The full interview with Leo Daschbach, April 14th, 2020
We sat down via video conference yesterday with Leo Daschbach, who is one of the top distance runners in the U.S. and a senior at Highland High in Gilbert, Arizona. We discussed a myriad of topics. In this little over 16-minute interview, we covered Leo trying to break the 4-minute mile barrier to Leo giving others training tips in the months ahead.
Sub-4 without a Meet?
On Saturday, April 11th, Leo made an attempt at running an unofficial sub-4 minute mile. The attempt video is posted below where he was timed at 4:03.7. In our interview with Leo, we ask him if he will be making future attempts this spring/summer to go sub-4 and it appears he will be, which is exciting. He will be at least giving it two more tries before transitioning to college cross country training (he will be attending the University of Washington in the fall).
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS ALL-TIME MILE LEADERS
Winning or Time?
We wondered if Daschbach ever races for time or just goes for the win. In the interview, we found out that Leo is simply a great competitor and enjoys both the entire training process and race day itself. In fact, he will focus on a single race for an entire week before stepping to the line.
Highland High School and Coach Monty
When asked why Highland always seems to be in the hunt for State, especially in distance events, Leo gave a lot of credit to Coach Dave Montgomery ("Monty") and how he treats the entire team like a real family and uses a lot of positive reinforcement to get the kids to run to their best abilities.
Leo Hated XC in 7th Grade
For those of you who think this guy, Leo, must have been a running prodigy since coming out of the womb you would be gravely mistaken. In fact, in the interview he lets on that after running cross country in 7th grade he quit it because he didn't like it at all... So there is hope for us mere mortals!
Staying Focused
Although Leo, like many athletes out there, was severely devastated by the end of the AIA spring sports season, he seemed quite undaunted by the entire situation in the interview. He continues to find a way to have the fire burning inside him (whether it's trying to break 4-minutes in the mile or getting ready to join the UW Huskies in the fall). In fact, he told us that for the underclassmen athletes out there that this is a great time to get an edge on your competition because many kids will not be putting in the work now...
And if I were a young distance runner in Arizona, I think I may listen to a young man who has a 4:03 on his running resume.
