🎙️Pending Ratification - Rocky Hansen

speaker-0: Welcome back to a brand new episode of pending ratification. I am your host, Keenan Gray. College Cross Country is back, folks. And the top athletes and teams have already begun their journeys on the road to Terre Haute, Indiana for the 2026 NCAA Division One Cross Country Championships that will take place in November. And one of those athletes looking forward to being in Cross Country Town, USA. Rocky Hansen of Wake Forest. Last year's NCAA runner-up in Columbia, Missouri, will look to see if he can get on top of the podium stand this fall and conclude his collegiate career as a national champion. Now, how did Rocky get to the position he is as one of the top runners in the NCAA? Well, that goes beyond what he's accomplished on the cross-country course and the track. So let's find out more about who Rocky Hansen is. in this episode of pending ratification.
speaker-1: On your boys.
speaker-0: You've been through the worst, like nothing can break it.
speaker-1: Just like keep having fun with it. And the record is no more. Have a world record ratified. World records.
speaker-0: Rocky Hansen joins us on this week's episode of pending ratification and someone that, you know, has been in the Wake Forest program for the last couple of years is senior season, man. I mean, it it flies by fast when you are going through this thing called life. ⁓ you know, has it really kind of sunk in that, you know, we are at the end of your collegiate career and you know, this is this is the ⁓ again, we talk about chapters and lives, but really kind of the beginning of of something new as we as we look ahead to your to your potential f pro career.
speaker-1: Yeah, no, it absolutely hasn't set in. I remember it it still feels like yesterday, my freshman year. I remember one practice in particular. Hayes pulled me aside because I was sick, so I didn't do a workout that day. He told me to rest up and I remember I still came to practice just to check in and I remember this was after I think it was after Nuttycombe and he was like, Well, congratulations, you're a quarter of the way through the regular season of your NCAA career in cross country. And I was like What? Like like I was like, ⁓ that's so so much time and now I'm here as a senior. It's it no, it hasn't set in for sure, but just gonna enjoy it while I have it. I mean we've always been told it's a blip in our lives. I've enjoyed every second of it, so I look forward to enjoying the remaining seconds I have.
speaker-0: Yeah. Ever since you set foot on campus at at Wake Forest, you have been an immediate impact. I mean, we saw it during your freshman year. You know, that was kind of the big talk of the town was, you know, Rocky Hansen, you know, this big jump from his senior year at the Christ school to to freshman year of high school or freshman in in in college. And now, you know, you're one of the guys that's favored to win an NCAA cross country title this fall after finishing second last year. You know, just looking ahead to this fall, you know, what what excites you the most? And I know not only is it from an individual standpoint, but the team Cumstandings, Wake Forest has big expectations that, you know, they're trying to meet because you guys didn't necessarily meet those expectations last fall.
speaker-1: Yeah, I'd say that's probably the b thing I'm most excited about is just the team. I think we have a really fun group this year. The energy practice has been really good. And last year I think that going into it, we had we set very high expectations for ourselves after a year in twenty twenty four where we really defied the odds and defied expectations in so many ways and we're ahead of schedules ahead of schedule by all accounts. And if you asked anybody who follows Incident Blade Cross Country, they were probably like, Yeah, Wake Forest is way ahead of where we thought they would be 'cause we got seventh that year is a really young team still. And so we just had some growing pains last year where I think we set our sights a little too high on the podium and then things went wrong during the year where we have some guys go down with injury and then all of a sudden when the podium starts to look unattainable, then you still have to just do the your best with what you've got. And we were pretty disappointed in ourselves with our result. And this year we're kind of bringing that as fuel to the fire for this year. And we've got a A revamped group. We only graduated two guys and we added some new guys to the roster, returned everyone else. So I'm pretty pumped about this group and I just can't wait to see what we can do.
speaker-0: We'll talk about a little bit more about the goals for the season towards the the tail end of the show. ⁓ but I want to start from the beginning. Hendersonville, North Carolina. That's where you're born and raised. You know, you're a North Carolina guy through and through. Just you know, how it how much pride do you take in being someone from North Carolina and the fact that you know you chose a school in North Carolina?
speaker-1: Well just a small caveat. I can't I can't pretend like I'm born and raised in North Carolina. I was born in Phoenix, Arizona. All right. Well seven years of my well, the first nine years of my life were not in North Carolina. Nine or ten years. Ten years. Something like that. Regardless. I was in two air Arizona for two years, then I was in Texas for eight, and then I was in North Carolina. So I can't be a pretender here, but yes, the majority of my life has been in North Carolina and I'm very prideful about it.
speaker-0: Yeah, so grew up in Arizona, lived the majority of your life in Texas. So, you know, what is that dynamic like, you know, barely having a little bit of an opportunity to experience Arizona, then you go to Texas and then from now on, North Carolina's been really your life.
