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- Few prep athletes in Wyoming's history have achieved the national success that Rawlin High School senior runner Sydney Thorvaldson has.

This January, she ran the fastest two mile time in history at an all prep meet.

She's collected 18 Wyoming State titles so far, and this fall, will run as a Razorback at SEC Champion Arkansas.

The amazing Sydney Thorvaldson next on Wyoming Chronicle.

(upbeat music) - [Instructor] This program was funded in part by a grant from Newman's Own Foundation, working to nourish the common good by donating all profits from Newman's Own food and beverage products to charitable organizations that seek to make the world a better place.

More information is available at newmansOwnfoundation.org.

Funding for this program is made possible in part by the Wyoming Humanities Council, helping Wyoming take a closer look at life through the humanities, thinkwhy.org and by the members of the WyomingPBS Foundation.

Thank you for your support.

- And as we begin this special Wyoming Chronicle, it's our pleasure to be joined by the nation's premier prep middle distance runner Sydney Thorvaldson from Rawlin High School.

Sydney, thank you so much for joining us today.

- Thank you for having me.

- It's really an honor, really to visit with you.

I'm not sure Sydney that in high school anyone has ever had the success in Wyoming that you have, and we're gonna get to all of that.

The career you've had so far, the month of January that you had so far.

- Yeah.

- But let's learn a little bit more about your growing up here in Rawlin.

You were born in Laramie but you pretty much have been in Rawlin most of your life.

- Yep.

Good little Rawlin.

- Yeah When did you start to run?

When did that become a thing for you?

- Probably when I was about eight years old, we would do fun little 5Ks or I'd just go for a jog with my mom just around the block or something like that.

And it just started simple like that just as long as it was enjoyable and I was having fun with it.

I always found enjoyment through running so then it just kind of accelerated from there.

- Did you know back then what track was all about or what cross country meets were all about?

- No, I really had no idea.

I think I was just doing it for the fun of it and it was kind of some mother, daughter bonding time.

- Nice.

- So yeah, it was always a lot of fun for me and then kind of going up to middle school and more high school is when I kind of realized that it was more competitive and that I could really do some big things with it.

- Sure, We'll meet your parents a little later on in the show and I'm looking forward to visiting with them.

Let's talk about middle-school running.

Were you the best?

Did you win all the time then or how did that... - I was undefeated in Wyoming throughout middle school so I considered myself to be pretty good I guess.

- So we you ever a sprinter?

- No, no.

I think at one point I might've wanted to try it but never really caught on to it.

- You were running in middle school, when did you decide Sydney, and how did you decide, you know track season is over, but I wanna keep doing this.

I need to keep training.

How did that decision come about?

I think it was just kind of natural.

I really just loved it.

And so it wasn't really difficult for me to train through the summer, train really at all, I really enjoyed it and seeing myself improve and just kind of get in shape was great for me.

So it really was never like I had to really push myself to get out of bed in the morning and run.

- So, now we come to high school, and things are maybe a little more competitive but you're still having great, great success.

- Yeah - Tell me how have you figured out how to train?

And I think our viewers might be surprised to learn, It's not like you have a coach that you're calling in with every day that he lives in Oregon or somewhere running is a huge deal.

- Right.

- You're figuring this out kind of as you go.

- Yeah, it is difficult but I think as long as I'm running and getting installed workouts, that I can just kind of base it off of my own feel and kind of maybe my splits from previous seasons or something like that.

And I kinda still have to prioritize recovery which I've learned a lot about over the years even just in high school is that I used to just run, run fast every day.

That was just kinda the mentality but I realized that I also need to prioritize recovery and cross training and injury prevention.

And so there's definitely more behind it than people think but for me it's just about kind of going based off feel and yeah, creating my own workouts is also fun in a way I can kinda... - So are you online kinda trying to to read from others and learn from their experiences and stuff.

- Yeah, yeah.

- So are you a running nerd then?

- Somewhat I guess you could say that.

Yeah and social media has actually been really great for me 'cause I can follow professional runners or collegiate runners on Instagram or whatever it might be and sometimes they'll post their workouts and I'm like, "Oh that's a cool workout".

And I'll save it and do that workout, and that's been really great for me but other than that it's just kinda, maybe last year I did 10, 400 repeats for workout and this year I do 12 or something like that, just kind of continuing to improve off of what I've already done.

