Catching Up With Georgia Cross Country's Ian Burrell

Ian Burrell, who was the only member of the Georgia men's cross country team to advance to the 2005 NCAA Championships, has clocked the fourth-fastest 8K in the Southeastern Conference this season (23:40 at the Auburn Invitational on Sept. 30). The Colorado Springs, Colo., native recently topped his teammates at the NCAA Pre-Nationals Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind., by crossing the finish line in 22nd place overall (24:06.9) against some of the nation's top runners and helped give his team 25th place.

Burrell is gunning to lead his team at the SEC Championships in Baton Rouge on Saturday, Oct. 28, and then return to the NCAA meet in Terre Haute on Nov. 20. Here's what Burrell had to say when georgiadogs.com caught up with him:

On his finish at the Pre-Nationals meet:
"It was not a great race for me, but I have had worse. I went out harder than I usually do and died at the end of the race."

On what his expectations are for the Georgia men at the SEC Championships:
"I think this team is going to have its best race of the season so far. We are ready to put an average Pre-Nationals meet behind us and make up some ground on teams like Florida, Alabama and Tennessee."

On what impact Matt Goodale, a 6-foot-2 transfer from High Point University, has had on this year's team:
"Matt has been huge for us this year. He is an experienced runner that we can count on to always have a solid race. He is definitely a big reason that we have a shot of going to nationals at the end of this season."

On how he believes the Bulldogs, who were ranked sixth in the South Region in the Oct. 17 poll, will fare when the NCAA South Regionals arrive in Knoxville, Tenn., on Nov. 11:
"We will be disappointed to get anything less than fourth. We have a shot at getting third or second and going to (the NCAA Championships), but we will have to have two or three guys come through with break-out performances while everyone else runs to their full potential. We are set up well to do this because (Dave) Hartman's training is geared to have people running their fastest at the end of the season. Every other team isn't going to get much better. Whether or not we can close the gap on those teams will decide whether we go to nationals or not."

On his plans after graduation from UGA:
"I just recently decided to try to get into law school and I will go wherever the best opportunity is. I would like to keep training, but the seriousness of my training will depend on the rest of my career in college."

University of Georgia Athletics

Catching Up With Georgia Cross Country's Ian Burrell

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