speaker-1: Yeah, I mean it's it's I love North Carolina. I growing up in Texas, I loved it as a kid. I mean I had good friends and I liked our house where we lived and I mean, life was good. It was simple, right? As a kid you don't really pay attention to much else. You just as long as you're fed and you have friends and you can go play outside, I think you're pretty content, right? And also I have access to my video games, so I was fine as a kid. No worries there. But it was I mean I think I moved probably let's see. One, two, three, four f I guess four or five times throughout my childhood. But that was just because my dad was in the military and he was ⁓ he was working in the hospital there in San Antonio for a bit. So that's where we were like I guess the bulk of my childhood memories were. And then we moved on to Dallas and then subsequently to Hendersonville, North Carolina. But I mentioned this because as a kid, I mean There were things I just didn't pay attention to, right? Like I didn't really care about the weather. I didn't really care that it was super hot or anything like that. And one of the reasons that we moved away from Texas was because once my dad had done his time in the military, and my parents were like, Well, we want to move our family to somewhere that is that has four seasons because we're sick of living in the heat. My mom grew up in Arizona, so she was sick of the heat. And so she was ready to move somewhere more temperate. Move somewhere. with a milder climate. And my parents are also big hikers. We're a big outdoors family. So we wanted to go somewhere that was very that had a lot of outdoor recreation. So Hendersonville was the perfect spot for that because Pisgah National Forest is right nearby Brevard, North Carolina, which is a town nearby, is nicknamed the land of the waterfalls because there's sixty waterfalls within an hour's drive of the city, which is pretty cool. So it Kinda goes to show it gives credence to the outdoor, outdoorsy side of the area and of western North Carolina because you just have this beautiful backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the the Appalachian Mountains through that area. And I've loved it. I've loved it so much. It's been great for my life, but great for running too. But more so, more importantly, for my life, I've made some great friends and have some great connections there. And then As far as your original question, going to school or staying in state for going to school, I when I was looking at college, I originally didn't really consider location as a part of that decision. I was just I wanted to go to the school that I thought was the best fit for me academically and athletically. So I actually kind of set my sights when I was originally being recruited on places like, you know, your Colorados of the world, your Oregon's, your Stanfords. I wanted to go out west and to go run for those juggernaut historic programs. And then as I was being recruited by Wake, it just kinda became obvious that this was the place that was the right fit for me. And I visited campus and I loved it. Just had the gut feeling this is where I wanted to be. And now that I'm here, being two and a half hours away from home is great because I'm far enough away from my family that I can feel like I have my own life, but I'm also close enough that they can come visit me pretty frequently and then come to my races. It's been really great. And I also It it's just kinda cool to be especially awake. There's a lot of people from not in North Carolina that are athletes, like they recruit out of state a lot of the time or even internationally sometimes for all sports. And so it's kind of almost a pride point. It's like, yeah, I'm from North Carolina. It's like I don't know, it's kinda cool. Especially being from Western North Carolina, because most people that are from North Carolina say, ⁓ maybe maybe they're from Charlotte, maybe they're from the ⁓ triangle area Maybe they're from the triad. But ⁓ it's not super often that you hear someone from western North Carolina. So I kinda have it as a pride point, I guess. But it's it's been great. And it's always cool to feel the love, especially when I go to some sometimes I've gone to meets in the area, like high school meets where like my high school team is racing, so I go and see my high school coach and see some of those guys race and to just feel the love from North Carolina, North Carolinians and how it's ⁓ really just a unique running community because we're not really considered a juggernaut state for running. I would say the juggernaut states are your California, Texas, and like Colorado, Oregon. Like th those kind of states. Like North Carolina's not considered like one of those juggernaut states. So it's kind of cool to feel
speaker-0: I kinda wanna do start, you know, talking about the fact that you are a military kid. What was that like growing up? Especially, you know, having to you know not knowing that your dad could be moved somewhere else for a for a position in in his career. So I'm curious what that life was like as a military kid.
speaker-1: It w it definitely wasn't as extreme as other kids. So for clarification, my dad worked in so he was at I think it's Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio and he worked at the hospital there in the in the burn unit. So he he's an anesthesiologist and he worked with like the very serious burns. So the people who are getting your third degree burns and up, like these people are getting thrashed by fires, like very serious life threatening stuff. And they come to Force ⁓ Houston to the special burn unit center, and he was one of the doctors there. So the military actually didn't need to move him around much or deploy him because he was so critical to the burn unit actually running. So that's my small caveat that my experience was definitely different than some other military kids. Some other military kids I know like every two years they're bouncing around, or if their parents if their dad got deployed, or if their parents got deployed, then they didn't see them for a year or whatever, right? So My experience is definitely different, but I mean it I don't really remember the phase before San Antonio where we did have to move a little bit because like I said, the first two years of my life were in Phoenix, Arizona. Then we spent a year in El Paso, and then we were in San Antonio for seven years. I don't remember anything before San Antonio. So it's not like I was like, ⁓ we have to leave again. Like, no, I I don't remember that. Really the only moment I remember was just when my dad had done his time. in the military and then we moved to Dallas. I remember that being a moment because I loved San Antonio and I was like, wait, I have great friends here and I really like it here. Why are we leaving? So when we left to Dallas, I didn't really like that as a kid, but it's just par life, right? I mean a lot of people have had to do moves and we stayed in Dallas for eight months 'cause we just didn't really know what we wanted to do. And then we went to North Carolina and we haven't looked back since then but Yeah, I would say my experience as a military kid was definitely different than others, so I wanted to note that caveat.
speaker-0: So not knowing what life was like two years and in Phoenix, not even that one single year in El Paso, what was life like for you growing up in San Antonio? And you know, what was something that you would always do with your friends? What were what how did you spend your how spend your days?
speaker-1: Yeah, I mean, I was a big soccer kid growing up. I played a lot of soccer. That was my first sport, my first love. I played I don't know, like I think I nine is what they call it. I don't know if you've ever heard of that, but it's like a developmental sports league for kids and I played in that from I mean, young young age and then I played pretty much until fourth grade when we moved from San Antonio to Dallas because once we moved to Dallas it's just like You try and play for these clubs teams, but that's like it's like kind of expensive to play for them. So my parents were like, No, we're not doing that anymore. But that's besides the point. Second grade, my parents were like, Well, you need something to do outside of soccer because you're sitting around the house during the off season. So they threw me in a junior track club because I w played defense and they figured, ⁓ I mean, if he runs after the ball a lot because our team was solid, it wasn't amazing, but our team was pretty good. Or not sorry, our team was solid, not amazing, so the ball was on our side a lot of time, so I was doing a lot of running. So they're like, ⁓ yeah, like he can like he can do this running thing. Let's put him in let's put him in a track club, see if he likes it. And I did end up liking it. Funnily enough, you know the ⁓ Para twins, Marcelo and Franco Para? He they we were on the same San Antonio Club United team together. ⁓ wow. Yeah. So kind of a a small world moment. I could even send you the photo if you just want to see it, but there's a picture of us Like in our team photo and you can see the Para twins and then you can see me. And we didn't realize it 'cause I'm when I moved away, obviously we lost contact, but we didn't realize it until twenty twenty two that we were actually on the same team together and then we all had ended up going division one for running. So that was pretty cool that we started in the same space and then we ended up in the same N Skill A circuit together. So that was that. I was
speaker-0: Well now we know that the the the development starts in San Antonio. If you want to go Division One, you go to this club in San Antonio and they'll get you on the right path.