- So you didn't get to have the junior outdoor season that you wanted to.

COVID came into our lives.

- Yeah.

- How did that impact You?

- It's tough especially 'cause going in from indoor to outdoor, I get to be with my team in outdoor and I was really excited for that.

I love being able to have a distance crew that I can train with and the boys that I can compete with.

And so it was difficult not to have that and also just looking forward to some of the bigger meets that I was invited to.

I was even invited to go to Norway which is crazy because like I've never been out of the US and I was so excited for that.

And just to see that taken away was really tough but I really was just reminded of how much I have to do the sport just because I love it, not because I'm trying to compete all the time or race or whatever it might be.

I do it because I really enjoy it, so I think I rediscovered that little bit.

- Okay, so now I have to ask you this questions, we're in Rawlin, I would say it's a normal day.

Cruising along at about 30 miles an hour.

- Yeah.

- little snow coming down - Mhmm.

- Yet you train outside almost all the time.

- Yeah.

- How do you do it?

- That's really a good question.

I think I really don't have any other option.

I go on the treadmill a lot too, just because I can work on pacing on the treadmill and I have great workouts I can do on the treadmill but as long as there's not really that much snow on the ground, or even if there's a little bit then if I can get outside I wanna go outside.

And it's kinda nice in a way when the winds blowing like this anyways, 'cause I can go out against the wind and then I can come back with the wind.

And then my sprints are so much faster on the second half and I feel great.

So I think just kind of looking on the positive side of everything is big for me especially in this weather.

- When you're outdoor training, are you listening to music?

Are you focused on something else?

How does that work?

- For the most part I like to not listen to music and just kind of focus, get through each repeat or whatever it might be or just kinda...

It's really a therapeutical I guess, just to run and kind of just take everything in around you.

But if I'm really bored or something like that, then yeah, I'll have some music going or something just to keep entertaining.

- So what's on your playlist?

- Probably a lot of explicit songs shouldn't be shared but-- - like hip hop, that kind of stuff?

- Yeah, like today's hits type stuff.

Yeah.

Okay alright.

- You came to them this year Sydney and you had an incredible meet less than a month ago in January in Virginia, you ran the second fastest two mile time ever ran.

It was the fastest ever ran and I'm talking in the whole country in a high school meet.

You have the nation's fastest time this year obviously in the mile and the two mile.

You have made incredible leaps in the last couple of years.

What has made you get better do you think?

- I can really only narrow it down to like consistency I guess.

I really just have been training and kind of just continue to do the same things I've been doing with making small improvements everywhere that I can and continuing to enjoy it.

I think that's been really big for me.

There's a lot of runners that just get burnt out or they don't find enjoyment in it anymore, and then it does make it really hard to train.

But for me I genuinely love it so it's not difficult for me to just continue with my training and each and every day it's just something I like to do.

- So, just wanna tell our viewers, you are the reigning 3A cross country state champion.

You're a four timer.

Okay, so you ran a 16:59.

The 4A winning time was 18:38.

The second place in your class was 19:34.

So you are so far ahead of your competition.

How do you stay motivated in a race when you are winning by these incredible distances?

- It's tough mentally for sure but I'm always wanting to beat my time from last year or whatever it might be.

So like it's difficult but I think there were still people there cheering me on and there was still motivation for me to run faster than I had the year before.

And so I think that's really all I can do is just compare myself to last year and work off of that.

- You Like hills or flat courses generally.

- Kind of depends.

I like hilly courses just because they're tough and it's cross-country and that's it's like that but if I'm going for a fast time then flat is definitely nice - Yeah, yeah.

Do you train with the boys to get a little more push sometimes.

- In cross country, well track too we all just train together.

So yeah, I always have a group of guys pushing me for the most part.

So, it's been great for me to have them.

- How many miles do you put on your shoes in a year?

Sydney, do you know?

- I have no idea.

I probably do... - Give me an... How many miles do you run a week?

Do you know?

- Usually in the 50s.

It kind of fluctuates depending on where I'm at in the season or what meet I have coming up, but yeah, I'd probably say 50s.. - How do you know when it's time to get a new pair?

I've had a few shoes where like the seam starts ripping like on the bottom and I'm like, Oh I should probably get a new pair.

