Men's cross country's Colangelo finds inspiration from strange places

Junior Tristan Colangelo of the men's cross country team is among a handful of truly elite athletes at Princeton University in both his approach to training and realistic athletic ambitions.

A high school All-American who qualified for the Footlocker Cross Country nationals with a second place finish in the northeast region his senior year and later that year won the prestigious Milrose mile, Colangelo was one of the most sought-after recruits of the class of 2000.

In selecting Princeton over numerous running powerhouses, Colangelo cited the competency and affability of Coach Mike Brady, and the balance of high-level academics and athletics.

This Olympic aspirant's start into running, however, was anything but auspicious. The following comments are his thoughts on running and his life — both at Princeton and beyond the gates.

"I started running in elementary school when my mother would pick me up from school and then go to pick my sister up at middle school. We always had to wait for her to get done with cross country practice, so one day I just decided to run with the group instead of waiting. I was always pretty hyperactive as a kid," Colangelo said.

Colangelo credits his sister for getting him interested in running in his impressionable elementary school days. His running career blossomed throughout high school, helped by a strong boys' program.

Colangelo was recruited by many schools in his senior year, but Princeton's complete package proved too good to turn down.

"I chose Princeton over some other schools because I felt like this would be the best place for me to enhance my academic and athletic side," Colangelo said. "I thought Coach Brady was the best coach I was being recruited by, not just as a coach, but as an overall person. That was a major factor in my decision."

While Colangelo brought a lot of potential to Princeton when he enrolled in the fall of 2000, much of his first two seasons were hampered by injuries. This unhappy trend continued this season, as Colangelo began the season with a small IT band injury. Due to the injury, Colangelo had to sit out the first meet and run the JV race at the Paul Short Invitational, where his high finish proved that he was ready to rejoin the varsity team.

Finally healthy, Colangelo has set his sights on improving his individual times.

"I had hoped to earn All-American status before now, but I haven't, so that is a big goal for this year," Colangelo said. "I really want to put forth a good effort at consistently running well enough to become a major player nationally."

In order to do this, Colangelo adheres to a strict training regimen that has him running between 75 and 100 miles a week, including a 15 mile run and two interval workouts.

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Although most national class runners log miles in both the morning and afternoon, with the morning typically being a lighter run, Colangelo opts for morning runs of the one a.m. variety.

"I usually go out at night for a second run," Colangelo said. "I really like to go out at night, rather than miss sleep and get up really early to go for a run. Most other guys think that is really weird, but it is refreshing to run around a deserted campus at midnight."

But running is not the only thing that Colangelo does on this campus. He is a psychology major who is also getting his teacher's certificate through the Teacher Prep Program, and looks forward to one day teaching elementary school.

"I love to interact with kids and teach them new things," Colangelo said. "It is one of the best feelings to see a kid aspiring to do something as well as I just showed him how to. But it can also be humbling when they can do that same thing much better than I."

Although Colangelo plans on being a teacher eventually, he is unsure as to the direction his life will take immediately after graduation.

"I would love to extend my running past college. My dream would be to go to the Olympics, but that is just so hard to do. Right now my goal is to qualify for the Olympic trials in two years and then we'll see how well I am doing and if I can get a contract or anything like that," Colangelo said.

But before he moves on to whatever the real world may hold for him, Colangelo is focusing on his college running and how far the Tigers can go this season.

"The team has looked amazing the past couple of weekends. I really think we are starting something now that will change how the nation thinks about our program," Colangelo said. "Austin Smith has emerged as our No. 1 all season thus far, and with the performances of everyone behind him it will be extremely hard just to make varsity. We have some great freshmen this year, it will all come down to how well we race individually to see who will be there in the end."