Photo Courtesy of William Vazquez
Camel of the Edition is a continuous series which seeks to highlight extraordinary Connecticut College athletes who have stood out for their recent performances.
Alexa Estes ‘26 recently broke school records in the 600m, 1000m, and as a member of the 4×800 relay. The middle-distance runner hailing from Virginia Beach, Va. has built on her success from her fall cross-country season, where she was part of the women’s cross-country team which competed at the NCAA DIII Cross-Country National Championships for the first time as a team in program history. Estes has already qualified for the postseason DIII New England’s meet in four events and currently holds the fifth fastest 800m time among all NCAA DIII women.
Recently, The College Voice caught up with Estes to learn how she went from getting cut from her middle school track team to getting recruited to run in college, how she mentally prepares herself for races, and her goals for the rest of the indoor and outdoor track seasons.
Could you please introduce yourself?
I’m Alexa Estes, an art history major and classics minor. I use she/her/hers pronouns. Other than track and cross-country, I’m part of Residential Life and the president of the Women’s Network [club]
Talk me through your journey in sports?
I didn’t play any sports up to high school. I tried out for the track team in middle school and I didn’t make it [because] they cut me in the first round of cuts. I tried out [for the track team] in high school and they didn’t cut [anyone] in high school, so they kept everyone and I was able to make the team. I started out as a sprinter. So I did the 100m, 200m, and jumping in the high jump, long jump, and triple. I wasn’t very good at it so I decided to give cross-country a try. After my first season of doing cross-country and going back to sprinting, the improvement was significant enough that I thought maybe if I keep at it that this was something I could do in college. As progress happened throughout the four years, it became more of a reality.
When and why did you decide to focus on running?
I’ve never been very coordinated so I figured running would be simplest and I’ve always liked running. For example, in elementary school, we did a final mile [every year] to raise money for Operation Smile for people with cleft lips that I really loved. We would run miles after school and one day in March we would meet together to do one mile race to raise money. I’d always wanted to be a part of a team, which is why I wanted to try out for the track team. When COVID hit sophomore year in march I was faced with the decision to quit the team or to keep running, and I decided I would keep running just to see what would happen. As I was coaching myself during the pandemic, I started to fall in love with the sport. I enjoyed staying consistent and seeing consistent improvement. I loved setting a goal, working for it, and accomplishing it. During the pandemic it gave me something to do and focus on. It helped foster community [for myself] because I could get to see people outside.
What was your recruitment process and how did you end up choosing Conn?
My recruitment process was kind of normal. I went through an organization, NCSA, where you make an account and emailed coaches through the account. I emailed basically any school I could think of from as crazy as Oregon to local schools around my house. I found out about Conn when [Coach] Ned emailed me my senior year. I really wanted to leave Virginia super bad so going to Connecticut was super exciting because it was not Virginia. I thought the Camel mascot was really funny so I figured people [in Connecticut] must have a good sense of humor. I found the [team’s] womenofthedesert account [on Instagram] and they all seemed to get along so well, I so badly wanted to be a part of that.
What sort of differences did you notice between college and high school running?
My high school coach was very different from [Coach] Ned. Practices were much more intense in high school. For example, when we did 400m repeats, everything was always all out. Coming to Conn and having an easy run was a new thing that I had to get used to. In high school, all the girls were pitted against each other every day versus here we all work together in a different way than I was used to but in a good way. It was definitely a healthy transition to here.
How did your first college year go last year?
I was super excited for it because I didn’t set any expectations. Even for cross-country, as long as I finish a 6k, I [would be] super excited about it, because I had never run a 6k before. I was not expecting to have the success I had last year, everything was just such a shock. Racing at Pre-Nationals and regionals in cross-country, getting to be on the DMR relay, and trying to qualify for nationals was so unexpected. Setting the school record in outdoor [track] was so far out of my hopes and dreams.
How do you prepare yourself for the 800m and other difficult events knowing it’s going to hurt?
I visualize every race. I start thinking about [the race] roughly a week before, and as I get closer I start focusing more on it. The day before the meet, I’ll mentally walk myself through every lap of the 800 and try to find a song that is around the same length as the time I’ll want to be racing. I try to split up the times for each lap. So for example, for the 1k I prepared myself by thinking if I go out at this time for the first lap, here’s how I’ll adjust. I’ll try to give myself different scenarios so if anything happens during the race, I’ve already done it mentally so I’m mentally prepared for it. I also gaslight myself into thinking the pain of the 800 is the best part of it so when it starts to hurt I’m like this is what I want, this is the fun part.