Or if I'm running outside a lot then the bottoms just have like no grip anymore and so then I get a new pair.

- So are you superstitious, you hear baseball players like, "That's my bat and now I broke it, oh no, no [Indistinct] and I don't want that one."

Are you superstitious when you're out?

- I'm superstitious about a few things like that.

Not my shoes though, if my shoes wear out, they wear out and I get new ones and it's not a big deal but-- - Okay now, you got to tell me what you are superstitious about?

- Oh lets see-- That race day routine here [Indistinct] - I have race day like I guess the night before I wear these pajamas that I wear every time before I race, I have... What else?

I have a granola bar in my spike bag that's been there for probably like two years.

And it's my lucky granola bars so I keep it in there.

I usually do like oatmeal or peanut butter and jelly before I race.

So I feel like I have to have that.

And I usually do like braids in my hair and I feel like I have to, it's like fast braid.

So those are probably... Yeah, those are a few of them.

- Let's talk about nutrition for a bit.

Is that something that's a big deal and a big point of focus for you?

- Yeah, definitely.

I think there's a lot of runners especially females that deal with an eating disorder at this level and it's kind of tough because you're always kind of, you always expect that like the skinnier you are the faster you're gonna be and I think that's the mindset that a lot of women have but in the end, you kind of have to feel your body and everybody's different.

Some people eat more than others and that's just the way it is.

And so for me, it's just making sure that I'm eating and I'm not comparing myself to others.

I'm not restricting or not just eating junk or anything like that.

So it is a pretty big thing for me but thankfully I haven't really struggled too much.

I like to eat so it's not too big of a deal for me.

- You know how important it is training and pre-race but everyone wants to know what you eat after the wins.

What's your go-to meal when you don't have to worry about anything?

We always have a cheat day after I race so that usually just consists of chocolate.

I love chocolate, ice cream, fries.

Really any junk food you can imagine.

I think it's good to have that balance.

So yeah, I'll definitely treat myself after a good race.

- And now you race out of state often.

- Yeah, quite often.

- How do you decide what meets are ones that you really wanna go to?

- It's nice when race directors kind of reach out and they say, "this is what we're doing for our meet and we'd love to see you there."

Sometimes some sponsors will help pay a little bit just like the flyer whatever it might be and so I think that helps but also I'm friends with most of my competition actually that's nationally ranked so I can kind of talk to them and be like so which races are you looking at?

Which ones do you wanna go to?

There's been a few group chats where they just talk about where they're going and so then we can all kind of meet up.

And I know if I get together with those girls we're gonna be running some fast times so.

- So when you're competing in these national races, it is more competitive for you and then your mindset must must change and you must start to think about strategy.

Is that true?

And then, how have you come to define what a Sydney race is, and what you wanna do in a highly competitive meet?

Yeah, it's been nice that I've been able to compete at the national level a few times just kind of each time I kind of get new insight about what I should have done or what I could do better.

And definitely at these national races, there's faster starts, there's faster finishes.

It's really... Everyone kind of has a strategy going out there and so for me, just kinda depending on the field or the start line even if it's like narrow or bigger or whatever.

If I need to have a fast start or if there's a long straightaway and I can just kind of work my way through it.

So it all just kinda depends on the course and everything like that.

And then for me, especially in longer races, on the track like the two mile, I like to throw in a few surges just to kind of keep everything instead of just kinda like shutting down and running the same pace for so many laps.

It's kinda nice to have a few surges or something like that.

- The thing that's so interesting when I watch you run, the races that you've ran is you have to deal with traffic a lot.

Yeah you do.

- I mean, here you come and you're lapping good runners a couple of times in a race and you're having to navigate through that.

- Is that hard?

- Yeah.

In some cases, yes.

In Virginia during the two mile, we were kind of lapping some, some girls and it's difficult because they still wanna go for a PR, so they're hugging the inside, but you're like in first so you're like, I should have the inside but so no, it's tough too because sometimes they'll try and scoot over but the girl in front of them won't so you get tucked in there.

So you just kinda have to you also have to like pay attention to that during that part of the race, but sometimes it's easier than others.

- Is the mind part of the race a cool thing for you or do you just go out and run?

- I just like to go out and run.

That's what's most enjoyable for me and I've found that I do my best when my having fun with the race.