speaker-1: Yeah, San Antonio United. Go go show ⁓ some love, the travel team. So yeah, I w soccer was like my main sport. I didn't really do anything else outside of that. Once I got to North Carolina, I star I played basketball. That kind of became my next hobby and obsession. And it still is one of my great hobbies and obsessions, but ⁓ that's beyond San Antonio, so we're not talking about that right now. We'll probably get to that later.
speaker-0: For sure. So yeah, so as a kid then would you say because you know sports was kind of pretty much your entire life, would you just say you were just a very active kid?
speaker-1: Yeah, I was I was a very active kid. I I just I have so many memories of just like spending so much time outside just in our yard or if we had a basketball hoop, maybe I'd be playing basketball or maybe I'd be hanging out with my neighbors. I just remembered I I look back on it, I'm like, wow, like I was really outside a lot. I was doing a lot of stuff just out wi with the neighbors 'cause I we just had a neighborhood with a bunch of young kids, which was great 'cause I was able to make some good friends and we lived pff, I mean That was not even a half mile, not even a quarter mile from the elementary school I went to, so I walked to school every day as well. So it was easy to make friends and I was a pretty active kid, but I I did have my video games too, like I mentioned earlier. I would say that was definitely the other big part of my childhood was video games, whether first it was the Wii. I remember my mom relates this story to me pretty pretty frequently, like just as amusement but she was like, Yeah, I just remember you playing Wii Sports Boxing and I went upstairs to check on you and you were dripping in sweat with the menchucks and the Wii controller in your hand, just like going at it. Cause I I loved it. I I ate it up. But I eventually transitioned from the Wii to the Xbox because my dad got me into Halo and into all a bunch of other like those types of shooter games. So I was a big Halo kid. For a while on the Xbox and then I started playing other games like Castle Crashers and Skylanders became a fix as well. So I was a big gamer growing up as well. So kind of my childhood was just gaming and sports.
speaker-0: Wow, that is I mean y you think about it, you know, when they invented the Wii, obviously, you know, kids are like, ⁓ this is the coolest thing but little did we know they were like, No, this is a way for you guys to exercise while also playing video games at the same exact time. I I mean I've played I've I've played Wii Sports a handful of times growing up. Never once I don't think I was just dripping sweat.
speaker-1: No, I got into it. I got into that.
speaker-0: That's insane that you were able to, you know, find a way to I mean, like you said, you're an active kid growing up and you found a way to with video games and and physical activity, it's like what we can have the best of both worlds here by by doing both of these things. So Yeah. That's awesome you're able to. Which kind of leads to my next question. When you look back at your childhood, ⁓ growing up in Texas, you know, what's a memory that stands out to you the most that you wish you could you live over and over again?
speaker-1: Exactly. Hmm. That I wish I lived over and over again. Hmm. I don't know if there's one in particular or actually. I mean it's just Yeah, I mean it's just I guess one of those just gaming sessions. I remember one of my cousins, like we had our cousins over at our house one time, and like I don't know, we just spent five hours playing Skylanders inside and
speaker-0: You be
speaker-1: I don't know, this is just one of my core memories because my mom was like, You guys need to get off that thing and go outside. But I it was like I I had a time restriction when I was younger. I was one of the kids that was like my it was like, all right, sixty minutes and then you're done type deal during the weekdays and on the weekends as well. So whenever I did get the chance to have the reins loosened, I definitely took that liberty. And I just I do remember fondly that one day where we just it was like five hours. We were just going at it. I would say I I can't think of I mean, I'm sure if I thought on it for probably fifteen or thirty minutes I could come up with a better one. But that's one of the ones that
speaker-0: D do you have a soccer memory?
speaker-1: Soccer memory. Mm. Yeah. Yeah, I I I I don't know. I just remember scoring a goal one time. This is when I was not on defense and I've I've scored own goals. That was when I was younger. ⁓ but I there was there was one time where I like hit the crossbar first and I was really pissed off because it was like one of those like smaller goals for the younger youth developmental leagues. And there's no goalies at that point because it's just very informal. They're just trying to get kids to be outside. So I remember I hit the crossbar and I was like, ⁓ come on. And then I tried again before the defender came and I scored and that was I don't know, that was a good memory. I also there was a good memory, on that club team, we like on a lot of the times on those travel club teams you go to these tournaments where you play a game at the beginning of the day, then you have like a couple hour break, maybe Even less than that. So we would like go get a meal together. And I just remember our whole team going to this barbecue restaurant, like a a Dicky's type place, if you know Dicky's barbecue pit. Mm-hmm. And I just remember that was just a good memory because it was all all of us together with our families eating. And then it's like, All right, well, let's go do it again in an hour. So kind of gave me I guess that was a
speaker-0: Having the luxury of traveling around the ⁓ the the United States, I do have a big yellow cup in my apartment. So I have I have collected that from a
speaker-1: Yeah, Dicky's Dickies. I don't know if it was specifically Dickies, but it was something like it. And I guess that's just the first time I've really felt like a sports community and really felt like a special team type dynamic.
speaker-0: So your timeline in Texas, when did you make when did you guys make that move to North Carolina?
speaker-1: So we moved in February of twenty fifteen was when we decided to move to North Carolina.
speaker-0: Alright, I'm trying to do math in my head. So what, you were still in middle school at the time?
speaker-1: I was in elementary school. I was in fourth grade.
speaker-0: So you're the fourth grade, ⁓ you make that transition. F first of all, knowing that you know that's kind of like your first big move, what was that like for you to adjust to something like that when you're you know you're you so used to growing up into a well, a warmer climate part of the United States and in kind of a desert climate, but then of course making that move all the way to North Carolina.
