Later Dudes



Flashback to the fall of 2011; it had the potential to be a memorable year for New Trier cross country. The girls were running incredibly well (went on to win 3A state and tie for 3rd at Nike National) but the boys were creating memories for themselves as well. Starting early in the season, a long and lanky blond haired kid was starting to show that he had logged a lot of miles over the summer. Leland Later emerged for his senior season as an absolute powerhouse. He went on to win the 3A state championship in a time of 14:17 and then claim victory in the 1,600 that spring at Charleston at the state track meet.

Leland Later is a sophomore runner at the University of California-Berkeley.  With high school sectionals this weekend and state November 9th, let’s hear what the boys 2011 state champ is up to these days. 

Leland, when did you realize you could be a good runner?

I knew I wanted to continue with long distance as a main pursuit in my life after the conference meet my freshman year. Coach Wisner opted to bring me on to train with the varsity guys into their post-season, even though I thought my season had ended. Linking up with those guys early really made it easy to train all winter in preparation for indoor track.

Do you remember when you were able to run the mile in sub 6 minutes? How about sub 5?

My first sub six mile was in 8th grade, when I ran a questionably-measured 5:46 during gym class the very last running day of the year. There were a handful of other kids who had run faster that day, as my graduating class was about 550 kids at Wilmette Junior High.

My first sub 5 was right in the middle of the indoor season my freshman year. After several attempts, and my teammate Eric Underwood knocking at the door himself at about 5:04, I raced a 4:56 at a Saturday morning invite hosted by Evanston Township. It was in a frosh-soph race, and having my older teammate Danny Noren in the race really helped a lot.

You had a very good junior year but exploded as a senior. What did you do that summer? What goals did you set?

Going into my senior year, a lot of my closest friends, and girlfriend, were heading off to school. That summer I made the most of them being around, but because I was the only remaining member of my close friend group, I had to exert a lot of mental focus personally. I didn’t have the same group to ride bikes to practice with, get breakfast with after long runs, and in turn they didn’t have the same training obligations.

I made better friends with many guys my age, but I think once the season started and my other teammates had graduated, I was especially primed to concentrate on cross country. The summer wasn’t much more intense than in the past (about 60-65 miles a week), but my workouts had improved steadily after 3 years with Coach Wisner, and my pace on mileage runs was quicker. I benefitted much from faster long runs with Michael Schmidt (NT ’08, Middlebury College ’12) and Noah Graboys (NT ’10, Bates College ’14).

Wisner and I had talked a lot about the coming year after the state track meet my junior year, specifically on the bus ride back to Winnetka. He really set his expectations high, and I didn’t want to disappoint him.

How much interaction do you still have with your New Trier coach, Dave Wisner?

I am in very close contact with Coach Wiz. This semester has been particularly academically challenging, so I’ve had a little less contact than I would like. I also don’t travel home much because of the distance, but when I was home last winter I met several times with Coach.

Which of your New Trier teammates do you keep in touch with? And are they running in college?

All of my best high school friends were involved with the team at New Trier. I’m still very close with many of the guys two years and a year older than myself, but many of my best friends are no longer running. Tommy King runs for Illinois and is doing really well. It’s great to keep in contact and follow his season as it progresses, and get in some runs when we’re both back home. Isa Qasim runs for Yale, and I know he is managing the tough academic climate and running really well. He really has a strong passion for the sport.

Do you think Craig Virgin’s IL (13:50 for 3 miles set in 1972) record will ever go down?

With the trends in high school running in the past few seasons, I am pretty confident that the time will be bested in the next decade.

How has your running experience been at Cal so far?

The team at Cal is definitely a lot more track oriented, so it is fun to be a member of a larger group with jumpers, sprinters, and field guys who are all working hard. I see those guys daily, and it’s great to have a large group of men and women, that I can identify with. My workout group is smaller (3-4 guys), but I can rely on everyone a lot because we’re all here to run, so the collective focus is awesome.

How do you like the Bay area? Would you like to stay there upon graduation?

The Bay Area is incredible. The culture is really unique to the region; a lot of people back home, and as a whole, generalize California as a monolith, but The Bay has a lot of peculiarities. I’ve really enjoyed meeting people from Southern California and traveling around the state.

It would be a great place to live post-graduation, but I want to keep my options open and consider living elsewhere in the country.

Have you chosen a major?

I am planning to major in philosophy, with the intent of eventually attending law school. I am also attempting to obtain a minor in computer science, which has proved very challenging thus far.

What did you do over the summer?

I went back home after finals for a few weeks and worked as a caddy at a country club while I let a nagging heel issue rest up. Once I started running again, I took a training trip to Flagstaff, AZ with some teammates and some runners from the Syracuse team. It was a great experience; I definitely think that Flag is one of the best training locations in the country, if not world.

After a few more weeks back home, I came back to Berkeley before an annual 3 week team training camp just outside of Lake Tahoe. That was some of the most relaxing, best training I’ve ever gotten in. I had no external stressors—simply hanging out with my teammates and running.

What is your best high school running memory?

Surprisingly, I think the greatest I’ve ever felt after a race—the purest sense of achievement—was finding out that our team had gotten 2nd place to Neuqua Valley at the Peoria Woodruff Invitational my sophomore year. I don’t know why exactly, but I just remember sprinting across the field at Detweiller back to our camp to tell Wisner. We were all ecstatic.

What advice do you have for the young runners with high aspirations?

I would say to consider the trajectory of your whole career when thinking about running. I know a lot of guys; both at this level and from freshman year in high school, who would over train and get injured, and come back just as hard a few days later. I would say one thing that I’ve especially learned in college is to take your recovery days as real recovery, because once you’re at the collegiate level the hard days really take a while to come back from.

What has been your worst running injury?

I’ve been fortunate to stay out of major injury, but the insertional Achilles tendonitis I’ve been having all season has probably been my most prolonged and serious injury, even though I’ve been able to train through it. I’m lucky that’s the worst injury I’ve had to contend with.

Favorite pig-out food?

I love hot dogs. There are a couple really quality spots within a mile or two of my house. I really miss those out here.

Best movie you have seen in the past year?

I saw the film Gravity the other week with my friend. That’s the one I’ve seen most recently, but it’s a really quality flick.

Any predictions for the state meet?

I know New Trier hasn’t performed to their preseason ranking yet, but Coach Wisner really knows how to peak guys for the last race. I’m excited to see how they do at state. On the individual side, I know Patrick Perrier will be at rival Stanford next year, so it’s tough to say this, but I believe he’s got the best shot at the title. He’s been in contention since his sophomore year, and has been having a great season thus far, but anything can happen on race day.

 

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