Blue and Gold Illustrated

UNDER THE DOME Five Questions With … CROSS COUNTRY/TRACK AND FIELD ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH MATT SPARKS Matt Sparks joined the Notre Dame cross country and track and field program in August 2014 after 12 years as a head coach for cross country and an assistant coach for track and field at Southern Illinois. Sparks' area of concentration with the Fighting Irish is guid- ing the men's and women's cross country programs, as well as coaching Notre Dame distance runners throughout the indoor and outdoor track seasons. BGI: What attracted you to Notre Dame? Sparks: "I grew up in central Indiana and my college days took me to IU. I was thinking back then about how great it'd be just to be a college coach anywhere — yet naturally dream jobs come up, and that was Notre Dame. "You never dream it's really going to work out, but [head coach] Alan Turner and I both share a similar vision for this program." BGI: What were your keys to signing the nation's No. 1-ranked women's recruiting class? Sparks: "I think the biggest key was the university sells itself in so many ways. As a coach, you can't overdo it recruiting, you have to just let them see what this university is — let Notre Dame run its course on a kid, and they'll fall in love with it." BGI: What are the expectations with this year's women's team? Sparks: "We're such a young group; we expect probably five of our top eight to be freshmen or sopho- mores. With so many young faces we're holding back the reins a bit on them early. October 2 [the Notre Dame Invitational] will be our first big test; No. 1-ranked New Mexico comes in, and NC State is one of the ACC favorites and they'll be here as well. "So we've still got some maturing to do with the younger girls, and then we can talk specifics. But as a general rule, we feel Notre Dame should be in the top 10 nationally each year in women's." BGI: How tasking is the average training regime for a cross country athlete? Sparks: "The toughest part about collegiate running is the daily grind. [All-American senior] Molly Seidel two weeks ago ran 101 miles in one week, between 12 to 17 miles a day. "That's something when you're doing that kind of workload, mixed with Notre Dame schoolwork, it's a lot to take on." BGI: What's the biggest thing you want your student-athletes to take away from running for you at Notre Dame? Sparks: "I could say the attention to detail required to be successful in life, and that's what you learn at Notre Dame. A lot of these athletes in high school can rely on their talent, but when you get to this level that's sometimes not enough. "So they learn here how hard they have to work every day, on every tiny detail, and I hope they carry that on with them into the real world, with their careers and families." — Jordan Wells SPARKS

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