Freberg looks to help lead the strong class of Florida throwers to a national title |
1. You are one of the top throwers in the nation right now in the shot put heading into the national meet. How much are you looking forward to the SEC and NCAA Championships?
These meets are a great opportunity for me. If I throw more than 55'2.25" in the SEC (just a few inches farther than my last weekend's mark of 54'10.75"), I can break 4 records! (Florida indoor record, O'Connell Center Record, SEC indoor record, and SEC meet record). Talk about motivation! As you know from your own athletic career, athletes just LIVE for these opportunities!
Last year, I came into the NCAA meet tied for 16th and managed to take 12th place. I didn't know until the week before that I'd even get to go-it all came down to how the other girls did in the last chance meets. Having an auto mark is great! My parents have had their tickets and reservations for weeks. Tyson is a super facility -- I've thrown there 3 times now, and the competition is going to be terrific! Lots of girls are throwing really well now, and that will bring out the best in all of us. It's about time for USA women throwers to move up!
2. One of your accolades was being named the WAC Freshman of the Year while you were at SMU last year. Why did you decide to transfer to Florida and how has the transition been for you so far?
It was a great honor to be selected as WAC Freshman of the Year. I really did like many things about SMU -- academically and socially it was a good place for me. However, the factor that really matters between any athlete and their school/program is goodness of fit. If you fit in, everything works. If you don't, it's not good for the coach, the team, or the individual athlete. The NCAA only allows everybody 48 hours to look at each other before you have to make a choice. I thought I was making the best decision when I signed for SMU, but you never really know if it's right until you spend time in the program. SMU obviously has a great tradition in the throws, but it just wasn't the right place for me. I was very surprised to learn how often athletes transfer between Division I programs. It's not a fun process, but it often works out best for all concerned.
Florida has been just perfect for me. I just knew when I first visited the campus that it was the right place. My teammates are awesome. We really push each other to get better-every workout is like a little meet. Coach Larry Judge has really helped me a lot, with my technique and with my confidence. If I can't be successful here, it just wasn't meant to be.
3. Originally from San Luis Obispo, California, how often do you get to go back home considering the long distance being at Florida for school?
It's not the distance that's the problem, it's how hard we work at Florida! I can't take the time away from our training to go back and forth much. I stayed in Gainesville for Thanksgiving, because we had our first meet the next week (at Kent State of course!). The outdoor NCAAs are in Sacramento, and then I think we're going to stay over in California for the USATF Outdoors in Palo Alto. But knowing Coach Judge, I don't think that will give me time to visit your favorite spots at Avila Beach! Coach Judge runs camps, so it's back to Gainesville after that. I came home for Christmas vacation, and I'll probably have a few weeks over summer.
4. As a part of one of the strongest core of throwers in the nation today at Florida, do you all feel any pressure at all to perform well at the national meet since you will represent a bulk of the points?
We know what the expectations are for our group, but we're also really prepared and excited to show what we can do. I don't look at the NCAAs or any big meets as a pressure situation in a bad way. Personally, I think it's harder to do well when you're at a small meet without any competition. Big meets give us opportunities to show what we can do! We've worked so hard-now is the time to let people know. Bring on the crowds and the cameras!
5. Now that the NCAA Championships are right around the corner, what will you work on the most technically in the ring during practice to peak at the right time?
We're very technique oriented at Florida. We do tons of drills, and we look at films and sequence shots. Coach Judge has had a lot of success getting people ready at the right time, so basically, I'm just following directions now. My marks have been very consistent, and they're starting to move up at just the right time. I have a few glitches in my form, but I know what they are and how to fix them. The tricky part is to fix your technique without thinking about so much in the ring that you slow down.
6. Describe what it's like to be part of the great throwing program and university as a whole down at Florida.
My teammates are awesome! I was really, really excited to take 5th in the weight this last weekend at Hoosier Hills, because my teammates are so good! My 59'9" actually would be a decent mark in a lot of programs, but when you're throwing behind the girls leading the whole nation, you feel happy to get a 5th. We learn from each other. The other girls make suggestions about my form, and I get a chance to watch the best throwers in the country every day in practice and learn from them. We really support each other at meets, too. Sometimes, I think you beat people mentally before the meet even starts. When we walk in as a group in our Florida warmups, you can see some of the competition wilt. It's a huge psychological advantage. We're not all business, either. We really have fun together when we travel and hang out. We're competitive, but we're still a team.
