On Tap with ... Cecilia Barowski

Q: How did you get started with running?

A: Well, I would say it started off with walking first. One foot in front of the other, you know … All my sisters ran track in high school, and I started running when I was in sixth grade with a town club team on Sundays and Tuesdays. I joined my first official track team in seventh grade for my junior high school, and then I took off from there.

Q: What is your most memorable track accomplishment so far in your Princeton career?

A: Our last meet, H-Y-P, is our second biggest meet of the indoor season besides Heps. I got my personal record in the 400m my junior year in high school in February, and almost exactly two years from that date, I finally PR’ed again in the 400m. I plateaued for two years and then demolished my old PR by half a second.

Q: How have your teammates corrupted you?

A: Someone has an awkward fetish on the team. I won’t name names ... [senior sprinter] Sarah Houtmann. They make me dance a lot. I don’t know if I would call that corruption, but more of a ... happy interaction. We happily interact sometimes.

Q: What is the best thing about being an athlete on campus?

A: I don’t find any distinct benefit on campus compared to a regular student, other than getting free sneakers. I just love practice — a lot of close proximity to people who have very colorful personalities that not a lot of people get. It’s like a guaranteed three hours of friend-time built into my day.

Q: What is the worst thing about being an athlete on campus?

A: Ten hours on a bus just to go to Boston.

Q: Does the team have any odd rituals or team traditions?

A: I don’t know if pudding wrestling is a tradition, but it is pretty odd.

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Q: Do you have any superstitions or pre-race rituals?

A: For every race, I always wear my hair in French braids because it is arguably a more aerodynamic hairstyle than a ponytail.

Q: What is your biggest concern while racing?

A: Peeing myself. It happens to people! It happens a lot to cross country runners. It happens every time I run a really long distance. When you run fast enough you lose control of your ... insides ... and then you finish a race and you’re like, “Oh, well, something’s warm ... ” It happened during my first race in high school. I had to borrow shorts from [sophomore heptathlete] Beth [McKenna]. The thing is, though, the shorts I was initially wearing weren’t mine to begin with. And the ones I wore for the next race I peed in, too. I’ve gotten better! Luckily the ones I had were yellow anyway, so ...

Q: Who is your quirkiest teammate?

A: Oh, boy! Can I list like 12? I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t have a quirk. Sarah [Houtmann]’s little butt fetish makes her a bit quirky. [Junior sprinter] Joie [Hand] is just a bubbly quirk sometimes. I’d say most people are quirky, though. It’s hard to pick one.

Q: If you were coach for a day, what would you do?

A: We would play a game we played with [assistant] Coach Ed [Roskiewicz] at the beginning of the year — handball. We would play lots of games. And Twizzlers too. There would definitely be snacks involved like waffles and Nutella.

Q: What is your most recent diary entry?

A: Oh! Well, it’s not a diary per se, but I am scrapbooking my races, and I put a little commentary of like ... oh shoot, I said “like” ... of what the race was like — that one’s okay, though — how I was feeling during it, any particular feeling, so I guess my most recent one would be from H-Y-P, so it was a happy entry that I PR’ed.

Q: If you were to break out into spontaneous song, what song would it be?

A: “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” Whitney Houston has been stuck in my head for the past couple of days.

Q: If you could trade any physical attribute with another one of your teammates, who would you trade with, what would you trade and why?

A: [Junior pole vaulter] Lauren Tauscher has beautiful nail beds. She has very shapely nails. Lauren Tauscher’s nails, [senior pole vaulter] Bianca [Reo]’s abs, [sophomore sprinter] Carrie [Vuong]’s butt and Sarah Houtmann’s face would make a beautiful being.