- So when did the college recruiter start to call you Sydney?

- I think they were allowed to contact me at the beginning of junior year and it seemed like I was getting a letter from the office like every day and it was crazy there for a while.

And then I just kind of started narrowing it down and talking more seriously with the coaches I was interested in.

- How'd you narrow down, what was important to you?

- I think it was really important for me to have a team that I could, that I wasn't gonna be the best going into it, I didn't wanna be the fastest on the team right away 'cause I wanted to kind of be able to run with these girls and compete with them.

And I wanted a coach who valued me as a person as well, not just as a runner.

I didn't want him or her to think of me as just another person that he could help him win or whatever it might be.

And so I think choosing Arkansas, I found just that.

- Now their coach Lance Harter, he's been there 31 seasons.

What did you feel from him when he first visited with you?

- I have actually never met him in person.

- Okay.

So-- - Zoom chats maybe.

- Yeah, we've done a few of those and phone calls and everything like that.

And he is so nice to me.

He seems like a great coach but also just kind of almost like a father figure.

Like I feel like he'll defend me, he'll help me be the best that I can be and he helped me feel so welcome in Arkansas.

When we visited, he sent stuff to our hotel room to look through just stuff about Arkansas that interesting trails or just the history behind it and I thought that was really thoughtful of him.

And he just seemed so excited to talk to me and just kind of helped me through the recruiting process.

And he was always telling me that it shouldn't be stressful and that if I don't choose Arkansas or whatever he's not gonna be mad at me or whatever.

And so I just felt like he was a great guy and really wanted me as a person as well as runner.

- Is a program that won indoor, outdoor and Cross Country National Championships in 2019, SEC champions last year.

This is the best program in the country.

What do they have there that did, have you looked at their training facilities to you understand what their practices are like?

What their facilities are all about?

I imagine in the SEC there probably... Austin is an understatment.

- Yeah, for sure.

When I took my unofficial visit, I was able to meet up with Taylor [Indistinct] which I raced with her and I went to a camp with her, so I kind of knew her.

And so she showed me around and the facilities are just crazy awesome.

Like they have anything and everything you can imagine.

- I think you running in place I think our viewers may not know, there is no indoor track in the County, much less your town.

Right.

Right.

Yeah, and so it was really cool for me to just just look at some of that stuff.

Their track is, they could host the Olympics if they wanted to at that track.

And they're building a new weight room and they want their athletes to have the best.

And I thought that was really cool.

It really put a lot of effort and just ideas into every facility they have.

- You're a pretty good student.

Go ahead and tell us your GPA - 4.0 GPA.

- Congratulations.

- Thank you.

- What do you wanna study in college?

- I wanna go into the medical field so I'll probably study biology and kind of see where that takes me and what I'm interested in when I get to that point - When I'm not running, I like to-- - I... That's tough.

I like to hang out with my family.

They're pretty cool.

Sometimes we'll watch movies or we got into fishing this summer so that was fun.

We go fishing and it's always a lot of fun to hang out with my family.

- We wanna bring your parents into the conversation Sydney, if that's okay.

- All right.

- So we're gonna ask our viewers to stay with us for just a moment.

And as we continue on this special Wyoming Chronicle, we're now joined by Sidney's parents, Wendy and Chris thorn.

Welcome to you both.

[parents] Thank you.

- Really enjoyed visiting with Sydney and you got to watch the first part of that interview.

And I'm curious when did you know that you know what, she's pretty decent runner.

When did that first strike you do, do you remember?

I think it started when we did some fun runs, just five K's around town and I was pretty competitive.

So I'd run the 10 K distances and then Chris would run with Sydney in the 5k races and the first one Chris and Sydney ran together and then she kind of kicked at the end and beat him by a little bit.

And then the second one, he said, "you know Sydney, if I'm holding you back, you know the route now go ahead and finish the race.

And she took off.

- She's obviously had great success and there came a point that you probably with Sydney decided we need to have different competition for her or we'd like to have her have the opportunity to run in either regional or national meets.

What were your thinking and the level of support that you must then have to as a family decide to give to this?

Yeah, how did that come about?

It was probably in high school in her freshman year we realized that she was doing pretty well.

And I think just word of mouth we heard about the Nike Nationals, Nike regional events and Boise wasn't too far of a drive so we felt we needed to start there.

