By Joe Miegoc
Record Sports Writer
April 10, 2011
Negus Graham's road to success hasn't been easy.
Graham started his college career at Cheyney University running the 400 meters after strictly running the 800 at East Stroudsburg South. His best 400 times were 49.17 outdoors and 49.9 indoors, which has to feel like an eternity ago.
Since transferring to East Stroudsburg University in 2009, Graham has run as fast at 46.64 outdoors and 47.37 indoors and has earned All-American status three times in the 400 — twice at the indoor championships and at last year's outdoor meet — while holding eight school records (four individual events and fourfive relay teams). He was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Indoor Track Athlete of the Year after taking first in the 200, 400 and as a part of the 4x400 relay at the PSAC Championships in February.
Pocono Record: How did you cut your times?
Negus Graham: Really I owe it all to (ESU assistant) Coach (Chris) Merli, and between him and (ESU head) Coach (Joe) Koch. We fine tuned some things and they believed a lot more in me than I believed in myself.
PR: What did they do?
NG: The main thing they had me working on was to control myself. Staying relaxed throughout the workouts. Before my whole thing was to go hard until I puked. Once I got here they kind of broke me down until I was a baby. I had to learn the sport again, learn how to run again. I came here with some raw talent and they fine tuned a lot of things. We just started from scratch.
PR: How much of a role did the mental aspect of your training impact what they were working on with you?
NG: There was definitely the mental aspect where you're out there by yourself in a field of many. You've got to have the mental capacity to withstand the pressure of the race and the anticipation of everything. Going back to scratch really helped my mental state. I became stronger, believed in my ability and in myself. They taught me that once you get to that breaking point don't give up, but instead just push yourself and you'll be surprised at what you find.
PR: What were some of the hurdles early on?
NG: Injuries definitely. Coming here from Cheyney we had an indoor facility here so I was never used to training at an indoor facility. I was used to training outside. Coming here I faced a lot of injuries my first year with my legs to the point where I missed a couple meets. Coach Merli sat me down and talked to me and said, 'you're either going to try this or you're going to keep facing these injuries.' I had to have a faith and trust in them that nothing bad was going to happen. I went out there and put it all on the line and my times starting dropping.
PR: What kind of injuries did you have?
NG: Some hip flexors and quad injuries.
PR: What caused them?
NG: Because you're on an indoor facility for so long, it takes a toll on your body. I'm not used to turning that much on the tight turns. My legs weren't used to it. Between the intensity of the workouts and the different aspect of the school my body just wasn't use to it and had to get adjusted.
PR: Was it your idea to drop to the 400 or something the Cheyney coaches wanted to try?
NG: They introduced me to it. They thought I might like running the 400 better. I thought, 'You know what? Why not? Let's give it a try.'
PR: It seems like you were pretty open to the idea.
NG: Yeah I was open to it, the drop from the 800 to 400. I went from running cross country in high school and cross country in college to running the 400. That's a big drop. At times it was kind of confusing. Is that it? 400? That's it?
PR: How big of a change was it?
NG: Mentally it was definitely a relief to not have to worry about two laps. As soon as you hit that one lap aspect you're thinking, 'I'm strong enough from my 800 training to run the 400, but how do I run it?' That was where my biggest problem was. When I was at Cheyney I didn't know how to run the 400. I just went out and ran the lap or two laps indoor and that was it. It wasn't until I got here where they kind of broke down the race and I started to understand each part of the race and how the race worked.
PR: Was there a time when you hit a time or had a good workout when you believed in yourself like the ESU coaches believed in you?
NG: It was the complete opposite. There was a time when I said, 'I'm done with my old ways and I'm going to listen to you guys,' but Coach Merli and I had an argument at practice. I was coming with that mentality that you have to run hard all the time and you have to compete even at practice, but I was getting constantly yelled at by Coach Merli, asking me why I was running that way. One day, I pulled him aside and said this is how I work out, but he said to just trust in him and trust in the program and that everything would work out. I think it was in November (in 2009) and I said, 'OK, I'm going to give it a shot. I have nothing to lose.'
PR: He tried to convince you to not giving every ounce of effort every time you ran?
NG: Exactly. He was trying to tell me that there are no clocks or stopwatches at practice. You just have to run the workouts the way they're designed. It was more focused on running form and techniques and hitting the right times. Through the years the times will get faster and you will have the opportunities to get even faster, but you first have to build a base and without a base you have nowhere to go.
PR: Now you're a three-time All-American and were just named the PSAC Indoor Track Athlete of the Year. In the end what those guys taught you really paid off.
NG: Yes, but not only them but my teammates played a huge part in that, too. If it wasn't for them there's no way I could do this. My teammates definitely play a huge role in all my success.
PR: When people think about track they probably think it's an individual sport. But you're out there training together and pushing each other so your teammates have to play a role.
NG: The biggest role. I wouldn't be on the podium the times that I have if it wasn't for them. People think, you're out there all by yourself and it's all about you, but when you're at practice and you're running and you have those guys saying, 'Come on, we're almost done.' It goes to the point here you depend on everyone at practice. I'm only as good as the next person in my workout. If I'm training by myself I don't really know where I'm at. You need people there to push you when you get to that breaking point of, 'I'm tired, I'm done, I can't work anymore,' but your teammates say, 'get up, we're almost done, this is the last one,' and that gives you that last little bit of motivation that you need to finish the workout.
PR: What's left for you as you finish up your last outdoor season at ESU?
NG: We never go into a season setting any expectations at all. We just go out and hope to stay healthy, and make it through the season. We don't go in with time goals or what place I want get. We just take it one meet at a time, one day at a time at practice and work what we have to work on. If you follow that pattern of focusing on one day at a time, one meet at a time, one week at a time you'll notice that everything will fall into place. If you sit there thinking about the bigger picture all the time you're missing out on a lot of things.
