Jan. 6, 2015
By David Dawson
Kristen Findley’s cross-country odyssey has taken another amazing twist: She’s gone from walk-on to world-class.
Findley, who graduated from Vanderbilt in 2013 after running for the Commodores’ track and cross country teams, recently earned a roster spot for the Team USA squad that will compete in the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country event in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Findley was one of seven women who qualified for Team USA in the senior women’s division. She put herself in position to potentially earn a roster spot by finishing among the Top-10 at the Club Cross Country National Championship in the little town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Several days after that race, she found that she had officially been selected.
“I didn’t know for a whole week (whether I was on the roster); I was waiting for an email,” said Findley. “I thought for sure that I hadn’t made it in because I thought we were going to hear back on Monday, and this was Saturday and I still hadn’t heard anything. Of course I didn’t sleep for like that entire week, just hitting refresh on my email button. … (But one day, after a) really long bike ride, I came in and checked my email and I had an email that said, ‘Congratulations, you have been selected to represent team USA at the Scotland meet.’ I was in the middle of a bike shop and let out a little celebration cheer and got a few strange looks. I immediately called my parents. They were very excited.”
Findley, who was a biomedical engineering major at Vanderbilt, now works in that field in Austin, Texas. But in her “free” time — if you can actually call it that — she’s been vigorously training with the Rogue Athletic Club that is coached by Steve Sisson, the former University of Texas coach.
For Findley, being named to the USA roster was just the latest achievement in a career that has been marked with a continual string of amazing accomplishments. She joined the Vanderbilt cross country as a walk-on in 2009 but went on to became a decorated and record-breaking performer for the Commodores in cross country and track. She played a key role in helping the XC team capture its’ first-ever SEC Championship in 2011 and earn the program’s first berth in the NCAA Championships.
Now, she is set to take her career to an international level.
“I can tell you that it was never on my radar in college that I would ever be wearing a USA jersey,” said Findley. “It is like a dream come true. … It makes you realize that you need to start setting higher goals, which is a good problem to have.”
Unlike many SEC athletes, Findley didn’t have much fanfare when she arrived at Vanderbilt. Instead, she essentially came in unannounced — and then let her results do all the talking for the next four years.
“I still remember the meeting I had with Kristen and her mother when they visited Vanderbilt during her senior year in high school,” said Vanderbilt coach Steve Keith. “Her times were not that fast from high school (5:00 in the 1600 and 11:16 in the 3200) but I told them that if she was admitted on her own, then we would like to have her as a walk-on. In her four years at Vanderbilt she basically dropped 30 seconds off of her best Mile down to just over 4:30. That’s quite the walk-on.”
Since leaving Nashville, Findley has maintained a rigorous training program, which ultimately helped put her in position to make the USA Team.
“I know she will wear the USA singlet with pride and I know she will run with heart and passion,” said Vanderbilt assistant cross country coach Rhonda Riley. “She is a team player and will rise to the challenge. We couldn’t be more proud of what she has accomplished at Vanderbilt and beyond.”
Findley’s most recent achievement is all the more impressive by the fact that she is also maintaining a full-time job in the demanding field of biomedical engineering. After spending several months working as a contracted employee as an engineering technical, she was recently hired as a RMB (revolutionizing metallic biomaterials) by ArthroCare, which has since been acquired by Smith and Nephew.
“Moving to Austin so that she could combine her work within the Bio Tech industry and run post-collegiately for Rogue Athletics was a great decision,” said Keith. “I know that Kristen didn’t want to just run. Rather, she really wanted to further herself professionally and use her BME degree. She’s been a great example for the team that if you have the desire, training and competing after college can be workable and worthwhile. She is quite driven in both her work and running but she does it with such a love of life and that is one of her more endearing qualities.”
Riley, who had a first-hand seat for Findley’s rise during her career at Vanderbilt, said she is not surprised that “K-Fin” has continued to improve at the next level. Riley, in fact, said she believes Findley’s best work is still ahead of her.
