Julia Mark ’13 began her freshman year like many other first-year students: new, excited, and nervous about college. She took her first big leap as a college student by participating on the lady Cardinals’ varsity cross-country squad. now, after a year of college training and competing under her belt, mark enters into her second season with plans of using her strong freshman year to help her excel even more this season.

last year, mark had a remarkable season, earning nesCaC rookie of the year and re- ceiving all-nesCaC first-team honors and all-new england division iii honors. her first year running was an adjustment period, as she had to make the difficult jump from high school athletics to collegiate athletics.

“i had to get used to running in such large races,” she said. “it was intense and a bit

overwhelming.” To combat those feelings, mark used

the adrenaline and competitive atmosphere to come in second on the Wesleyan team and 47th in the nation with a time of 23:19 at nationals.

after her first year, mark now knows what to expect.

“racing is both preparing training-wise and mental-wise,” she said.

mark kept up her training intensity over the summer averaging 48 miles per week. big runs for the women’s team include ten miles running and three miles cross training. along with every other athlete who struggles during the summer to stay focused and disciplined to train when alone, mark pushed herself.

“i like running a lot,” she said. “When you are running by yourself, it’s nice because you’re just with your thoughts. it’s very peace- ful and Zen-like.”

mark trained throughout the summer knowing that each mile she ran would add up in the end for the final meet.

“it’s always hard not to have a team to train with,” she said. “it was great to come back and train with ev- eryone.”

For mark, a lot of her goals also overlap with the team’s goals.

“We just want everyone to stay healthy and motivated, and hope- fully make a name for ourselves at nationals this year,” she said.

The women’s cross country team has a great vibe that makes running all the more enjoyable, especially on those sunday mornings when all any- one would like to do is wake up and head to usdan for brunch, not run ten miles. however, getting through those tough practices strengthens the team bond and makes getting to brunch all the more rewarding.

“We can motivate each other without being overly competitive,” she said. “We have great potential on our team. it is only going to get bet- ter.”