David Krummenacker & Marina Muncan

Krummenacker, the 2003 World Indoor champion in the 800, will run the 800 in this weekend's World Indoor Championships in Moscow, while Muncan, from Serbia, will compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships for Villanova

March 7, 2006

David Krummenacker

David Krummenacker, the 2003 World Indoor champion in the 800, will run the 800 in this weekend's World Indoor Championships in Moscow. Krummenacker, 30, was second to Khadevis Robinson in the 800 at the recent USA Indoor Championships in Boston in 1:47.25. He had earlier won the 1000 at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games in 2:21.37. He holds the American indoor 1000-meter record of 2:18.19, set in 2002. He was the outdoor USA 800-meter champion in 2001, 2002, and 2003. The 6'2"? Krummenacker, a former basketball player, lives in Tucson and is coached by Gianni Ghidini. He attended Georgia Tech, where he won the 800/1500 at the outdoor Atlantic Coast Conference Championships three times and added two indoor NCAA 800 championships. He won New Mexico state titles in the 800 and 1600-meter runs and in cross country while in high school. Krummenacker has personal bests of 1:43.92 for 800 and 3:31.91 for 1500 meters.

Runner's World Daily: In your last couple of races against Khadevis Robinson, he got out ahead, you stayed close to him, but he retained the lead. What are your thoughts about Khadevis as an opponent and do you think that in head-to-head competitions with him, you might have to rethink some of your tactics?

David Krummenacker: First of all, I think Khadevis is a great competitor. We've been racing against each other since–I don't know, it seems like forever now, at least since '97 or '98. We've traded back and forth. He beat me some times and I beat him sometimes. I think at this level in track and field, that's inevitable, that when you get some of the top guys out there competing against each other, there are going to be some times when one guy wins and other days when the other guy wins. But he's been running really well the last couple of years, and I think that's great, because here in America we needed a boost in middle distance running. He's really been a strong presence for us the last few years, and that's helped us a lot.

As far as race tactics go, as far as this indoor season goes, I'm pretty much just training through. I haven't really done much focusing for indoors, so anything that happens is just kind of a bonus. Race tacticwise, I just want to get myself in good position for all my competitions this year and really be able to have a good strong finish at the end. "KR"? and I have been top two at U.S. Indoors and at Millrose. He's just had a little bit stronger kick those last 100 meters or so. Who knows? Maybe outdoors, I'll get some and he'll get some. We'll see how it goes.

RWD: What are your expectations for World Indoors in Moscow, then? You say you're training straight through. You were the gold medalist there in 2003.

DK: As far as this year is concerned, I don't really have much expectation for myself. The most important thing is just to go there and compete to the best of my ability and see where the cards fall. In 2003, I really focused a lot on indoors and I was fortunate enough to win the World Indoor title, but it really took a toll on my outdoor season because I had trained so hard and done a lot of speed and stuff indoors. And as we all know, the main show in track and field is outdoors. This year, I just really want to have a very strong outdoor campaign, and that means cutting back on really doing much hard stuff in the indoor season.

RWD: This year, for Americans, there's no major international championship outdoors except the World Cup. But surely, one of the things you most want to do is get in a bunch of Grand Prix meets and run some fast times there, right?

DK: Definitely. Like everybody always says, on the off year, when there's no major championship, it's all about times, so a lot of people are going to be really looking to run some fast times this year. I have some really big expectations for myself as far as the 800 and the 1500 both are concerned, so I'm excited for outdoors to come around.

RWD: You ran a 3:31.93 in 2002 but you haven't really run many 1500s lately, have you?
DK: Right. I've been sort of focusing on the 800 in the last couple of years. But from this outdoor season and going forward, I'll be doing a lot more 1500s and that's going to be my staple race, probably for 2007 and 2008.

RWD: Is the move to the 1500 partly because you feel you're maturing and getting to be stronger?

DK: I've always liked the 1500 but I've always been sort of concerned about being able to truly run both events (the 800 and 1500) very well. I feel you can always train for the fifteen and run a pretty decent 800. It's hard to train for the 800 and run a very good fifteen. You can do an occasional good fifteen here or there, but consistently, you need a lot more endurance work.

RWD: Is Berhanu Alemu of Ethiopia still your major training partner?

DK: No, he's actually gone back to Ethiopia. I've been doing a lot of workouts on my own. I have a guy from Burundi who trains in Arizona who does road races and he helps me on some of my longer runs.

RWD: Is Luiz de Oliviera still your coach?
DK: Actually, I've been working with an Italian coach lately, Gianni Ghidini, who works with Wilfred Bungei and William Yiampoy (the Kenyans ranked #1 and #6 in the world in the 800 in 2005) and Daniel Komen Kipchirchir.

RWD: Is the coaching mostly be e-mail and phone?

DK: Yes, exactly.

RWD: Is Ghidini's approach much different from de Oliviera's?

DK: I've been doing a lot more endurance stuff, because he and I had a long discussion about running some 1500s and how eventually that's going to the direction I'm going in. So we did a lot more endurance work than I had done in the past and I think that's really helping me a lot, because I've run by third fastest 800 time (ever) this year indoors and I've been on the track very little and not had very much fine tuning. We do longer repeats and tempo runs, that kind of thing. We'll do 1000-meter repeats, sometimes 2000-meter repeats, or "stepdowns"?–2000, mile, 1200, like that.

RWD: In 2002 and 2003, people thought you were poised for some huge breakthroughs, and it hasn't quite happened. But you've maintained your enthusiasm for the sport. Did you just figure "well, it'll come sooner or later?"