speaker-1: It was definitely exciting and different. I remember 'cause I mean in Texas it never really snows. So I r but it did actually snow when we were in Dallas. It never snowed when I was in San Antonio, but it did when we were in Dallas. So that was like my first snow I remember during that eight months. That was like I think that was January twenty fifteen or December twenty fourteen or something like that. But I remember obviously we also moved in the middle of the school year. We moved February twenty fifteen. Traditionally you would move over the summer So you could at least finish out the year with your friends, say your goodbyes, and then it's it's more of a proper ⁓ departure. But we didn't do that. I it was actually it was more abrupt than I guess I would have liked it to be. I remember it's just like, ⁓ well I guess w like my closest friends that we obviously said bye to, but with with the with my other friends just at school that I maybe didn't hang out with as much outside of school, it's just kinda like, ⁓ well, I'm leaving next week, probably never see you again. So that was that was kind of weird. But as far as like the excitement for North Carolina, I remember it was like the reason I mentioned the snow piece is because it's like, ⁓ like it snows there. And I remember when my parents visited the visited the area to get the job interview and stuff and to see the area, they were like, ⁓ yeah, like it was it there was a big snowstorm while we were there and they like talked about all the Different waterfalls they saw as well. So it just kinda felt like this exotic place because in Texas, I mean, I don't ever remember visiting a waterfall. Like there was like one trail we would do in San Antonio all the time and it was to this like Batcave. I don't remember what it was called, but it was like a watchtower with a batcave. That was that's definitely that's another core memory of mine. We would go to this Yeah, maybe it is, I don't know. We would go to this the watchtower with a bat cave and it had like a playground at the beginning of it too, and
speaker-0: man lived.
speaker-1: We did that like on repeat. I don't remember any other hike we did. So to hear about like, ⁓ this place has like all these mountains and waterfalls, like it's gonna be unlike ever anything you've ever seen. It was very exciting. And then you on the drive we're driving up and it's like, ⁓ I didn't know this much forest existed. Like all I've really known in my life is urban sprawl. And we're starting our drive, you go through Arkansas and some of those other states, it's like, ⁓ there's trees, there's forest. It's not just urban sprawl. And I I will admit, for a while I was kind of averse to hiking because I guess akin to my years in San Antonio, I was like, I'd rather just like play video games inside in my free time or go play a sport. And th so whenever our parents would be like, Alright, like we're gonna go on a hike together as a family, I'd kinda loathe it. But once I reached high school, I definitely developed a love for it. But to answer your question, it was it was exciting because it was like an exotic it it sounded like some exotic place that I had never experienced before with all the outdoor recreation and with like the climate difference. It's like, ⁓ it snows there. So
speaker-0: Yeah. When you look at the person you were growing up from elementary middle school, what what do you feel like changed the most in between that time period moving to North Carolina?
speaker-1: Hmm. I mean Yeah, I g I guess I wouldn't say anything immediately changed when I moved from Texas to North Carolina. Like I still made the same types of friends and I still did the things that I loved. I wouldn't say anything immediately changed. I would say the change and appreciation really came once this thing developed a little bit more and I could appreciate what was going on around me and appreciate the the place that my parents had chosen to move us to, even though I may not have liked the decision at the time. So I would say that once I hit high school was kind of when I started to develop that appreciation, maybe towards eighth grade a little bit, but more so middle high school was when that identity or or appreciation changed.
speaker-0: Yeah. So the Christ school, which for those that don't know, is a boarding school and you didn't grow up that or your house wasn't that far away. So it wasn't like you were having to, you know, go to a different state to go ex experience what, you know, living in a dorm was like. But you know, what was the drive to go to the Christ school and why was it important for you not only to, you know, get a good education, but also be part of a a running program that helped develop your your career into what it is now.
speaker-1: Yeah. So when we first moved into the North Carolina area, again, my parents were just looking for ways to keep me busy and because I had stopped playing soccer once we moved to Dallas, they were like, All right, well let's continue with the track thing. So they tried to find a youth track cloak like a youth track club or coach in the area and for the life of them they could not find one. My mom was going to local running stores and like just asking around and people were just like, I mean You could try this guy, Randy, maybe. He he coaches middle schoolers and high schoolers. I don't know if he'd coach your son because he's in fourth grade, but you can ask him. And so she approached this guy, Randy Ashley, who's the head coach of Christ school now. At the time he wasn't. He was he didn't have that job. He was just coaching privately outside of his own little track club. And I remember she told me at first that he was resistant. And then he was like, No, I I I don't coach anything younger than middle school, like Once he's a little older, then yes, I'm willing to. And she was like, Please, he runs like five twelve and a fifteen hundred and he was like, What? Wait, five twelve and a fifteen hundred? And and she was like, ⁓ yeah, like I mean I think I think he's good. Like obviously any mom is gonna like, He's amazing. Like ⁓ you know, parents rave about their kids, but then it's like, ⁓ he's not really that that g you know what I mean, right? So he he was like, ⁓ okay, yeah, I'll coach him. So he kinda made an exception for me, which I appreciated. And we started that relationship early. And then we broke contact for I would say probably a year or two just because I wasn't as serious about running, I guess. I kind of took it kind of took a back seat for a bit in ⁓ fifth grade, sixth grade time, or fifth grade, I would say. And then I started once I got in middle school, I started running for the track team because I was always known as like the fast kid in elementary school, right? You do the the The ⁓ you do the mile and PE and you run really fast in elementary school and stuff and you kinda get a reputation. So I was and then obviously I'd done track the youth track club before, so I was like, Yeah, like I'll I'll run for the track team. So I did that sixth grade, and then I ran cross country and seventh grade after my cousin said I should do it. I didn't plan on doing it originally. I planned to just stay on the track, and then my cousin was like, Dude, you're good. You should you should do cross country. And I was like, All right, yeah, why not? I'll try it. And I liked it and kept doing it, and then Randy reached back out reached back out when he saw that I was running pretty good in those school and was like, Hey, like I think that I I coach here at Christ school now. ⁓ obviously the middle school season only goes till like early October, mid October, and then it kind of ends with their conference championship. So he was like, Hey, I'd love if Rocky would just come to our practices and I can keep coaching him and he can run some other meets deeper into the season. So my mom was like, Hey, an opportunity to keep him busy longer. Like sign me up. So I started practicing with the Chryschool boys for like the postseason time and I would run at Foot Locker every year, like the Foot Locker Regional Meet in Charlotte. And then once I hit eighth grade, he was pretty much like, I mean, you could even take the next step and come run here at Chryschool if you wanted. Now the closest public school to me was West Henderson High School, which is like two minutes from my house or something like something like that. And I was originally just gonna go there because I had great friends and I didn't wanna leave. And then he presented this opportunity and he was like, Listen, I mean, you're scholarship dollars. Like you're you're gonna be able to, with your ability, be able to earn a scholarship down the line to run. And also Christ School is a great educational institution. Like you could learn some pretty cool stuff here that I don't know if you're otherwise like obviously West Henderson's a great like it's a fine school. It's There there's it's nothing to write home about, but it's a school it's a good school. But Christ school presented e an even better opportunity. It was just, are you willing to take that jump? And are your parents willing to support? And my parents were very much willing to support and they were like, This is your choice. They didn't they didn't force me to do it. They said this is up to you and I decided to take the leap and to go to Christ school 'cause I wanted to not only further my running career, but also obtain a good education and It was definitely a different experience because it's an all boys boarding school. It's not like a typical high school experience. So it's like you kinda throw you kinda sacrifice the typical high school experience for something else. But I'm so glad I did it because it was it was phenomenal. Like it I I have some great memory so many great memories from Christ school and just it it's very it was very unique because it being an all boys school, like you just make friendships that you wouldn't otherwise and I just have so many memories of just like I don't know, like the just stupid stuff that I guess otherwise wouldn't happen at like a normal co ed public high school. And it was just so much fun. So many great memories. So much great school spirit there and such a great community. Like every time I go back and visit now, it's just always open arms and everyone's just so happy to see see me. So it it was great. Definitely don't regret it at all. I have
speaker-0: Christ School ⁓ gentleman on our on our show previously before this this show, ⁓ Brooks Barbie and just kind of we got to talk about you know the dynamic that is within the the Christ school and it's not just necessarily within the the running aspect of it, but more so being surrounded by what we would call your brothers basically. I mean these are guys that you grew up you know for for four years, you guys grew together, you know, you got to learn about life together, challenging things. About life? I mean, some of them of course did come from out of state and did live in the dorms, unlike yourself, where you know, you got to go back home because you're just right down the road. But you know, what sort of life lessons did you learn while you were at the Christ school that, you know, prepared you to go to school like Wake Forest, which is again very academically driven, but also, you know, having to learn to live on your own in in some ways.
