93 – INDIVIDUAL TRACK AND XC STATE CHAMPIONS
30 - High SCHOOL ALL AMERICAN HONORS***
10 – NCAA DIVISON 1 ALL AMERICANS
16 - PERFOMANCES AT FOOTLOCKER FINALS***
5 – WORLD Jr. XC QUALIFERS***
4 - HIGH SCHOOL NATIONAL RECORDS***
7 – INDIVIDUAL TRACK & XC NATIONAL CHAMPIONS***
1 - Jr. American Record***
1 - Age Group American Record***
1 - INDIVIDUAL NORDIC SKIING NATIONAL CHAMPION***
13 - INDIVIDUAL RUNNER-UP NATIONAL CHAMPIONS***
2 – NATIONAL RHODE SCHOLARS***
1996 – 2009 All this in just 13 years

*** = Incredible Statistic


This was Printed in the 'Washington Post', while Coach Sanderson was the head Cross Country Coach at the University of Maryland

'Coach Psycho'


By Ryan Mink

Senior staff Writer

When Terrapin cross country coach Trent Sanderson instructed several national champions in Colorado a few years ago they called him "Coach Psycho." It wasn't the first and probably will not be the last time he hears that. To say Sanderson, in his second year with the Terps, is passionate about his job would be a gross understatement. And whether they like it or not, his runners are the beneficiaries of his ways. "His life is completely centered on our sport," sophomore Allison Carney said. "I know sometimes he can't sleep at night when he gets excited about a workout we are going to do the next day. He always has examples and statistics lined up for any questions we might have. I think he has all of running history memorized." Sanderson knows he's possessed. He said he's never met anyone with a work ethic as demanding as his, and if he could find a runner with more talent than he had and give them a work ethic anywhere close to his, they would be something incredibly special. "You know those contests where people put their hand on the car and whoever takes it off last wins the car? I never understood them. If I ever had the opportunity to do that there is no way I would lose," Sanderson said. "I would stand there forever. I would starve. What athletes don't realize is that when you are there in pain, the guy right next to you is feeling the same thing. And if you can hold out just a little longer than them, you'll win." Sanderson knew he would battle through pain when he joined the Terps. In the final two seasons under Sanderson's predecessor, Dan Rincon, the men's team finished last in the ACC championships both years and the women's team finished last one year and eighth the other. There is still much work to be done, but the teams have made steps in the right direction. Last season the women's team took seventh in the ACC and the men were eighth. This season the women won their first two meets and the men finished first and second. The improvement is due in large part to an increased training regimen. Two-a-day practices throughout the season, sprints up a 350-meter hill every Monday and rare days off have attracted some players to his system and driven others away. Sanderson said he knows it's intense, but he figures if he can make running a lifestyle rather than simply a sport, his runners' bodies will adapt to the tough regimen. Carney, the team leader, didn't even know if she would stay with the program last season. "Last year, I definitely thought he was insane," Carney said. "I would seriously call my mom like every night and say 'This guy is killing us.' It was so different from anything I had in high school. But now I understand that last year he was just training us for this year. And now the same things aren't nearly as hard." While Carney stayed with Sanderson and his demanding style, others left the team all together. Sanderson said runners did not quit because they were mad at what he was doing; they quit because it was too hard. He can live with that because it means athletes who want to work harder and accomplish their goals will want to run for him. The runners who stick around don't think he's crazy. They look at the workload as something they have to accept. Sanderson didn't improve the team by overly exhausting his athletes. Any coach can force his athletes to run more. The trick is getting them to believe in the program and themselves. Sanderson's philosophy is simple: Do not run in accordance to reality but to your perception of reality. In other words, Sanderson forces his runners to expand their limits by simply thinking they can. "The key to my program is that I never give them doubt. I constantly keep saying, 'This will work. This will work," Sanderson said. "Nobody ever thinks that they can do it. É They can come up with 1,000 reasons why they can't, but you as a coach have to stay sturdy and tell them that they can." Senior Kim Smith was a mediocre runner before Sanderson came to the program. Last season, her first with Sanderson, she lowered her times by nearly two minutes. Now she is one of the top runners on the team. "Coach Sanderson pretty much changed my entire attitude," Smith said. "He has been a major reason why I've come as far as I have. He brought in people with good chemistry and people who want to be successful. And he makes us all want to be so much better. So when everybody has that positive outlook, it's hard not to want to win." While improving times and the teams' results are important to him, Sanderson said he is more focused on making his athletes better people. Many times the runners that intensely oppose his strategy appreciate it the most a couple years later. When Sanderson left Florida State to join the Terps, many of his former runners were very excited at first, but now they run up to him and hug him at meets. He talks to his runners constantly, about anything they want from running to life in general. "That's the benefit of being a coach. We don't do it for the money," Sanderson said. "I feel like when they leave here at Maryland, they'll look back at their experiences and there will be a lot of great ones. And I'm playing a pivotal role and that makes me feel very good. É It's exciting because I think they tell me things that they don't tell anyone else." Incoming freshmen fell in love with Sanderson's attention to mental aspects of running instead of only physical training. His recruiting efforts notch more talented high school runners with each incoming class. Sanderson feels he can build a legacy overnight by making athletes believe in the program's potential. This past year, the Terps welcomed in big-time high school runners Meghan Braffet, Justine Kovacs, Patrick Bailey and Peter Hess. Braffet and Hess had better high school times than many of the current Terps. "I liked coach Sanderson a lot, and I just felt like the program was on the rise," Braffet said. "I knew coach wants to build the program and feels that he's got a group that can get him up there. And I do too. Seeing how much the team improved in just two years, I knew he was looking to go places." Sanderson doesn't have a problem following his own advice. While reality says moving up seven spots in the ACC is near impossible, Sanderson perceives his teams accomplishing it within two years. He just focuses on winning, even if that means being labeled "Coach Psycho." "I ask my runners why they run and they say that they like the wind though their hair, the exercise and the health, and I'm just shaking my head," Sanderson said. "I said you run because you like to be great at something. We like to walk in a room and have people recognize us and talk about us. We like to win. We like to be better than people. You don't like to admit that but it's true." "The Washington Post"

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