OTTUMWA —
Before she agreed to be the Ottumwa girls cross country coach, Angela Berry established quite a pedigree for herself while running for Central College in Pella.
One only has to browse through the women’s cross country and track and field records at Central, which are available on the school’s website; to see what a remarkable career Berry had while running for the Dutch.
The Bulldog coach ran the outdoor 5,000 meters in 17:16.65 in 2007 — the time remains the all-time school record.
In addition, Berry has the Dutch’s second fastest outdoor 5,000-meter time; finishing the race in 18:04.32 in 2007.
Another feather in Berry’s cap occurred at the National Championship cross country meet her freshman year. Coming in 37th — two spots away from being an All-American — Berry was the first freshman in the nation to finish the race.
“It definitely made all the hard work worth it,” she said.
One of Berry’s best cross country races ever, however, happened at a Regional meet. She finished the race in 22:23; the second fastest time in the school’s history.
Berry also has Central’s fifth best outdoor track and field 10,000-meter time ever, 37:46.38. Additionally, Berry boasts the school’s sixth best indoor mile time, 5:18.42; and her indoor track and field 3,000-meter time of 10:40.04 is the eighth best in school history.
Unlike most runners, Berry said she prefers hilly races to races on flat ground. This is why she enjoyed cross country races more than track and field races.
“It’s mentally challenging in track because you had no variation,” Berry said.
But since every cross country race differed in terrain and style, times also changed accordingly, she said.
Berry said she improved her times by having a strategy before the race.
“I paced myself a lot better because I didn’t take off so fast,” she said.
Berry said she based her season goals on how her physical and mental state progressed throughout the season. She won her team’s most valuable player award in three out of her four years at Central. Additionally, Berry qualified for the National Championship Cross Country meet in 2006, 2007 and 2009.
After graduating from Central, Berry continued to expand her portfolio of running accomplishments. In April 2011, she competed in her first Boston Marathon where she finished 170th out of 11,500 girls with a time of three hours, six minutes and 30 seconds. She qualified for the marathon with a time of three hours and 20 minutes at a race in Des Moines in Oct. 2010.
Now Berry will try use her past successes as a tool to help guide the Bulldog cross country team to a successful season.
Sports
August 1, 2012
Berry brings past running success to coaching job
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