speaker-1: Mm-hmm. I mean, high school in general is just a critical development stage of anybody's life, and that was no different for me. And especially I think that a lot of the stuff I did learn was just in connection to running and school and just being a student athlete and living that life. And it very much prepared me for Wake Forest because my life didn't really change that much from my senior year of high school to my freshman year of college, other than the fact that I wasn't living at home, that I was in a dorm, right? And I guess like the biggest lessons you learn outside of that, yes, I learned obviously discipline and taking care of time management and skills like that. The this the things that people normally talk about. But I definitely also learn a lot about how to carry yourself, how to be polite, how to be respectful. That's definitely a something that Chryschool emphasizes is, you know, proper being prepared for the real world, trying to interact with adults properly and to Just be a man of good character. And that was those were definitely the things that I I took with me outside of the running stuff or the I guess the life-related stuff, where whether it be the discipline piece or the time management. And just ⁓ learning to enjoy what I have too. I think that was honestly, that was probably the biggest lesson now that I think about it was appreciation for what I have. Because obviously A lot of kids don't get the opportunity to go to a school like that. A lot of kids don't have parents that are as supportive or they're not in they're they're not in a situation where they could even be seen and have those opportunities, like I said. So I was it was just a lot of gratitude that I was able to attend such an institution and that I was able to have the support of my parents and to have a great coach and to live in such a beautiful area. And I kind of was Little and I was like, Well, I'm not gonna throw this away. So I just applied myself fully and that that's what I'm gonna probably take with me the most is just the gratitude and appreciation for the place. And I'm just gonna take that with me throughout the rest of my life now. Even if it's not a comparable situation ever anywhere I go, I think that trying to find gratitude and any little bit that I can is probably what I'm gonna bring with me.
speaker-0: Young Rocky was active and a big video game guy. Middle school Rocky was just kind of discovering what running was like and you know, throw some nature in there and he becomes a nature guy a little bit. What would you d how would how would your friends describe high school Rocky? And maybe something that people wouldn't necessarily know about Rocky.
speaker-1: No. Yeah, I guess you would have to ask Dawson Reeves over at Duke for a a detailed explanation. But ⁓ I guess if you asked them, they would probably say that like if you're just asking for the type of guy Rocky was, he was definitely or I was definitely like the responsible one of a friend group, I guess you would say, where I'm like, all right, guys, like let's not be too big an idiots here. Like let's not like I I remember one particular moment where I there was one practice I was not there for. I think it was because I was injured my sophomore year of high school and there was a practice I wasn't there for that was an easy run. For some reason it whether I was injured or I was sick, I wasn't there. And normally we would just go run on the trails, like around our campus, because the Campus is like 500 acres. Like, there's so many trails. There's like seven or seven or eight miles worth of trails. It's a beautiful campus. And normally we would just do that. But because I wasn't there, the guys on the team are like, ⁓ let's go like run off campus into like some of the like nearby neighborhoods. So I I wasn't there to say no. And I think that I remember Dawson being Yeah, the only reason we did that was because you weren't there. And then like they They went off and ran and then some one of the people who lived in the neighborhoods called the school and they got in trouble for it. So I would say I was probably the responsible one of the group when it came to like, all right, like let's not do this. But I I was also I I like to joke around and I like to have a fun time, but definitely within reason for sure. And I I would say my friends probably were also along the responsible line of thinking or line of reasoning. They would also say that I was I I knew when to step back and have fun, but when it was time to get serious, it was it was like locked in. I that's definitely I would say that was probably how I was in high school. Outside of school and running, like I wasn't really doing a whole lot. So there's I think that the version that one person says of me is probably the same version you're gonna hear from a bunch of other people. But I would say if they if you ask them that question, I think That is probably the answer that they would give you.
speaker-0: There there's a time and place, of course, you know, to have fun and all that, but then there's there's the serious Rocky. There's the fun Rocky, but when it comes to running and getting, you know, stuff done at practice, that's where Rocky's like, all right guys, let's cut the crap here and let's let's let's let's dial in here a little bit too. For you though, you know, as you move forward through as you graduate and you're on to this next chapter at Wake Forest, you know, that's something new. You you know you have this idea about college, and I and I'm the same way too. I had this whole idea about when I went to Gonzaga, I was like, ⁓ this is what I'm gonna expect, this is what you know I think is gonna happen, and then it's kind of the complete opposite of what you think is gonna happen. So you know what is what's something that for college that turned out completely different than you expected?
