Iona's Heidi Gregson, an Australian distance-running prodigy from an early age, finished up her sophomore year making to the NCAA Championships indoor and outdoor, running four minutes, 40.08 seconds for the full mile and 4:19.14 in the 1,500-meter distance. With summer in front of her and a big cross country season in her sights, the Sydney native is looking to mix things up in the NCAA.

Is talking about NCAAs a tough subject? I know you were looking to make the final.

Yeah, I was disappointed with that. You know. I thought tactically I didn't run very smart. I thought I was a little timid going into it with girls with such big names. I'm over it now. I know what NOT to do now really.

What's next? Are you racing at all this summer?

No, I'm actually on my break at the moment. Just three weeks of doing nothing. Over the summer, I'm just going home and I'll slowly get up to about 40 miles per week and just take it easy really.

When you say “nothing” is it actually nothing or maybe a couple of miles here and there?

Nope! Nothing! It's really nothing and I'm struggling with this. I want to do a bit of running. Gavin and Ricardo both said not to do anything but relax and take time off. I'm trying to enjoy that.

Is it really tempting?

I'm really tempted to do something, but they're like, “you'll be running for the entire cross country season.” I'm going to be trying to do a little bit more mileage. I need to enjoy it the best I can because it's going to be a long time before I get time off again.

What's the goal going into cross country?

Really, the main goal is just to remain injury-free. I've spoken with the coaches and they said, “you don't need to do anything fantastic.” I think I can do well at regionals and maybe make nationals individually, but that's not really the main goal. I just need to get everything done and stay consistent and not get injured. That's the main thing.

You had a pretty nasty injury in the past, can you explain that?

When I was younger I went to The Snow with the family, which is about six hours from Sydney. I ended up breaking my left femur while I was skiing. It was a pretty serious break and I spent six weeks in the hospital and had to get two steel rods put into my leg to hold the bone in place so it could heal. I then spent six months on crutches until the rods were taken out and about a year doing rehab and hydrotherapy. Since then I've had eight stress fractures, seven on the left side and have been told that this is because the bone healed a little differently than the right. Right now is the longest I've been injury-free since 2005 though, so I'm really just thankful that I have been able to run for nearly nine months without any troubles.

And running aside, what are your plans for this summer?

I'm in Cincinnati at the moment.

Does this have something to do with a Big 10 1,500-meter runner?

Yes, I'm actually at his house right now. He's running right now and him being brought up will just make his day. I make fun of him all the time for his Flotrack videos.

Rock, paper, scissors, Jeff See always throws rock. The secret is out.

Oh, yeah. I've watched that one.

After this you go back to Australia?

I got to Columbus on Tuesday and I go back to Columbus tonight and I leave on Tuesday. It's a long trip home. I go from here to New York to LA to Sydney. It's going to be about 30 hours all together.

How are you going to pass the time on a trip like that?

I can't really sleep, so by the time I get off, I don't really know where I am.

Are you from right in Sydney or is it something you say for convenience?

I'm from Sydney. I'm not from the city, though. Just a half-hour outside of the city.

What brought you to New York City?

I really didn't consider coming to the States at all for school. I did a year in Sydney at university. I think it was October, I got an email from Gavin and started looking at Iona. I don't wasn't doing much with running. I was injured all the time and really wasn't training much. I wanted to get back into it. He contacted me in October and I was here in January. It was a quick decision and it felt like the right thing to do.

How does it compare: Sydney to New York City?

It's a lot different. Obviously the beach is a big thing in Sydney. If you're in the center of Sydney, you're only 10 minutes from the beach. New York is a bit more—it's impressive in that if you want to see anything in New York, you can. It's a little different. I love New York. It definitely feels like a second home and I've only been here for a year and a half. I'm enjoying it a lot, but it's always good to go back home. I'm looking forward to it.

Do you only make it back home once a year?

When I first got here, I didn't go home for 11 months. I got here in January 2009 and didn't go back until December. I'm pretty much going to go home every break now.

When do you come back from cross country? Is there a pre-season camp or anything like that?

Yeah, we've got one in August for about four days. I'm not sure where we're going yet and I'm not sure it's been decided.

How do you sell the women's program to recruits?

I think especially this semester, even in cross country, everyone is really behind each other. We really train as a team. We're really close with the boy's team too. We're not separate with that. Everyone still trains together. New Rochelle has really good trails as well and the team atmosphere. Everyone is behind everyone. The boys and girls team is always really supporting each other. We always know what everyone is doing.

I've had to pleasure of interviewing Mo Khadroui a few years ago and Ryan Sheridan last year and they both mentioned how the Iona team is an awesome mixture of people from different places and different backgrounds.

A big portion of the team is international. There's a few Americans, but we've got many countries. Two Australians, two Germans, Danish—I think we're going to have four English and I'm not sure that's a good thing (laughs).

Do you recruit Australian runners to Iona personally?

Yeah, I've spoken to a few girls. I feel like it's hard to get them because there's not a whole lot over here. Obviously the ones like (David) McNeill—who's running fantastic. Ryan Foster is running well. I always feel like it's a little bit hard...not like it's not encouraged to come over here, but I don't think it's spoken about really.

Do they want to keep you in Australia to keep their athletic programs strong?

