University Southern California Trojans
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Getting To Know Mitch Libby
May 07, 2019 | Track & Field, Features
Freshman distance runner Mitch Libby traveled all the way across the country to attend USC, picked up a new event and is having a great first year at Troy. The native of Maine is running the 3000m steeplechase for the first time in his career and has already cracked the USC all-time top 10 in the event, posting the ninth-fastest time ever by a Trojan male of 9:17.70. This weekend he will represent USC in the event at the Pac-12 Championships and we had a chance to catch up with him before he competes in Tucson, Ariz.
Q – What is the closest big city to where you grew up in Wells, Maine?
M.L.  – Portland is in Maine, but I don't know if I'd call that a big city. It is bigger than most towns in Maine, but I'd say Boston is the closest big city. I can drive about an hour and a half and be in the heart of Boston.
Q – Did you travel much before you came across country to attend USC?
M.L. – I did a little traveling. I came out West a couple of times with my high school track friends. We went to Vegas one time to do the hikes in the area and see the national parks (Red Rock & Valley of Fire) and last winter I went to Sedona (Arizona) for four days
Q – How did you end up at USC?
M.L. – I applied to a whole bunch of schools, all schools that had electrical engineering programs because that is what I wanted to do. I applied (here) and got in. Obviously the track team is amazing and pretty much the day after I got in, I started getting in contact with coach Henner (distance coach Patrick Henner). When he started sending me training stuff and talking about the program, I was pretty much hooked.
Q – What did your family think of you going so far away to school?
M.L. – Well, deep down they are happy for me on the outside because they know it is a great opportunity, but I'm sure partially they would have liked for me to go to the University of Maine or somewhere close to home…but they are happy for me.
Q – How do you keep in touch with your family?
M.L. – FaceTime, texts or just calling. The time difference is actually a little tricky. By the time I'm done with classes and training for the day it might be 5 or 6 o'clock, and 6 p.m. is 9 p.m. there and my parents have to get up and work in the morning. It is harder than you would imagine, even though it is only a three-hour time difference.
Q – You are majoring in Electrical Engineering now, what would you like to do with the degree?
M.L. – Well, I came into the school through Electrical Engineering, but I wasn't necessarily dead-set on it. For example, I have been taking a couple classes this semester to explore other options and other majors I might like. For example, Real Estate Development is one that I am highly considering right now and on my official majors list, it lists both Electrical Engineering and Real Estate Development right now. I am not totally giving up on Electrical Engineering, but I am exploring a couple other pathways.
Q – How has it been for you balancing school and track and field your first year at USC?
M.L. – It has definitely been a little more tricky now that we have been in competition for a while. The spring semester is definitely more difficult than the fall semester. Overall, it is not that bad. We do get to sign up for classes early because we have so many practice blocks. They make it really easy to do both and still excel. Obviously, as we still have some kids on the team that are still getting 4.0s.Â
Q – You are doing mostly the 3000m steeplechase this season. Had your run that before?
M.L. – I had not. In high school I was an 800m runner. Coach Henner mentioned it a couple of times this summer. He said I know you mostly did 800m in high school, but we are going to put you where you can best help the team out and I said perfect. So I showed up and I think it was the first week of practice and we did some hurdles drills, and then he pretty much said, yup, you are going to be a steeplechaser and I said it sounds good to me.Â
Q – What do you think of the steeplechase now?
M.L. – I absolutely love it. The distance did take a little getting used to, like I said since I was an 800m guy in high school. Running 3000m meters now, almost two miles, it is tougher, but I like the barriers and I like the water jumps. It makes the race a little more fun as opposed to just plain running. I definitely love it.
Q – You are already in USC all-time top 10 in the event. What are your plans as you represent the Trojans in the steeplechase at the Pac-12 Championships this weekend?
M.L. – There is going to be a lot of really good competition. There is going to be a group of about 4-5 guys that are either right with me or have run a little bit faster than what I have run. Coach Henner said to hang with those guys, even though they might have run a little faster in the past. I have been improving every time I have run the steeplechase so far, so I'm ready to hang with them. The plan is to hang with them until about 600m to go and then try and out-kick in the end.