speaker-1: I I've always given the same answer to this question and I truly think that people don't realize how much of a difference living a away from home makes. So I said earlier that not much of my life changed from senior year high school to freshman year college. And that's true. On paper a lot didn't change other than the fact that I was going to a school two and a half hours away and that I was living away from my parents. But I don't but the value of living away from parents is what I didn't foresee. I I think that there there's little things that the your parents do for you that you just don't appreciate. If you live in a situation where your parents are caring for you, obviously not everyone has that situation. I'm aware of that. But I'm very appreciative that I have such great parents and that they have been great to me. And especially in high school. For example, I don't have to think about breakfast in the morning in high school. It's just taken care of for me because Mom has set it out for me. She I've gone on my morning run, I come back inside, I shower, my food's there. I don't have to think about it. Come to college, I go to practice in the morning, and then I come back and shower. We get like a little a little something from the team because they cater us food, but it's not like a full meal worth. So you need to go take care of that yourself. And as a freshman, I didn't really appreciate the value of proper nutrition. So I was I just took that little something that they catered for us, whether it was just a little breakfast burrito or a breakfast bagel sandwich or something, and I was like, Call it a day. That's good. Don't need to eat any more after this morning double threshold work where we got in ten miles worth of of running. Like, no, that's not enough, dude. So I I got injured because I think the main reason was underfueling and not not taking care of things properly in that regard. Even though I was running very fast and I felt great, I mean the cracks will start to show eventually, especially when you're ⁓ going what it feels like at a blistering pace every day with school and with running and training. And then you go home at the end of the day and you're kinda wiped, right? So it it's it's hard to look from a bird's eye view at everything and to see ha what what a toll some of the little things can take on you. And I think that relating that back to my parents, they took care of some of those little things for me. I used the fueling one as an example. They took care of those things for me, so I just didn't have to think about it. They make it they make it easy for you. And then once you go to college, you do have to think about it. So I would say that was probably the thing I just didn't expect was that there's y I guess the f the more and more you move on in life, the more and more responsibilities pile up for you. And once you go to college I think that's like one of the bigger moments that you start to realise that.
speaker-0: It's those like little details that you don't think are gonna pop up out of anywhere, whether it's you know, as you said, fueling, making your bed, doing your own laundry. I mean it's there's all these different things that you think like, ⁓ mom and dad are gonna take care of this for the rest of your life. Well, when you go off to college, that's that's not the case. ⁓ and so it it definitely takes time and I'm sure everybody anybody that has gone to college or anybody that has, you know, progressed from From being eighteen into their adulthood, they all we all learn quickly that this is the type of stuff that we have to learn on the fly and and adjust to that when we get into this this thing called the w the real world. So for you, when did Wake Forest start to really feel like home then?
speaker-1: Hmm. I I guess I would say probably that spring. Mm. Yeah. That spring. I would say like when I first came to team camp during that first week or whatever, funnily enough, my team camp was actually like ten minutes from my home. We we would go up. We would go up to we went up to Western North Carolina that year, and team camp was like ten minutes from my house. So it's like ⁓ you go down to wake, you move in, and then you go back. So that was kind of funny. But small aside, I remember distinctly when I was there during team camp, I almost felt a little bit of imposter syndrome that like I don't know, it wasn't necessarily that I didn't felt like I belonged, but maybe it was just like the fact that I didn't like know anybody there really well. Obviously I took a visit and I had hung out with a couple of the guys, but I didn't know everyone and it was kinda daunting at first and I remember that feeling only lasted for a couple days. And then like instantly it was I kind of meshed in. So even though I did experience adversity and things like that my first semester, it definitely felt like home immediately. I know I said spring a couple seconds ago. Scratch that. I don't know what I was thinking. Fault fault like as soon as I arrived, it definitely felt like a place I wanted to be. Now, of course, I still had things like homesickness and things that freshmen deal with. But Absolutely. I'd say pretty quickly, just because of the people there, I felt very welcomed and I felt very much at home. And I knew that these guys were gonna be with friends for the r I was gonna be friends with them the rest of my life and that they were gonna be in my corner. I guess just as an example, like I just remember distinctly, It was myself and like a sophomore and a junior on the team and it was just it was a random Saturday afternoon, I think. And back to my love of hiking, we were just looking for something to do. And I was like, ⁓ like I did this hike like seven like four years ago when I visited Winston Salem. Like, do you guys want to do this? And they're like, ⁓ yeah, let's go do it and I just remember feeling the love from then because like I mean, I'm a young guy on the team, I'm new, but they were just down to go on a little adventure. And so I kind of see that as like an an epitome of the the guys on this team and how we spend time with each other and how it's like we can get stuff done together when we're practicing and racing, but outside of that, we still enjoy spending time with each other and we can step away from the sport and have fun, kinda like I was saying in high school. And I think that's why I felt so at home was because It didn't really feel feel like it changed much. I was surrounded by great people in high school, which I was very fortunate to have, and I'm surrounded by great people here now at Lake.
