By Amelia Kibbe
Editor in Chief
For senior cross country co-captain Aubrie Russell, running is an essential part of her life.
She’s got a lot of experience, too. Russell began competitive running as soon as she entered junior high school, meaning she’s been competing for almost 10 years.
The Candor, New York ,native met with a lot of early success. A leader on her high school team, Russell earned a spot in the state cross country meet every year beginning in eighth grade.
Now, almost at the end of her collegiate running career, Russell said she still has some goals to reach.
“My goal for this season is to break 19 definitively,” said Russell, a biology major. “I’d really like to run a 5k on a cross country course around 18:45 before I leave here.”
And she is off to a good start, leading the team and finishing 39th overall with a time of 19:27 in her most recent meet in Grand Island on Sept. 12.
Another challenging goal for Russell this season is mentoring the young athletes as one of the team’s captains.
“I’m personally still learning the difference between when you have to stand back and let people make mistakes, versus when you really do need to intervene in a situation,” she said. “I think it’s more important in cross country to be a leader by example, and I think Kerry [Caher, team co-captain] does an exemplary job of that.”
Russell added knowing she helps the team makes her job worth it.
“My favorite thing is when someone personally tells me I’ve made a positive difference as a leader,” she said.
One team member who said she looks up to Russell is Allison Field.
“I think she is a great captain because she is extremely dedicated,” Field said. “She works very hard and it’s evident in everything that she does. I definitely look up to her in running but also in the classroom, as she is in many of my chemistry classes and brings her dedication there, too. All in all, she’s a great person to be around and a great role model for the younger girls on the team.”
Teammates like Field are one of the best parts of the sport, said Russell.
“My favorite part of being on a team is having people to push you,” she said. “With running, it’s important to have someone to tell you when you’re going too hard, too easy or when you’re being too hard on yourself.”
Russell said although she doesn’t have her future all figured out, she knows running will be a part of it.
“To be honest, I haven’t quite figured out how I’m going to keep racing in the future, but I know I will be running,” she said. “I want to
work my way up to marathons. Running is such an essential part of my life, and I can’t imagine not doing it. For me, running is a time of the day when I sync my body and my mind, so that by the end of a good run I actually feel like I could just keep going forever.”
Russell will next compete with the team Saturday at the Harry Anderson Invitational in Rochester.
Her strategy?
“I’m very competitive,” she said. “It’s really fun to just hit it in the middle of the race and start chasing people down one by one.”