Obviously the track and field here is intense and the competition is amazing. Yeah, I feel like they kind of want to keep the athletes there because there's not as much depth at all. I think I'm ranked seventh in the nation with my time this year. I think there's a lot a bit of wanting people to stay there in part. I've been trying to speak to a few girls and I think Gavin's spoken to a couple of them. We'll see.

Speaking of international competition, 2012 is getting closer and closer. Is that something you're focusing on?

I have goals for next year. I want to be All-American for indoor and outdoor. This year was a big step for me in the right direction with two PBs. One in the 15 and one in the 800. Before then, I haven't run those times since I was 15. It's been five and half years since I've been that quick. Even with outdoors pretty disappointing finish, the season as a whole was really encouraging. Hopefully if I can stay injury-free, I can begin to look at those international races and those sorts of things. If everything goes well, then those things will be in my sights.

What kind of time does it take? What's the number one Australian 1,500-meter runner running?

This season it's Zoe Buckman.

Oh, yeah! From Oregon.

She ran a 4:12. She may have been second. Another one of the girls may have been 4:11. It was around there for the mark.

4:19. How do you think you can chop those seconds off?

I think I'm in better shape than 4:19 this season. I really didn't get the right race to do that. Obviously at nationals, it's not always going to be perfect. I feel like I always run the best when I'm consistent and each lap is even. For me, that's how I like to race best, but you're not always going to get what you want. That race went out really slow and everyone bolted with 600 meters to go and I didn't enjoy it at all. I feel like that will come with experience for me anyway. I really haven't had this type of racing. I went to the World Youth Championships in 2005, other than that, I haven't really had that really big race experience. I'm happy with how the season went and I'm just going to learn that stuff with experience and move forward.

What about the 800?

I love the 800! I'm always asking Gavin, “do you think I'll ever be an 800-meter runner?” And he's like, “no, it's not going to happen.” (Laughs) I love the 800 and I definitely have to work on that. If I get my time down, I'd really like to get a 2:05 in this time next year—which I think is very doable. I'm going to do a couple of 800s next year. We've spoken about indoor and outdoor next year a bit and have a general plan. I'll be doing some 800s.

What's it like to have Santos as a head coach?

I really think he's great. We've gotten along really well. The first year I was here, it took a little for us to work out a balance of what would work for me specifically, but the coaching staff as a whole is really, really good at looking at the athletes as individuals and seeing what works best for each. At the moment, I only run 40-45 miles, which is one of the lowest on the entire team. We have a really good relationship and it's worked out well. He's a great guy.

How often do you get asked if you're related to Ryan Gregson?

(Laughs) Well, a really long time ago, like five or six years ago, I was running really well for my age and everyone was asking Ryan if he was related to me. Now, it's whether I'm related to him. I've spoken to Ryan about this before and I told him, “I'm just giving you the limelight for a little while. Don't get too comfortable.” I do get asked a lot. Definitely. Sometimes I change my answer and say, “no, I don't know who that is.”

Ryan who?

Ryan who? Ryan what? (Laughs)

If you could have one meal, prepared by anyone, what would you have and who would make it?

A meal? Well, I've got a really big sweet tooth. I guess that's not really a meal, though. I really just eat candy all day. My biggest fault is that I've always got to have it. If I had to say a meal...

...I want to hear more about this candy problem.

I've really got a problem. The man at the Deli-mart in New Rochelle. He told me that I'm the only one that he gives a discount because I give him the most business. Like three or four times a day. Apple Mentos is my favorites. All of the flavors actually. Favorite meal, though? I'm sorry. I changed that question.

No! Not a problem at all. You must be brushing your teeth about five times a day?

If I'm not, I should be!

Can you give me a crazy running-related story?

I've always loved dogs growing up. Back when I was about 16, I was just going for a general run. I was running and this girl was walking a German Shepard. I was just running by and didn't take notice. It bit me and attacked me. It wasn't funny at the time and now it seems really funny. Everyone probably heard me on the entire street because I was screaming. It attacked me and I was crying and making a big deal. She just left me there, like nothing happened. I hobbled home with this big bite mark on my leg. I got it stitched up or whatever. Now it's a lovely canine tooth scar on my leg. It's still there. Ever since then I've been terrified of dogs. I'm getting better again. Even if I'm going for a run and there's a tiny chihuahua or whatever walking down the street, I always go to the other side.

Do you think it was going after the Snickers bar that you probably had in your pocket?

(Laughs) It could have been. It definitely could have been!

About the Running Warehouse:

My KWIK-Es are sponsored by runningwarehouse.com, located on the California coast in the small community of San Luis Obispo. The folks over there include one of the owners, Joe Rubio, a two hour, 18-minute marathoner and current head coach of the Asics Aggie RC. Jonathan Spiros oversees footwear buying and served many years as assistant coach at College Park High School helping Lindsay Allen. Erik Dube is in charge of accessories and helps with footwear buying. Erik has finished the Western States 100-Mile Race several times and was assistant coach at San Ramon Valley High School helping Scott Bauhs through high school. Erik’s wife, Tera, is in charge of customer service and is an ultra marathoner and former track star at Campolindo High School, where her brother Chuck Woolridge is currently head coach. The entire online and phone customer service representative staff at the Running Warehouse, including the staff listed above, have spent considerable time working the retail floor. This, along with the coaching and personal athletic experience, enables the company to have a unique perspective of understanding the needs of every level of runner from beginner to All-American. Check them out when you get a chance!