speaker-0: There's you know, so many interesting things that we've talked about over the last however many minutes or so and it's just learning about the different aspects of your life, whether it was, you know, the time in Texas, the time when you were moving to North Carolina and now this chapter at Wake Forest, you know, as you're kinda getting to the end of this this this college part of your life, you know, is there is there something that you learned about yourself over the last few years that you didn't expect? And you know, is there still something out that you're still
speaker-1: Yeah, I've I've learned a lot the past year, couple of years when I zoom out and look at it from a bird's eye view. And I it it was last I think it was last spring, we were wrapping up the year and I was eating lunch with my roommate before he left for home. ⁓ he's not on the cross country team, he's just a friend that I've met through school. And I remember he asked me, he was like, What is like the biggest lesson you've learned this year? And I was like, ⁓ well, like I guess that's kinda hard to boil down to one one point, right? But then I look back on like every year that I've been here and I can almost I can confidently say like one big takeaway from every year that I've been here at Wake so far. So like my freshman year, I would say the biggest thing I learned was that if you like treat this thing, this thing that is being a student athlete like a professional, that you can go so far and that you can go so much further than anybody thinks you could ever go and that you yourself thought you could go. And I think the reason I s turned so many heads my freshman fall and ran so well was because I I I just made it my whole life. Like I I did all the little things that I could outside of fueling properly, like I mentioned earlier. But outside of that I was taking care of business. And I just found that when I treat things professionally and I and know what I want and I set my goals, I can accomplish what I set my mind to. And then sophomore year, I I would say senior year and freshman year, I kind of got into this mode of thinking that in order to run good and to accomplish the things I wanted to do, I had to be locked in 24-7 and that I couldn't leave time for myself to enjoy myself and do the things that I like and do some of the hobbies that I liked when I was a kid, whether it be gaming or watching basketball or something like that. And so sophomore year, I thank my teammate Wes for this, Wes Shipsy, he he taught me, and I guess I just learned that you need to have fun on purpose. Like it it it needs to be baked into part of your your I guess weekly routine. You need to bake bake in time where you can just allow yourself to do something enjoyable. And I guess the a moment I guess as an example that kind of encompasses this. One of my engineering classes in my sophomore year, one of the assignments she offered us, it was or assigned us, it was like ten points of our grade. I don't know how many points our grade was in total, but it was a percentage of the grade and the gr and the assignment was literally to have fun on purpose. Like she told us to to submit a slide saying what we did to have fun on purpose. Now, granted, maybe a reaction to that is what is Wake Forest Engineering doing? Like are they even studying? But It I think that she was teaching a very important lesson that it's important to know when to step away. I think that there's examples everywhere where you look at guys who know how to step away. I remember I think I'm a big basketball head. Tim Duncan, like the night before the NBA finals, was playing like StarCraft with his teammate. Like that it's just something random. But he n he understood that you need to know when to step away. And that was what I learned. was what I learned my freshman, not my freshman, my sophomore year, because Wes is very I love Wes. He's like one of my best friends on campus. And he like he got me out of my shell. He was like, bro, let's go do this hike this weekend or let's go tube this river. Like let's go do random stuff. And he got me out of my shell and got me out of this mode of thinking that like I need to just get my work done all the time. And it helped me a lot because I eventually learned that Just the happy runner is the fast runner. And junior year, I would say I changed. I I would probably say it was the most unexpected change. I just I feel like I became more last year I feel like I became more emotionally aware and just became more aware of how I interact with people and how I I began to take a lot more care of like my relationships with everyone on an individual basis. And to extend more care. And I think a lot of that came from my roommate pairing that year with my friend I told you about. He's not on the team. And it one of the luxuries of being a student athlete is you come into school and college and you have a pre-packaged friend group. You don't have to worry about finding friends because you know it's baked in for you. You know you're gonna be spending the next four years of your life with these guys, so you're gonna be friends with them. And one of the biggest challenges for college students that aren't on the teams is finding a good friend group. And to and the fact that not only do I have a prepackers friend group, but also they hold the same values as me. They do the same thing I do. And they were recruited they're kind of curated as well because we Wake Forest recruits based on character. Like that makes my job easy, right? But I think that I mentioned that because I kind of took that for granted. And yes, I'm very close with all the people on my team. But I also think it's important to have a slice of life on the outside, if that makes sense. So I I guess sophomore year was kinda when I first realized this, where I was like, I don't really have any friends outside of the team. Like on campus. And like I I guess you can be okay with that and you can get through college and it's fine, but I I guess I just wanted like I felt like I guess maybe I had just did there was perspective that I was lacking. Or there was some like a great friendship out there that I maybe just wasn't able like could not experience because I just wasn't friends with anybody outside of like being outside of athletics. And so I made a concerted effort to try and make some friends. And I remember I think that sophomore year in the spring was I like knew this guy loosely because one of my other people, one of the other guys who's fresh a freshman on the team, he brought him with him to the dining hall one time because he was shared a class with him. And like we so we were very loose friends at that point. And I remember I there was one day I wanted to go hiking and nobody on the team wanted to go. Like everybody was like, no, I'm just trying to chill. And I was like, well screw you guys. Like I'm gonna go find someone to do this hike with. And I found this guy and I messaged him and I was like, yo Do you want to go like he's a big outdoors guy as well? And I was yo, do you want to go hiking? He was like, Yes, let's do it. And that's that was kind of the moment where our like we became better friends and then we decided to room together the next fall. And I I used that. This is all to say, it's been it you kind of get your eyes opened to different experiences and to just When you just sitting down and talking with people, you just kinda get it it's fun to get to know people is what I've learned. And my junior year was kind of when I first started to appreciate that and to appreciate the weight and the value of having friends outside of the team and to of having meaningful relationships. So having that friendship with this guy off the team has allowed me to I I mean I I've learned great things from him because he's I would say he's very emotionally attuned and it's allowed me on the team to be a better teammate to move guys on the team and to make a more concerted effort to develop relationships on a personal level rather than just like, hey, we get business done at practice. Hey, I'll see you outside of it occasionally, but then outside of that, like may maybe it's not as deep. I've tried to really make a more concerted effort to listen and to not just think of a response whenever someone's talking and to ⁓ be more present. And I think I just didn't expect that when I came to college. Sorry that's kind of a long winded response, but
speaker-0: ⁓ and here's here's the thing, Rocky, the the point of this show is to learn about, you know, what kind of is going on in in in your head and like learning a perspective from outside of the race results and and running. And you know, I think you have touched on a lot of, you know, important things and which was kinda gonna lead me to my next question. Like if running disappeared, you know, what would life look like? Well, it it seemed like you know, you put yourself in a position where you went out there, sought out a friend that had nothing to do with running at all, and was like, hey, let's let's go hike on top of the fact that you are an engineer. Major, so you know you're kind of planning in the back of your head, it's like, all right, if this running thing does not pan out, what am I gonna do for for my post-collegiate ⁓ career and all that? It's really cool to hear that you know, someone who is what you're 22, 23 years old, and you know you're you know, you you've got this stuff figured out right now. It may not necessarily figure out all the way, but you you have an idea of like this is what I can do for myself if certain things don't pan out. So it it's it's certainly heavy. ⁓ and And I want to turn to a to a lighter segment as we wrap things up here on this episode of Pending Ratification. We go to a segment called Records Under Review.
speaker-1: Don't wear socks in your spikes.
speaker-0: Favorite childhood cartoon?