Q – What has been the best part of your freshman year at USC?
M.L. – I would 100 percent say track. I think track has been by far the most fun part of being out here. Obviously the whole lifestyle, being in L.A., the warm weather…it's an amazing school, a lot of fun. Track and field is what I look forward to the most every day, whether it's getting in the weight room or getting on the track for a hard workout or the races and the traveling to compete.
Q – Both of your parents ran cross country in college. Is that what got you interest in the sport?
M.L. – I think they definitely did play a huge part in my getting into running. They didn't force me to do it, but for example I did summer track when I was eight years old and then I didn't do it for a while. In sixth grade I picked up cross country again because that is when we were able to compete in middle school. Endurance-wise I was naturally talented, so it was just expected that it was what I was going to do, but I did really like it. They never forced me to do anything. I played soccer and basketball when I was younger, but in seventh grade I had to pick between cross country and soccer because they were in the same season and I ended up picking cross country. Once I got to high school, I kind of had to pick between running and basketball and I picked running. They would have supported whatever I did.
Q – Do you find the L.A. winters too harsh for you?
M.L. – That is a good one! In an average winter we usually get about four big storms of about a foot to three-feet of snow. One of the big reasons I came out here was because of the warm weather. All of the schools that I applied to were either down south like Florida or Georgia or out here in California. Maine is nice in the summer, but after 18 winters I was definitely ready to head out.
Q – How has the adjustment been to the L.A. lifestyle?
M.L. – It was actually really easy. Yeah, we are in L.A. and everything is a lot faster. I come from a really small town in Maine, but being at USC the campus is fairly isolated, so even though you are in the middle of a big city, you don't really feel it that much. You are just with your friends here, you are with a tight-knit community at USC. There aren't any major roads going through campus, so it doesn't really feel that much like a city. It made it really easy and I think makes it comparable to any other college campus would be no matter where it was.
Q – Anything else about you that we might not know?
M.L. – My coach might get mad at me for saying this, but sometime I want to try and do the decathlon. Back in middle school, I did high jump, I did hurdles and did well in it. I definitely would like the opportunity to do the high jump or decathlon one time. I think that would be fun.
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Q – What is the closest big city to where you grew up in Wells, Maine?
M.L.  – Portland is in Maine, but I don't know if I'd call that a big city. It is bigger than most towns in Maine, but I'd say Boston is the closest big city. I can drive about an hour and a half and be in the heart of Boston.
Q – Did you travel much before you came across country to attend USC?
M.L. – I did a little traveling. I came out West a couple of times with my high school track friends. We went to Vegas one time to do the hikes in the area and see the national parks (Red Rock & Valley of Fire) and last winter I went to Sedona (Arizona) for four days
Q – How did you end up at USC?
M.L. – I applied to a whole bunch of schools, all schools that had electrical engineering programs because that is what I wanted to do. I applied (here) and got in. Obviously the track team is amazing and pretty much the day after I got in, I started getting in contact with coach Henner (distance coach Patrick Henner). When he started sending me training stuff and talking about the program, I was pretty much hooked.
Q – What did your family think of you going so far away to school?
M.L. – Well, deep down they are happy for me on the outside because they know it is a great opportunity, but I'm sure partially they would have liked for me to go to the University of Maine or somewhere close to home…but they are happy for me.
Q – How do you keep in touch with your family?
M.L. – FaceTime, texts or just calling. The time difference is actually a little tricky. By the time I'm done with classes and training for the day it might be 5 or 6 o'clock, and 6 p.m. is 9 p.m. there and my parents have to get up and work in the morning. It is harder than you would imagine, even though it is only a three-hour time difference.
Q – You are majoring in Electrical Engineering now, what would you like to do with the degree?