7. Looking back upon your career, what achievement sticks out in your mind as the best so far?
I think the best is always the part in front of you. But if I had to pick one thing from the past, I'd have to say winning the California state shot my junior year in high school ranks up there. Fourth place was 47 feet, which would probably win most state meets. Jill Camarena (now at Stanford) and Jessica Cosby (now at UCLA and last year's outdoor NCAA champ in the shot) were both seniors that year. Jill was the returning champ from the year before with a PR that was better than mine, and you never, ever underestimate Jessica Cosby! Early in the finals, I threw a mid 49 footer, and Jessica came up within a few inches on her next throw. I thought to myself, "no way, not here, not now," and put out my winning throw of 50'7". When the other girls couldn't come back on their last throw, and I knew I'd won going into my last throw, I started crying a little and I think I threw about 46 feet. I'll remember that meet for a long time.
8. Even though the shot put is your premier event, how has the development of learning the other throwing events gone for you?
I know everybody thinks of me as a pure shot putter, but Coach Judge thinks I may surprise some people in the other events. Not the javelin, though. Actually, I took 6th at the California state meet in the discus my senior year at 145'5", and I hardly ever practiced it. Coach Judge had heard rumors that my form in the discus was "perfect" and that 145 was all I had. You should have seen his face when he saw me throw in person. It was like, "you threw 145 like THAT?!" I'm really enjoying throwing the other events. You can usually have a good practice or a good meet in something if you do multiple events.
Throws coach Larry Judge has taken Freberg and the rest of the Florida throwers to a new level |
9. How much time do you spend on your website, Frebergsports.com, during the week and what is the overall focus of it?
I spend too much time! You know how much time this takes from your own web development work! I rationalize it by thinking that it's related to my major, which is Public Relations. I put up my first website just for fun in the 7th grade. It was more of a Val Kilmer fan site than a track site, but as I got more into track, Val got pushed off! We used it as a recruiting tool in high school. Coaches who were interested in me could track my progress by looking at the site. We even put my grades up, which was motivating! What surprised me was the number of other high school kids who looked at the site. I really made a lot of new friends from people emailing me to talk about throwing. Now, I guess the focus of the site is to show people interested in track the "human" side of the sport.
My pet peeve with university sites is that they cover the sports, but you don't feel you know much about the people. They all look the same. With our throwers' page and the KMail newsletters, our fans feel like they know a little something about us as people. They get to see Coach Judge playing video games. My teammates really get pumped when they travel to a meet and hear people recognize them by name. "There's so and so..." But I really believe that if track is going to build an audience, we need to connect with that audience. People will come to cheer on someone they feel like they know, but they're usually too busy to care about strangers. I think if more programs and athletes made websites, our sport would have a lot more fans. I don't think basketball and football teams are exactly shy. Track needs to step up. Eventually, if I end up competing after college, I'll probably use the site to recruit sponsors. My site has always been popular among people in high tech and financial firms but I'm not sure why. I was very sad to lose a big fan of mine in the Cantor Fitzgerald company at the top of the WTC on 9/11. That was hard.
10. What has been one of the more difficult challenges you had to overcome and what did you learn from it?
Last year was hard. Change is hard. Watching girls I used to beat easily pass me up was hard. I guess what I learned is that you have to be patient, and you have to believe in yourself. One of my favorite quotes is from Calvin Coolidge, "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence." I had to learn that.
11. What are your overall goals heading into the outdoor season?
I've never put out specific goals, like throwing such-and-such distance or placing wherever at the NCAA. I just like to work hard, and then the results usually happen. Goals can be limiting. When I competed in powerlifting, which can be very mental, it was probably a good thing that I didn't know about what was considered "good" for a girl. I set four national powerlifting records, and won the CA women's championship as a 16 year old.
12. Based on what you've learned so far in the ring, what kind of advice can you give to a young athlete who wishes to participate in the shot put?
While there are a lot of good coaches at the junior high and high school level, not all young athletes have access to one. You have to learn to be a student of the event (that's what my dad says all the time). There are lots of good books and videos out there. We have film clips and sequence shots on our site. Get somebody to film you, and compare your positions to Jukina or Candice! Go to camps if you can afford it. Work hard, keep your grades up, practice good nutrition habits, and don't party. Write to athletes like me who will talk to you!
I really appreciate the oppurtunity for this interview and go Gators!
• You can also read Karen's journal as linked from Trackshark.com