speaker-1: Mmm Amazing World Gumball.
speaker-0: I was I never watched that one as much when I was a kid.
speaker-1: Yeah, that was that was probably my favorite one, was Amazing World Gumball.
speaker-0: Interesting, gotcha. Okay. ⁓ what's your most used phrase?
speaker-1: most used phrase.
speaker-0: Gotta be appropriate.
speaker-1: Yeah. Obviously obviously. When when I was a freshman, people y used to joke I always said like that's not optimal or that's optimal. Like optimal was like my word. And then I kind of phased out of it, ⁓ my sophomore year. I would say as of recent, my favorite phrase has been rub some dirt on it. Like if somebody's like complaining about something or I'm just like, ⁓ rub dirt on it. Like it it'll blow over.
speaker-0: Those are two completely different things, but interesting Okay, I never would have I never would have thought of that one. I have a couple in my head. I also can't say those on the podcast. ⁓ what's the most random thing you know a lot about? My guess maybe basketball is probably the thing.
speaker-1: Yeah, probably basketball I would say. I'm a big NBA fan. Go Spurs Go 'cause I lived in Sandy Canyon.
speaker-0: Are you a Charlotte Hornets or are you with San Antonio Spurs?
speaker-1: Spurs. S Hornets are second. I'm an honorary Hornets fan just for living in North Carolina for
speaker-0: Mm-hmm. ⁓
speaker-1: Well the Spurs.
speaker-0: Why wouldn't you not pick for pick San Antonio? Yeah. On that front. So so. ⁓ what's your most questionable fashion choice you've ever had?
speaker-1: questionable ⁓ freshman year for sure. I I wore these like this I wore like Adidas sweatpants. It was like these gold Adidas sweatpants with like a a ⁓ green, like a dark nate like a dark force green hoodie and like shower slides into the dining hall. And and I remember Wes was like, dude, you're never gonna find a girlfriend if you're dressed like this. So So have we changed Yes, we've changed the style, don't worry.
speaker-0: Have we gotten a girlfriend though? Perfect. So we we've listened wet Wes is a good guy to listen to. I've known Wes since he was in high school as well when he was at Central Catholic. So that's a that's a good guy to keep around for sure. So all right, last question, and it's everyone's favorite question on on pending ratification. What's a non-running world record that you would want to break?
speaker-1: Yes. Mm. ⁓ probably like Hmm, if it were like a like ten minute time frame or something, my favorite cereal is peanut butter cotton crunch. So I'd wanna set like a record for like how much you could eat in ten minutes.
speaker-0: We've had a lot of food responses w when when it comes to that. I I'm trying to think of anybody else has said I would have thought maybe they said like make the most free throws in a row for basketball or most three pointers in a row for basketball, but seems like food is a is a topic that people want to break a world record in in some ways. I guess Joey Chesnut is really an influencer of when it comes to Absolutely. The greatest athlete of all time. So awesome. Well it has been certainly fun to learn about you all across the board and you know as as we you know get to the end of this this is your senior season as I pointed out at the beginning of the year there is an expectation for yourself and for this team. I know you're sick and tired of seeing second place in front of your name in in a lot of things, ⁓ whether it was N CAA cross country, US cross ⁓ last year on the track a Hayward Field, you know, what do you feel like you need to do for yourself to get over that hump in terms of getting that elusive national championship that I know a lot of people are gonna be rooting for to get for you to get this year?
speaker-1: Yeah, I mean, I can't really overthink it, right? I think a lot went right last year and it was because I had taken care of my process so well and I have continued to refine things and to address the little areas that I can improve on and that's not changing this year. I think that I don't need to reinvent the wheel because I mean Habtem's gone now, which I was very displeased to hear. I wanted him to remain around so that we could have some. Some good contests, but it's okay. I understand it. I understand him going pro. There's not any
speaker-0: You got El Cingi Kippruto though, you have Brian that is kept I mean, I I again I saw rankings come out the other day for individual rankings. They had you at number two. Yeah. I'm like I'm just like again, we're tired of these number two things. Mm-hmm.
speaker-1: And like that's the that's that was gonna be my next point. Even though Habton isn't here anymore, there's still so many talented guys. I mean, you just said El Cingi, Brian Masao, Daniel Kipangedic, so many Tavon Kitchen too. Like he can make a jump as well. There's so many different guys around the NCAA that are still going to be competing for this national title. So not for a second can I think that just because last year I got second, in any world can I think is it guaranteed that I can win this thing this year. So much could happen over the next what, two months, two and a half months that I can't foresee that I just need to handle my own process and manage my expectations the right way and execute on the day and I know that it'll work out. So as I approach this season, yes, and obviously I would like to change the second place narrative, but keep in mind Haptam was second Mr. Second place for a while as well, right? He was right there for so long as well and then he finally got it done and he accomplished that by just being consistent and that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna continue to be consistent. I'm gonna do my best and we'll see what happens this season. Not gonna put a number on it. I'm just gonna say, hey, I'm gonna do my best and we'll see what happens.
speaker-0: Whatever the outcome it is, that's gonna be the outcome at the end of the day. But I know capturing that national championship would do wonders for you. And I know a lot of people out there are rooting for you this fall season to to get that national championship. Of course, the all roads end in Terre Haute, Indy. Which I don't know if you have you ever ran at in Nike XC Town, or not in Nike Xy Town. XC Town USA before?
speaker-1: Hello. No, I haven't. I'm looking forward to it.
speaker-0: It is a challenging course, but it is a fair and competitive course to say the least. Rocky, really appreciate your time, man. ⁓ good luck this this fall. Good luck to you and the in your White Forest guys as you ⁓ get this journey going this twenty twenty six fall cross-country season. Appreciate your time, man.
speaker-1: Yes, thank you Keaton. Appreciate the opportunity.
speaker-0: Thank you for tuning to this episode of Pending Ratification. So many more compelling stories to come, so stay tuned for those to arrive. In the meantime, if you want to catch up on other episodes, you can head over to runnerspace.com or listen to them on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If there's someone out there that you feel has a compelling story and want to hear on the show, Be sure to message me on Instagram at Keenan Gray5, and we'll see if we'll try to get them on an episode in the near future. Catch you on the next episode of Pending Ratification.
speaker-1: And the record is no more!