MSU’s Jennifer McPherson will head to the NCAA Cross Country National Championships on Monday in Terre Haute, Ind.
McPherson, a senior from Nampa, Idaho, earned her bid to the championships with her 16th-place finish at the NCAA South Regionals.
She also earned All-South Region honors, along with sophomore teammate Annie Falor.
McPherson becomes only the third female to compete in the NCAA championships for MSU, and the second MSU woman to compete in all three championships-cross country, and indoor and outdoor track.
Howevever, McPherson does not feel that her experience in the track and field championships will be similar to what she will likely face in the NCAA meet.
“Track and cross country are totally different sports, even though most people lump them together,” McPherson said. “In cross country, it’s bumpy, muddy and hilly. It’s going to be a lot different.”
McPherson credits her teammates as one of the reasons for her success this season and one of the driving forces to make her become a better runner.
“I’m just so glad that I had my teammates with me this whole season,” McPherson said. “Everyone had great attitudes and pushed each other to be our best.
“My favorite thing about this season is the team unity. Everyone had a collective goal, and we all set out to accomplish that goal. It’s been difficult to do that in previous years.”
A strength McPherson has going into the national championships is that she will be facing many runners she has competed against all season.
“I will see a lot of the girls I compete against all week,” McPherson said. “The SEC is so good that a lot of the runners in our conference compete at nationals. There’s going to be a lot of really good runners there, some very good 5K and 10K runners.”
McPherson has been training very hard for the upcoming championships and is taking the opportunity seriously.
However, she says that she will not change her workouts this late in the season because they have worked for her so far.
“This is what got me here,” she said. “I don’t think I should change the way I practice because it’s what prepared me to come this far.”
McPherson feels that the team is one of the strongest in recent years, and her only disappointment about the championships is that her teammates will not be competing with her.
“I had hoped that the whole team would get to go,” McPherson said. “We have a great team this year and had a really good shot of making the championships. I really wish that had happened.”
The women’s portion of the championship will begin at 11 a.m.