Lorena Martin, freshman cross country runner, is picking up ground quickly in her first season with the Huskies after her club team, Atletismo Valladolid, won four-straight national championships in Spain.

Martin, of Salamanca, Spain, finished third (22:25.9) among the Huskies’ runners Oct. 17 in Peoria at the Bradley Classic. She ran a personal best 5K time in the 6K race.

Northern Star: You ran cross country and track in Spain. Do you prefer one over the other?

Lorena Martin: In Spain I did cross country, but I preferred … track. But, I knew that if I came here I’d have to do cross country. But, I don’t care; I’m having fun with cross country.

NS: What is the biggest difference between running in Spain and in the United States?

LM: In Spain normally when I run I finished in the top 10 in cross country, and here one competition I was 200th … so there are the same amount of people in races in Spain, but here they are better.

NS: Your club team won four-straight national championships in Spain. How did you finish individually during those title races?

LM: Freshman year I was 24th. Sophomore year I was 18th. Junior year I was 20th. And my last year I was eighth.

NS: You struggled to start off your NIU career in the first couple races, with the transitioning over being a big factor in that, I’m sure. Can you talk about how you felt your first couple races went?

LM: It was so hard. It was so bad the first race; I felt like so bad. But, in the third one — the last one — I felt so comfortable, and I think the next race I’m going to be even better than the other one, but I think I need more races here.

NS: How was your approach to the Bradley race different than some of the other courses this year?

LM: It’s because coach [Greg Hipp] told me to only focus on my race and not everyone else’s race.

NS: Hipp mentioned you currently do not have a phone. So, how do you communicate with your family back home? How often?

LM: I talk to my family every day because I have Skype, but I don’t need a phone here because I can talk to coach by Twitter … .