M.L. – Well, I came into the school through Electrical Engineering, but I wasn't necessarily dead-set on it. For example, I have been taking a couple classes this semester to explore other options and other majors I might like. For example, Real Estate Development is one that I am highly considering right now and on my official majors list, it lists both Electrical Engineering and Real Estate Development right now. I am not totally giving up on Electrical Engineering, but I am exploring a couple other pathways.
Q – How has it been for you balancing school and track and field your first year at USC?
M.L. – It has definitely been a little more tricky now that we have been in competition for a while. The spring semester is definitely more difficult than the fall semester. Overall, it is not that bad. We do get to sign up for classes early because we have so many practice blocks. They make it really easy to do both and still excel. Obviously, as we still have some kids on the team that are still getting 4.0s.Â
Q – You are doing mostly the 3000m steeplechase this season. Had your run that before?
M.L. – I had not. In high school I was an 800m runner. Coach Henner mentioned it a couple of times this summer. He said I know you mostly did 800m in high school, but we are going to put you where you can best help the team out and I said perfect. So I showed up and I think it was the first week of practice and we did some hurdles drills, and then he pretty much said, yup, you are going to be a steeplechaser and I said it sounds good to me.Â
Q – What do you think of the steeplechase now?
M.L. – I absolutely love it. The distance did take a little getting used to, like I said since I was an 800m guy in high school. Running 3000m meters now, almost two miles, it is tougher, but I like the barriers and I like the water jumps. It makes the race a little more fun as opposed to just plain running. I definitely love it.
Q – You are already in USC all-time top 10 in the event. What are your plans as you represent the Trojans in the steeplechase at the Pac-12 Championships this weekend?
M.L. – There is going to be a lot of really good competition. There is going to be a group of about 4-5 guys that are either right with me or have run a little bit faster than what I have run. Coach Henner said to hang with those guys, even though they might have run a little faster in the past. I have been improving every time I have run the steeplechase so far, so I'm ready to hang with them. The plan is to hang with them until about 600m to go and then try and out-kick in the end.
Q – What has been the best part of your freshman year at USC?
M.L. – I would 100 percent say track. I think track has been by far the most fun part of being out here. Obviously the whole lifestyle, being in L.A., the warm weather…it's an amazing school, a lot of fun. Track and field is what I look forward to the most every day, whether it's getting in the weight room or getting on the track for a hard workout or the races and the traveling to compete.
Q – Both of your parents ran cross country in college. Is that what got you interest in the sport?
M.L. – I think they definitely did play a huge part in my getting into running. They didn't force me to do it, but for example I did summer track when I was eight years old and then I didn't do it for a while. In sixth grade I picked up cross country again because that is when we were able to compete in middle school. Endurance-wise I was naturally talented, so it was just expected that it was what I was going to do, but I did really like it. They never forced me to do anything. I played soccer and basketball when I was younger, but in seventh grade I had to pick between cross country and soccer because they were in the same season and I ended up picking cross country. Once I got to high school, I kind of had to pick between running and basketball and I picked running. They would have supported whatever I did.
Q – Do you find the L.A. winters too harsh for you?
M.L. – That is a good one! In an average winter we usually get about four big storms of about a foot to three-feet of snow. One of the big reasons I came out here was because of the warm weather. All of the schools that I applied to were either down south like Florida or Georgia or out here in California. Maine is nice in the summer, but after 18 winters I was definitely ready to head out.
Q – How has the adjustment been to the L.A. lifestyle?
M.L. – It was actually really easy. Yeah, we are in L.A. and everything is a lot faster. I come from a really small town in Maine, but being at USC the campus is fairly isolated, so even though you are in the middle of a big city, you don't really feel it that much. You are just with your friends here, you are with a tight-knit community at USC. There aren't any major roads going through campus, so it doesn't really feel that much like a city. It made it really easy and I think makes it comparable to any other college campus would be no matter where it was.
Q – Anything else about you that we might not know?
M.L. – My coach might get mad at me for saying this, but sometime I want to try and do the decathlon. Back in middle school, I did high jump, I did hurdles and did well in it. I definitely would like the opportunity to do the high jump or decathlon one time. I think that would be fun.
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