishing sixth with a 13.01-second performance against an Olympic-caliber field.
"It was tough losing my indoor season," says Foster, who competes in the 60-meters and the 60-meter hurdles during the indoor season and in the 100-meter hurdles and the 100 and 200 meters during the outdoor season. "It affected me because I didn't have as many races as I needed to go into the outdoor season.
"But it also kind of made me a little bit stronger."
Now, Foster is trying to fine-tune her skills in preparation for the NCAA Indoor Championships, scheduled for March 9-11 in Fayetteville, Ark. Five days after that, the Wolfpack's outdoor season begins with the 49er Invitational in Charlotte. But her ultimate goal is a strong finish a the NCAA Outdoor Championships, which are slated for June 7-10 in Sacramento, Calif., followed by the USA Outdoor Championships in Carson, Calif.
"I have to train hard," says Foster, who owns the NC State records in the 60-meter hurdles (8.22 seconds) and in the 100-meter hurdles (12.98 seconds). "I have to work on my start, because that is my weakness. I have to stay on top of everything. I can't let a day go by without working hard."
Preparations for this season actually began in August, when she returned to campus following her outstanding performance at the USA Outdoor Championships, where she was the top collegiate finisher. After a month off, she started with 30-minute endurance runs around campus, a regimen all sprinters follow.
"Even though we are sprinters, we pretty much we feel like cross country runners," Foster says. "I don't like long runs at all. They are awful."
And they last for about two months. After that, the sprinters do various repetitions of 300-meter runs, a combination training of sprints and distance.
But Foster, who sat out the 2003 outdoor season with a stress fracture in her left leg, says she's healthy and ready for what the next six months might bring.
It's been an amazing journey to get to this point for Foster, who began competing in track and field in junior high school after being plucked from the school's fast-pitch softball team. "The only thing I really liked about softball was stealing bases, so they thought I would be a natural for track and field," Foster says. Besides, when growing up with two older brothers made her pretty fleet on her feet, Foster says.
"When you get in trouble, you have to run a lot," Foster says. "I did a lot of running away from them."
But her fleeing has paid off, now as she has developed into one of the country's top hurdlers. She knew she had reached that position last year when she was running in the lane next to Olympic record-setter Joanna Hayes, who ranks second on Foster's list of most admired runners, right after Gail Devers.
"She knew my name and everything," Foster said. "I raced beside her at the USA Outdoor championships the last two years. She remembered me. She told me to keep up."
Foster plans to. When she thinks about her future, she doesn't just dream of the possibility of making it to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
"I already see myself in China," Foster says. "So it's not really a dream. It's the goal I am working to reach."
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
--30--
