By: Victoria White


 
    Readying for the conference championships on Thursday, Oct. 25 in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Mustangs cross country squad is focused and filled with enthusiasm. With preseason finished, the team is training for acquisition of first place in The American.
 
    The Mustangs stampeded through the season opener with a win at the Bear Twilight. Continuing to SMU's second meet, the Ken Garland Invitational, the team swept top positions and notched a first place team finish once again.
 
    Hannah Miller led the crew through a muddy course to earn first place. The four-time conference Cross Country Runner of the Week, said it was a welcome challenge.
 
    "It was a good course," Miller said after racing in the meet. "There were a couple of muddy patches. I quite enjoyed them, but definitely, just finding footing was a little bit rough there. I liked the aspect that it was two loops, so mentally, you could reset. Definitely a little bit challenging on the second half of the last loop, but that's always the case. It's just nice to push through, get some good practice in and implement what we've been doing in training."
 
    Svenja Ojstersek, with a strong and consistent second place finish, said the field was tough, yet she still had fun.

    "I feel like it was a really rough race, but definitely fun," Ojstersek said. "I definitely had to fight and try to close the gap to Hannah. I think we worked well together, especially in the beginning, and then, I tried to keep it up. It's fun."
 
    SMU won the American Athletic Conference Championships in 2016, and is looking to bring back another trophy this year.
 
    "We just want to make sure we have our eyes on going after the post season, so the conference championships and regionals," head coach Cathy Casey said. "Girls are just getting stronger and better each week, and we're going to keep going after that."
 
    At the halfway point in preseason, Casey explained what she was most proud of following the race in Denton, Texas.

    "I'm proud of the way that the girls went out and raced today," Casey said. "Kind of sloppy course conditions and humid weather, but we had a plan to go out and see if we could take what we did at 4K and move and improve on it for the 5K distance. And I think we did that really well.
 
We tried to use the first lap to pack up and see what we could do on the back side of the course. I'm proud of the way that the girls ran tough on the second part of the course. It's about working on things and getting better and all of them improved. So, good effort. But, we still have work to do to improve and keep moving towards our goals."
 
    The Mustangs then traveled to Louisville, Kentucky, and College Station, Texas, to earn a third and seventh place team finish in the competitive 29-team Greater Louisville Classic and 24-team Arturo Barrios Invitational, respectively.

    With the conference meet up next and two new members added to the roster, Emmakate Few and Olivia Heatley, SMU cross country is training hard to conquer their goals they set from the start.
 
    "In practice every day, we focus on hard work," Casey said. "We focus on our goals, and we know those two things are going to get us to where we want to be at the end of the season. This group, we have experienced girls that are leading the way, but we also have girls that are stepping up and trying to make their mark out here, too. This is a really, really good group of girls that are really passionate about what they love to do, and that's what makes a great team.

    This team is a positive group of girls and every morning we get out there and they are working super hard," Casey said. "They all are focused on what we want to achieve, and I couldn't be prouder of this group."
 
    Miller also said the team has been putting in a lot of work with a positive spirit.  
 
    "We're all right there for each other," Miller said. "Every training, we know everybody counts. It's just such a positive attitude getting out there every morning doing what we love. I think it's just a nice feeling of enthusiasm. Everyone knows that they've got to be accountable, be responsible, but also to have fun and really push each other."
 
    The closeness of the team, stands out to Ojstersek, too.
 
    "Honestly, it's my first cross country season and especially in cross country, we are working as a team, together," Ojstersek said. "[When] we practice, we are running together and not everyone on their own. We are closing gaps and in weights and stuff, we try to help each other. I really like that."
 
    At the start of the race, she said excitement to compete can even give a burst of energy for the sprint off the starting line.
 
    "I think it's the energy that you get out of the first kick," Ojstersek said. "It was maybe a little bit too fast, but you're excited about the race, you want to keep it up and that's why you feel a burst of energy with the kick at the beginning."
 
    Describing the feeling of crossing the finish line first for her team, Miller broke into a smile.
 
    "I mean this group of girls is phenomenal," Miller said. "I love leading them. I love having them right there behind me. It's an equal job. We push each other, and I really love that. I wouldn't want to be doing anything else."