Last weekend, the men's cross country squad finished fifth out of 33 teams competing at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship meet in Buffalo, N.Y. Dan Lowry '12, who has been consistently leading the team this season, finished third in the region. He will be moving on to the NCAA National Championship meet Monday, Nov. 21 in Terra Haute, Ind. For racing his way to the top of the region, The Herald has named Lowry Athlete of the Week.
The Herald: How did you get started in cross country?
Lowry: I ran track in middle school, did pretty well in the mile, and so I thought I would give cross country a try once I moved into high school, and I did well as a freshman. So then I just became a full-year runner, running cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. My coach didn't really give me much of a choice.
What has been your favorite moment in running cross country?
I think this last race, actually. It was a great team moment. It was our best finish at regionals since I've been on the team, and, for me personally, it was the best race I've ever had.
What has been one of the biggest challenges you have had in your career as a runner?
After being injured freshman year, I wasn't sure I was going to stay on the team. So actually, this time sophomore year, I was actually planning on quitting the team, just because when I came back from injury, I was not running very well. I was afraid to really invest myself in training because I didn't want to get hurt again. Once I wasn't training my hardest, I wasn't racing well and when I wasn't racing well, I wasn't enjoying the sport, and so it wasn't an easy time. But once I got over that, I'm really glad I stuck with it.
What is your fondest memory with the cross country team?
I guess going back to this past race. … It was a day where people didn't have their perfect race, but … they really stuck with it and we had a good team performance as a result. It hasn't always been like that — before our newest coach (Tim) Springfield, it used to be, if you were having a bad day, you just bombed. Once you were out of the race, you just jogged it right in, but it wasn't like that. And I think it showed how far we have come as a team since he's been here.
How has running cross country impacted your life?
I guess running cross country has opened a lot of doors for me. It got me into Brown, which has been a great experience. It has taught me a lot about sticking through things when times get tough and it's just been a great competitive outlet for me. I'm not the type of person that can just run for the sake of running. I run to compete. When I go for a run, it's training. So, I think I just needed something competitive in my life. I'm really glad I have it.
Why did you pick Brown?
Brown was really the only school I wanted to go to. I really just loved the Open Curriculum. When I was here on my visit, the team was just very eccentric. … I showed up to the track house and they had German travelers staying in the open room they usually give to recruits, and there was a gerbil on the loose. I pretty much knew that I was going to meet some pretty interesting people if I came here.
What is your concentration? How did you pick it?
My concentration is geo-bio. I originally came in here as environmental science and thought I was going to do marine biology for a while, but eventually I really fell in love with the geology department. They have the best classes, the greatest advisors and I think I didn't initially really know what geology was coming into Brown, but once I had some background I was like, ‘Wow, this is really cool.'
What other activities are you involved with outside of cross country?
I work in Jessica Whiteside's lab. She does a lot of bio-geo-chemistry stuff surrounding mass extinction events. I'm doing my thesis on the End-Triassic extinction.
What's your favorite thing about Providence?
Not the weather. I guess there are a lot of cool places to run around here. You have to find them, and luckily being on the team, traditions have been passed down in terms of running routes. So we know where to go. There is a lot to explore, a lot of cool bike paths and trails and random neighborhoods.