What songs have you used recently to mentally walk you through races?
Taylor Swift is my go to. Her songs tend to be on the longer side but I’ll repeat [my] process when it hits the time. For example, last week’s song was Ready for It. But if I just need something with a really good beat I’ll just do [a song from] Imagine Dragons.
What did you do during this past summer to improve and prepare for the year ahead?
I really tried to work on my consistency because the summer before the freshman year of college I tried to be consistent but everything was so new [training-wise] it got overwhelming for me at times. But this [past summer], I knew [the training] and how [Coach] Ned worked and what his [training] process is. So this summer I tried to do one thing each day to get better. For example, I started doing mobility exercises and speed drills to work on my form and work on my speed. For example, I would do a skips and b skips or throw in some 200s at the end just to get some speed in. I also worked on adjusting the training, because the heat in Virginia is different. So being open-minded to doing more cross-training than I would have before.
Were you satisfied with your fall cross-country season?
Yeah, there’s definitely a lot I look back on now and feel like there is work I could do [to improve]. But it was still an incredible season and I don’t have anything to complain about. Running at nationals for the first time as a team was really cool. But really, getting to work with such fast girls was awesome. The best part of cross-country was when there were 12 of us all in the same pace groups all doing workouts together. I would look forward to workouts knowing that I got to do the workouts with them because my biggest goal for cross-country was just to be with them during workouts. I never took that for granted, and qualifying for nationals at regionals with them was so cool.
You recently broke school records in the 600m and 1K, and were a part of the 4x800m record breaking team, did you expect to break so many records this early in the indoor track season?
I started thinking about the records and the possibility of breaking them in the summer. It gave me something to think about during long runs. It started to become more of a reality in workouts [in the fall] when I was hitting splits that I wasn’t expecting to hit. The 600m [record] I wasn’t really expecting to hit. I was aiming for it during the race but I knew it was a shot in the dark. The 1k [record] I was expecting to break going into the season, but I wasn’t expecting to run the time I did at all.
Did you sort of plan out your indoor track season schedule so you would be breaking records at certain points in the season?
It was definitely more this is the meet I’m going to do this and this is the meet I’m going to do that. I even had it down to each lap I’m going to run this split, which is a little crazy because it never works out like that. But so far, I’ve been fairly right with my predictions. I even have through outdoor [track season] planned out by meet and what I plan on running.
How have you improved your times over the past year and a half in college compared to high school?
I think [it’s] mindset and the people I’m surrounded by. Like my teammates are so supportive and so fast that even just to keep up with them means I have to be on my A game all the time. I also think being more confident with my abilities has helped a lot. Like even when things get tough in a workout or race, I know that I’m strong enough to finish it versus in high school I would be in a workout questioning if I could finish a rep.
The College’s women’s middle-distance event group has seen a large improvement in times over the past year and a half with yourself and so many of your teammates all securing qualifications for post-season meets. Do you know why the team has been so successful recently?
I think it’s just because they’re so dedicated and they seem to have so much fun. At the core of it, everyone loves the sport and that’s really what matters the most. Like today during the workout people were laughing and joking and we all supported each other. I think that’s why we’re all so successful. We have a thing where we say happy runner fast runner, but not every day is going to be a happy day, like some days are just all about the grind. But, most of the time we’re just happy to be out there having fun and we’re lucky enough to have everything work out for us and to be running some fast times right now.
What are your goals for the rest of the indoor season?
I would love to hit the 800 record this season, that record scares me the most which is why I want to go for it the most. My biggest goal of the season would be to make it to nationals, especially because it’s in my hometown and it’s at the track I used to race at in high school. I really think it would be a really important full circle moment to be able to go back and have my high school team be there supporting.
What are your hopes for the outdoor track season ahead?
I would like to PR in 1500m and get the record in the 800m. I also think we can better our 4×800 time and to qualify for nationals outdoors would be really cool too. I really love outdoor [track] because it feels like field day to me. Everytime we’re at an outdoor meet it is just so much fun. Obviously, we’re there to put in the work and show off our dedication and hard work but it’s also just so much fun to be outdoors and doing what you love to do.
Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
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