After experiencing a rotator-cuff injury as a freshman tennis player, senior Casey Mackintosh decided to try Cross Country and Track instead, and has been a large contributor to both teams’ success ever since.

Mackintosh placed sixth place out of 159 competitors in the Don Cathcart Invite on Sept. 25.  She crossed the finish line of the 6k course with a time of 22:36.80.

At the end of her successful sophomore year, Mackintosh was awarded All-ODAC for Cross Country and set the ODAC 10k record for track. As a senior, she is one of the team captains for Cross Country.

One of Mackintosh’s’ main goals for every season is to remain healthy and injury-free, she said.

“The greatest challenges have definitely been injuries,” said Mackintosh. “Since we are in season all year long, it is very hard to stay healthy and pain free.”

Along with a year-long season comes the necessity of good time management.  Mackintosh said that she has learned to master managing her time by completing school work after class and before practice.

“Time management is crucial,” said Mackintosh. “I tend to use Saturday and Sunday afternoons to catch up on a lot of work.“

When she is racing, Mackintosh said that she keeps a clear head and focuses on “staying with the top pack” by following the lead runner’s moves. Her favorite part of the race is hitting the two mile mark, which signals that she is half-way done.  When competing in 10k races, she said that she usually sings songs in her head.

Despite injuries and the pressure of time management, Mackintosh said that she finds the sport extremely fulfilling and that she loves how it feels when she finishes a race.

“Crossing the finish line with my teammates after knowing that I have given it my all is extremely rewarding,” she said.

The women’s Cross Country team competes in the ODAC Championship at Guilford College on Nov. 1.