Oct. 26, 2006

Pacing the Spartans in each of their four races this season, junior Stephan Shay has been a model of consistency for the Michigan State men's cross country team. In addition to leading his team, Shay also led the pack at the Spartan Invitational on Sept. 15, capturing the first individual title of his career. Shay was named Big Ten Runner of the Week for the performance.

Registering three top-20 finishes this season, Shay is coming off a 16th-place finish at the Pre-NCAA meet on Oct. 14. Preparing for the Big Ten Championships this weekend, the East Jordan, Mich., native hopes he can once again set the pace for Michigan State, and help the Spartans improve on their seventh-place finish at the conference meet from a year ago. Shay recently took time to reflect on the season and the team's progress throughout the year.

Q: What measures have you taken to remain consistent this season?
A: I have kept my mileage up and have taken care of my body. I have done a lot of stuff this year in terms of the little things, like getting more sleep and eating right.

Q: Do you feel like you are setting an example?
A: I like to think I am. There are a lot of guys on the team that follow my lead. There are a lot of guys that the younger runners can look to.

Q: How do you think the team has progressed this season?
A: I think that we're getting more consistent. With each meet we keep getting a little better, but we're not quite clicking on all of our cylinders yet. I think that as soon as we do click, we're going to be a pretty good team.

Q: What teammate pushes you do be your best?
A: There are a couple guys that I'll go out and run with because I know that they like to run hard too. I know that if I go out with Matt Bartlebaugh or Justin Zanotti, that we push each other. Or Adam Sprangel, I live with him so we go on a lot of runs together.

Q: What's the team's mindset headed into the Big Ten Championship?
A: We are going to go out there and battle. We all know that we are a lot better than what we have been running, so we just plan on going out there and showing everyone what we're made of. A lot of it is mental. I know we have the guys here that are capable of getting the job done. We have to get in the right mindset and get everyone to believe that they can be up there and run with the top guys.

Q: The Big Ten has a number of the top ranked schools in the nation. What advantage does this give you when preparing for the regional and national meet?
A: There is no doubt that we have probably one of the hardest conferences in the nation. I think that has been one of our goals all season, to go out there and run with the top guys in our conference. If we do that, it will guide us along into making it into the national meet. It might be hard to be one of the top three teams out of the region, but I think that we compete against enough tough teams in our conference to pull us along into the national meet.