Ohio cross country assistant coach Mitch Bentley set many records in his days running for the Bobcats and is finishing up his second year as a coach for cross country and track and field. The four-year letter-earner recently talked with The Post's Nick Miller about the upcoming season, the quirks about distance runners and his days at OU.
Post: How's next year's squad shaping up?
Mitch Bentley: We are returning nine of the top 11 runners last year, so we have the potential to be a improved team, but unfortunately in the MAC, no one realizes that men's cross country is probably the toughest MAC sport. The last four years the MAC has had three teams ranked in the top 30 every year. It is tough at the top, even though we have a solid team returning, we still have our work cut out for us.
Post: How do you feel about cross country, the sport and the runners, not getting enough recognition?
Bentley: That is how it always has been and always will be, as a minor sport the only people involved with it really know what is going on. The only time it bothers me is when there are individual athletes not getting the respect they deserve. As a coach it doesn't bother me, we get used to it. That is the ante that comes with distance running.
Post: Are there certain attitudes or characteristics runners have that you have noticed?
Bentley: They are usually introverted and quiet; they are almost always great students in the classroom. A lot of times, 4.0 students make real good distance runners because they have a real strict mental discipline and a tremendous work ethic.
Post: When you were a student at Ohio, where did you live?
Bentley: James Hall my freshman year and Sargent Hall the year after. I remember those days really well. It is funny to hear some of the runners that live in those dorms tells stories, it seems as nothing has changed in 25 years.
Post: What is the best advice you have received and the best you have gave?
Bentley: The best came from my old coach Elmore Banton who had the simple philosophy that if you work hard, good things will happen. It is very simple but true. As far as what I have given, it is to listen to your body and not over train. That is one of the hardest skills to require in distance training. Some people have a lot of trouble listening to their bodies and they will push themselves to hard but they break down and never know when to say when.
Post: What is your favorite album and favorite movie?
Bentley: Favorite album would be Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. And with the movie I guess I'd have to go with Chariots of Fire, a running movie that came out in 1981 when I was a freshman in college and won the Academy Award. I hated that movie when it came out because I thought it was just a movie about sprinters, but as I got older I realized it told a story about why individuals run and what is going on in their minds and what gives them inspiration.
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