You may catch our campus celebrity, Betsy, racing past you on the streets of Newark. With her impressive stats on the cross country and track teams, it’s no wonder she’s a Blue Hen athletic star. She took the time to slow down and talk to Her Campus about her accomplishments!
Her Campus: How long have you been on the team?
Betsy Erlanger: I’ve been on the team since freshman year (3rd year). I ran cross country, indoor and outdoor track freshman year and only cross country and outdoor track sophomore year (I had a stress fracture during indoor track last year).
HC: What has been your greatest accomplishment on the Delaware team?
BE: Contributing points and being on the winning team at the CAA championship for outdoor track freshman year.
HC: How is it different from track on a high school level?
BE: It’s definitely more intense going from high school running to D1 running. In high school, I only ran 20-25 miles a week and now im running 50 miles a week.
HC: How do you and the Delaware team rank?
BE: It depends on the season. Our outdoor track team won the CAA championship my freshman year.
HC: Have you won any awards or significant competitions?
BE: Freshman year I won the freshman MVP award for our team. I won my first home meet this season (Delaware invite).
HC:What’s your best time?
BE: For cross country, I run the 6k in 21 minutes and 37 seconds. In indooor track, I run the 1000 meters in 2:55. Outdoor track, I run the 1500 meters in 4:34, which is equivalent to running a mile in 4:56.
HC: How do you prepare for a meet? Any superstitions or rituals you do before a run?
BE: The night before home meets, we have a pasta dinner as a team. Right before I race, when im putting my spikes on, I eat 3 jelly beans.
HC: What is your guilty pleasure snack?
BE: I love Heath bars!
HC: What’s your advice to people interested in running on Delaware’s track team?
BE: Hard work pays off. We have a bunch of girls on the team who started on the club team and worked their way onto the varsity team.