For Katie Hursey, it was merely a way to stay in shape for another sport.

In high school, when Hursey decided lacrosse wasn’t for her, she took up track – running helped her stay in good shape for the upcoming soccer season. But when Hursey made the soccer team as a junior, she declined the opportunity because she preferred running.

During her senior year, she dropped swimming from her repertoire as well.

When all was said and done, track consumed a lifestyle Hursey once populated with a sport for every season. As a senior at North Carroll high school, she settled in on track, indoor track and cross country, which turned out to be the right move. Currently she helps pace the No. 10 Syracuse cross country team during one of the program’s best seasons in history.

‘She’s definitely a huge part of (the team),’ Rebekah MacKay, Hursey’s teammate said. ‘Without her, we wouldn’t be as good.’

So for this season, Hursey has made a name for herself running at her best when it’s counted the most.

In addition to a third place finish at the Colgate Invitational early in the season, Hursey has recorded Syracuse’s best times in her two most recent events – the Pre-Nationals invitational (21:14, 23rd overall) and the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational (17:26; 7th overall) – against some of the nation’s top competition.

‘She’s done everything we’ve asked her and more,’ head coach Chris Fox said.

Fox had known about Hursey’s past as a multi-sport athlete, which he knew could produce explosive performances on race day.

As a freshman, Hursey earned Northeast All-Region honors with a 21st-place finish at the regional meet, and placed 23rd at the Big East Championship.

‘She kind of showed in her freshman year that she could be that good, but this time last year she was a little off her game,’ Fox said.

A season later, that explosiveness Hursey showed as a freshman seemed to have vanished. Despite winning the John Reif Memorial Run and finishing second at the Harry Lang Invitational, Hursey’s performance in the more prestigious tournaments dropped off.

She placed 70th at the Paul Short Invitational and dropped to 53rd at the Big East Championship.

‘We couldn’t get her to come around, so she really wasn’t running that well this time a year ago,’ Fox said. ‘But she kind of re-dedicated herself to the sport and figured out what it took to be good and now she’s running great.’

Neither Fox nor Hursey can pinpoint the cause of her problems last season (though Hursey speculates it could have been purely mental), but the junior claims to have worked through them with sheer strength and determination.

‘Just because you have down time doesn’t mean you’re not going to get better another season,’ she said. ‘You can’t ever give up because one thing goes badly.’

It’s that kind of attitude she tries to pass on to her teammates. And consequently, Hursey’s teammates have taken notice of her efforts.

‘She’s always there to work hard and it’s good to work next to her as a teammate,’ McKay said. ‘It’s good to push back and forth with someone who is improving.’

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Published on October 27, 2009 at 12:00 pm