And that would probably been her biggest competition up until then.

- It was surprising to me to learn.

And we've talked about this off camera a little bit that Sydney doesn't have this grand coach on the computer screen that she talks to every day.

You've helped her and when you've helped her maybe the most through all of this.

How have you decided when boy you're overdoing it Sydney.

or no, you've got to maybe push a little more or is it all Sydney who's coming up with these choices?

I'm not an expert by any means.

You know I can look on the internet as easy as everyone else so I can try to help a little bit but mostly it just comes from Sydney.

I can tell when she starts getting tired, maybe not performing as well or for her splits don't look right, I can always give her advice but I can't guarantee she'd accept my advice.

And it's to the point now where she definitely is more knowledgeable than I am.

- So you have to make the decision on what races you wanna be at your best at don't you.

In other words, it seems to be most runners can't have a PR every week you have to taper a little bit and train.

- Yeah.

If it's a smaller race and I just wanna work on strategy or I just wanna go out and race just as a workout, then I just say I'm training through and I'll just train like I usually do and treat that day as a workout day or whatever it might be.

Or if I even did a workout the day before then I'll just do a bunch of easy mileage and then race that race or whatever it might be.

And then compared to like bigger meets then I'll take a few days or if it's like nationals, I'll take the whole week ahead and just kind of taper it off and make sure my body's ready for that.

- You both have experienced now the college recruiting process with your daughter.

Sydney told us that kind of started her junior year.

What were you guys thinking as parents to maybe kind of help her through this?

The guidance and just wanted her to be, to just really focus on what she wanted.

And so we just supported her.

I didn't wanna make the decision for her so we just did everything we could to get her where she could make the decision that she did and the right decision for her.

That was best.

So anyway we could support, that's what we did.

- She's chosen a school that is not across town.

It's quite a distance away.

How do you feel about that?

Arkansas is it's quite a journey from here.

- It is.

- We had the mindset that really wherever she went was gonna be a plane ride.

And so I'm flying out of Rawlins, Wyoming is difficult and we do have to drive a ways just to get to a big airport but it was gonna be that way wherever she went.

- It's track that I think many of our viewers might understand is not just a seasonal sport anymore.

You have the indoor season, you have the outdoor season.

You have the cross country season.

As parents, does it concern you that here we go, she'll be expected to run year-round, she'll have meets as early as September and as late as may or June, and then she's gonna have to go be a college student while all this is going on and you know what she wants to do maybe something in the medical field.

Are you worried about that?

Are you excited for her?

- I'm excited.

- Yeah.

- I think Arkansas had all the resources she needs to help her with her studies and to adjust to the college atmosphere.

I'm excited.

I think it's something she can definitely succeed at.

- Certainly.

- Once you start running you're in college Sydney, will you still do then additional meets in the summertime, do college athletes then continue to compete at national meets that are outside of the college scope?

- I guess I'm not really sure.

I bet coach Harter has a plan in mind for those athletes and it'll be kind of nice to have him tell me what I should and shouldn't do 'cause I really have no idea if I should race or if I should just kinda just do summer mileage and it'll be nice to have that kind of guidance and coaching.

- Your recruiting class has an international flavor.

Have you met the girls that are part of your recruiting class either via zoom or otherwise?

- I'm familiar with the girls that have committed to Arkansas.

We talk sometimes and they're all really nice.

I ran against them and they seem really great.

And it'll kind of nice because I think we'll be roommates and everything.

And there's like four girls to a dorm room in Arkansas, so it'll be nice to hang out with them.

I think it'll be a great group of girls.

- Well, we wish you the best of luck.

It'll be so much fun for us to follow your career.

- Thank you.

- And again Winnie and Chris, congratulations.

- Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for visiting with us online with Chronicle.

- Absolutely.

(upbeat music) - [Instructor] This program was funded in part by a grant from Newman's Own Foundation, working to nourish the common good by donating all profits from Newman's own food and beverage products to charitable organizations that seek to make the world a better place.

More information is available at newmansownfoundation.org.

Funding for this program is made possible in part by the Wyoming humanities Council, "helping Wyoming take a closer look at life through the humanities."

Thinkwhy.org and by the members of the Wyoming PBS Foundation.

Thank you for your support.