DK: Yeah. I think track and field is one of these kind of sports where you can't always expect to be on top of the world year after year after year. There are some guys who can do it. They have phenomenal talent and, obviously, phenomenal coaching. They have everything going right for them. But it's just inevitable you're going to have some times when you're up and some times when you're down. I think the important thing for every athlete to remember is that you have to look really to the good times and enjoy those, and when you have times that aren't quite as great or you're not running up to your expectations, you really have to make the most of it and just say 'next year's another year,' and just get yourself fired up again and go out there.

Marina Muncan

Marina Muncan of Villanova University won the 1000-meter run and in 2:46.79 and the mile in 4:45.59 at the recent Big East Indoor Championships and also anchored the Wildcats to a third place 4x800 finish. She also has an automatic NCAA Indoor Championships qualifying time of 9:10.32 for the 3000, which she ran at Penn State in January. Muncan, who hails from Pancevo, Serbia, also won the 1000/mile double at the 2005 Big East Indoor Championships and was the 2005 Big East 1500-meter champ outdoors. She has run 4:11.23 for 1500 meters and 4:38.21 in the mile. At the outdoor NCAAs, she was fifth in the 1500 in 2003, third in 2004, and ninth in 2005. Muncan, who majors in Italian language and literature, was fourth in Big East Cross Country this fall and 23rd at NCAAs. The NCAA Indoor Championships begin March 10 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Muncan was ninth in the 1500 last summer at the Mediterranean Games in Almeria, Spain. She is coached by Gina Procaccio, who was a middle distance star during her Villanova undergraduate days.

Runner's World Daily: What events are you planning to do at the NCAA Indoor Championships?

Marina Muncan: I'm qualified in the mile and the 3000 and the DMR (the Distance Medley Relay, which she anchors). I'm not going to do all three. I'm not sure what I'll end up doing. I'll do the mile or the 3K and the DMR. If I do the DMR, then I'll do 3K. If I do the mile, I'll just do the mile. We ran an 11:05 at the Armory in New York to qualify in the DMR.

RWD: How much do you enjoy the relays?

MM: I enjoy it a lot, because it's not only about myself, it's about the other three people, and they can push me harder.

RWD: Do you think of the mile as your primary event?

MM: Yeah, I do. I enjoy it more than I do the 3K. I don't know, I just like it being shorter (laughs). I feel more confident when it's shorter than when it's longer.

RWD: Do you get to train with some of the great athletes who've graduated from Villanova but are still in the area, people like Carmen Douma-Hussar?

MM: No, I don't train with her, but it's just nice to have her around. Maybe I'll do a couple of workouts with her, but we kind of on a different schedule. She's preparing for herself. But it's just nice to have her around. She helps us with advice about how to approach racing.

RWD: How did you get started as a runner?

MM: I was in, I guess, middle school, in sixth grade. I was on a volleyball team, and we want to the stadium to run. The coach saw me and asked if I wanted to join the track team.

RWD: You were a volleyball player? How tall are you?

MM: (Laughs). I'm not tall at all. I'm 5'4" so I wasn't very good at all.

RWD: Were you a good runner right away?

MM: No, not really. I didn't do anything spectacular. Track and field back home is not popular at all.

RWD: But by your high school years, you must have gotten pretty good.

MM: Yeah, that's correct. I won national junior titles a couple of times, and even senior, because as I said, it (running) is not popular so it's kind of easier to stand out. Before I came to the United States, my best time (for 1500 meters) was 4:19.

RWD: When you were living in Serbia, the war most have come close to your home. Did that disrupt your athletic life very much?

MM: Not at all, because for me, running was like an escape from reality. With my running, I got to travel a lot, in Europe and even in a couple of countries in Asia, like Japan and Korea.

RWD: Were you pretty sure you wanted to come to an American university to run?

MM: Yeah, my coach suggested it, because at home, it's hard to continue running and go to university. I was looking at some other schools, but then a friend of mine came to Europe and said "look at this school" and then Gina e-mailed me and asked me if I wanted to come. I don't know; we don't really know about (American) schools in Europe. Everything seems equally good (Muncan did get a full athletic scholarship to Villanova).

RWD: Was your English pretty good when you first came to Villanova?

MM: No, not really. I had to learn fast when I came here. People were going ( ie, speaking) so much faster.

RWD: Well, apparently you're doing quite well, because you made the Philadelphia Inquirer? All-Academic cross country team.

MM: Yeah, that's right. My average is 3.41. Not that good, but.... I'm majoring in Italian language and literature. I like Dante. I'm a Russian minor, too. I like different cultures.

RWD: Does you Villanova team have an interesting spring break planned?

MM: Actually, our spring break will be in Arkansas. At that time of year, we're usually in some meets.

RWD: In the offseason, do you go back to Serbia?

MM: I did go back over the summer. During the winter, I stayed here and trained, because it's hard to go there for a couple of weeks and adjust to the time difference. I did a couple of races over the summer, but then I just rest and get ready for the coming cross country. I did run the Mediterranean Games and I finished ninth in the 1500.

RWD: Will you represent your country (officially, Serbia and Montenegro) in any championships this year?

MM: This year will be the European Championships, and I'll try and qualify in the 1500.

RWD: Do you expect to keep running competitively after college, and will you stay in the Villanova area?

MM: Yeah, I'd like to continue running after college because I still feel I can accomplish more and run faster. I'll probably stick around here. I've talked to Gina about it. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do next year.