“Kristen is really just now discovering her potential on the running scene,” said Riley. “She sets goals and once they are achieved she extends those goals. Since I have known Kristen she has wanted to make a championship team and we are very proud of her for making that dream a reality.”
Findley said her time at Vanderbilt was “completely essential” in terms of preparing her for the next level, saying that the encouragement she received from the VU coaches propelled her to heights she never even dreamed of reaching.
“Both Coach Keith and Coach Riley have always been so supportive,” said Findley. “I remember Coach Riley telling me that she thought I was capable of things I completely did not think I was capable of my freshman and sophomore year. I just learned that you can never put any kind of limitation on yourself, because you don’t ever know what you can do.”
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During a recent interview with vucommodores.com, Findley discussed the challenges of juggling her full-time engineering position with her running career, among other topics. Here are a few exerts from the interview:
How did you end up in Austin, Texas after Vanderbilt?
FINDLEY: During my senior year, I sat down with my parents and I kind of planted the seed that I wanted to continue running after college. They were definitely encouraging me to do something in my field of study in addition to running. … So, I was trying to find a place where I could do both biomedical engineering of some sort and somewhere where there would be a good running group and training environment. I was looking at Minnesota, the Bay Area, and the Boston area mostly. … (Eventually), kind of as a last resort, I looked to Austin. A lot of people had told me that I would love Austin, but when I graduated from Vanderbilt I couldn’t wait to get back out west. So going to Texas was not really on my radar. But when I came and visited, (I realized) it was so meant to be. I applied to a few different jobs and I got an interview at this medical device company. So I came and visited the team and went to the interview and I just loved the coach and all of the girls on the team, and the medical device company seemed pretty cool. I basically went back home, packed up my stuff, and moved out here (in late Septmeber of 2013).
Tell us a little bit about your job — and about the challenges of maintaining your training routine and a full-time job?
FINDLEY: I started off as a contracted employee, and I was working as an engineering technician. And then in February I got hired on as an RMB, which I thought was really exciting. I was finally getting to do real engineering work and be creative and design things. I really liked it. I think that made it easier because I looked forward to coming to work. … My bosses have all been very understanding of me coming in after practice in the morning, so I come into work a little bit later and I would stay a little later. About a month ago, I asked my boss if I could move down to 35 hours so that I could commit a little more to training. In the winter it gets dark so early and my mileage is getting higher, so I was having to spend more time running and start a little earlier. So it made more sense to go down to 35 hours, and they were accommodating to that.
Bottom line, it sounds like you’re doing what you love — when you are at work and when you aren’t at work.
FINDLEY: Exactly. I usually just go to practice in the morning, and then I’ll come in around 9:30 and then stay at work until 5:30ish. Sometimes then I’ll do a second run, or go to the gym, or go do yoga, or go to a concert. I am in Austin after all, there is great music everywhere you look.
Have you ever been to Scotland?
FINDLEY: I have been to a lot of countries, but not Scotland. So, I am really excited. I am also really excited that my parents are going to be able to make it out there. They live in Saudi Arabia, so they weren’t able to come to a lot of my races at Vanderbilt. But it’s really great that they are going to be able to come to this race.
How do you feel like what you did at Vanderbilt and the coaches there, how did that really prepare you for this level? And how key was that to your career?
FINDLEY: It was completely essential. I think at first when I started at Vanderbilt, I was just excited to be running at a D1 school. I was a walk on and I was just happy they were letting me run. And then I kind of had a break through season my junior year. I had stayed after exams one summer to keep training for one of the post-season races. And I was like “Oh Coach, it is so great to be doing this and not having to do homework right afterwards” and he was like, “Run a little bit faster, and you can do this for a lot longer.” That was the first time that it got in my head that it was a real possibility. So the next year I did run a little bit faster, and here I am! Both Coach Keith and Coach Riley have always been so supportive. I remember Coach Riley telling me that she thought I was capable of things I completely did not think I was capable of my freshman and sophomore year. I just learned that you can never put any kind of limitation on yourself, because you don’t ever know what you can do. It’s been fun.
