Like most of the Villanova student body, Ben Malone spent his Monday night watching the men’s basketball team take on Michigan in the national championship. The revelry of the Wildcats’ championship run provided a bounce of enthusiasm as Malone looks to kick off his final season on the track this Friday at the Colonial Relays in Williamsburg, Virginia.

The fifth-year senior, who holds a personal best of 3:39 in the 1500m, is scheduled to race the 1500m at 7:10 PM ET. We caught up with Malone to discuss the wild week on campus, what he would tell a freshman version of himself, the international flair of the Villanova track team, and his goals for his final collegiate season. 

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FloTrack: Your entry time of 3:39 is the top seed by three seconds. How do you approach a race when you’re that big of a favorite?

Ben Malone: That 3:39 was from a while ago. I’m just going to approach it like I would any race. Usually there’s a pacer at Colonial Relays, so I’m just going to stick on the pacer. I’m sure they’ll be going for at least 1000 meters and from there I’ll see how I feel and if I’m feeling good, take it. And depending on where I’m at, hopefully grab a regional qualifying mark. But if not, (I want to) just get a good race in. 

Where did you watch the national championship game?

While the game was going on they showed the Connelly Center at Villanova where all the students were, so I was in there with a bunch of the guys on the (track) team. 

It was unbelievable. It was really exciting. Just the whole tournament run has been really great. It’s super exciting to have two championships in the time that I’ve been here*. It’s pretty crazy, I never would have thought that would happen. 

*Villanova also won the national championship in 2016

Was campus crazy that night?

It was complete madness. There were kids starting fires in the middle of campus and all that. Everyone’s going nuts, starting chants, screaming, yelling—it was a lot of fun. You really don’t see anything like it. A bunch of guys were like that after the Eagles won the Super Bowl. It’s pretty crazy.

Did you have to get up early the next day and train?

We have practice at 1 PM so I was able to sleep in thankfully.

So you had a chance to partake in the revelry a bit?

Yeah, for sure. I definitely delved in and enjoyed it while I can. Something like that only happens every so often, and obviously this is my last year at Villanova so it’s my last chance to experience something like that. When it comes around you got to try and enjoy it as much as you can. 

Seeing as this is your last year, what advice would you give freshman Ben? 

Not worry too much . . . not overthink things . . . trust in your coach, and trust in your training and the times will come. Obviously, every career comes with ups and downs and not everything is going to go right every single you step onto the track. Just keep your faith and things will work out.

Were there times when you were too amped up or cared too much about a certain performance?

I never expected the downs that came with being a college athlete, and I kind of expected everything to click right away and to start dropping PBs as soon as I got to college, but it’s really just not like that. 

What were some of the downs?

I didn’t really PB in the mile until my junior year and I didn’t PB in the 800 until my sophomore year. I’ve had a lot of bad races. I’ve had some off seasons. It’s really trying to get the training right and get my mind right, getting your eating right, get you sleeping habits right. I kind of had to learn that it’s a holistic approach, things aren’t going to come as easy as they did when I was in high school.

Because your physical talent only takes you so far?

Exactly. You can’t just adjust to a training program right away and just start dropping PBs. I know there are kids who do come out of high school and go into college and flourish right away, but others it takes more time. Really, you just have to be patient.

What race did it start to click?

My junior year—that was two years ago now—at Penn Relays I anchored the (mile relay) and I ran really, really bad. I had a horrible race. Me and (head coach Marcus O’Sullivan) talked afterwards and we figured that we needed to not panic—hit the reset button, get back to basics. 

That’s when I had my best season and I qualified for NCAAs. Later that season I ran 3:39. I feel like that was a turning point. I put things in perspective; it’s going to come I have to not worry about it and just trust in my training.

What was the difference between 2016 and 2017?

During indoors of 2017 I got my appendix removed. It was really a slow comeback from that. I was able to run fairly quickly after the surgery, but I felt like my body was still kind of healing for a long time. I couldn’t really run a hard workout for about a month. From there I felt like I lost a bit of speed, a bit of strength. The whole outdoor season I couldn’t get back to where I was. 2016 I think everything came together perfectly. Last year I lost a bit of time indoors and was never really able to catch up back to where I wanted to be by the end of the season. 

Is 2018 Ben is going to look more like 2016 Ben?

That’s what I’m hoping for. For cross country I put in a ton of miles, more miles than I ever did before. Indoors, we really focused on getting some strength work kind of tuned up to get the DMR qualified for nationals. I think outdoors I’m primed and ready to go for a big season. Hopefully it can all come together like it did a couple years ago.

There’s a big international flair to Villanova’s program—what is that like?

It was awesome. There were a lot more international guys when I came in than there are now. I think it’s really cool. Seeing guys like Jordy (Jordan Williamsz of Australia), Sam (McEntee), and Pat (Tiernan) come from different backgrounds and different experiences, it’s been really cool. And now we have guys like Harry Purcell (from Ireland) and Ville Lampinen (of Finland), who both are international athletes. 

It’s awesome to see guys from all over the world who are high-caliber athletes coming to our school to compete with us—(hearing) about where they’re from and how they race in the European circuit and all that stuff, it’s really cool. It gives you a holistic view of the sport rather than just the USA bubble that a lot of people only know.

Is there a large difference in running culture?

Guys like Ville, Harry, and Jordy all raced in the European circuit and over there it’s really different. They don’t come from the high school system where you worry about your state championship and your national championship. They are running against adults and other professional athletes since they were 16, 17 years old. They are chasing fast times their whole career as opposed to worrying about county championships, state championships. It’s just like a different type of atmosphere than it is here. 

From what you’ve observed, how is their adjustment to the American lifestyle?

Running-wise the NCAA season is different than the European season. Our indoor (season) is longer; there’s less of a break between indoors and outdoors, so that’s an adjustment. Outside of running there’s been an adjustment for everything, for sleep schedules, for food. I remember the Australians always talking about how sweet everything is here and how everything is loaded with sugar. I’m sure they had to adjust to what they liked in America as opposed to what they liked back home. 

What is your overall goal for outdoors?

Penn Relays is really important to Villanova. I haven’t got a Wheel here yet so I’m really hoping to get at least one this Penn Relays. I think we have a really good team so I think we have a really good shot for that. That’s a big goal of mine. Obviously, after that it’s to make it to Eugene, compete as best as I can and hopefully grab an All-American spot. Hopefully qualify for USA outdoors and take it from there.