Last season was a bit of a disappointment for the women’s cross country team. The Lakers finished the SUNYAC Championship in eighth place out of 10 teams. This season, however, is set to be one with a much higher ceiling, as head coach Evan Magnussen added seven more runners to the team. One is graduate student Mackenzie Ross, who spent her undergraduate career at SUNY Geneseo.

Ross came to Oswego State in order to complete her masters in education and did not expect to run cross country for the Lakers until she contacted Magnussen.

“It was definitely the masters program [that brought me to Oswego State] because, at [SUNY] Geneseo, to do the masters in education, you need to have an undergrad in education, [which I don’t have],” Ross said. “This was the one program where you could do your student teaching without having an undergrad in education, so I am doing it all in one year. The running portion did not really come into my head until I was doing some 5Ks during my year off. I was like ‘hey, I should email the coach because I can use my eligibility.”’

Although Ross will only be a Laker for one year, her impact may be felt for the years to come. She comes from a dynastic program at SUNY Geneseo, one that sends several runners to the NCAA Div. III Championship year in and year out. Because of this, Ross has the tools to show her teammates how to act like a champion.

“[We brought her in] a lot [because of her] leadership,” Magnussen said. “Having been at a program that is year after year at the top of the conference, top of the nation, [and Ross] being a national qualifier herself, she has a lot to offer the younger girls in terms of how to be great.”

As Magnussen mentioned, Ross reached her ultimate goal of being a national qualifier back in 2017. As a senior, she told her coach she wanted to qualify for the NCAA Div III Track and Field Championships. Although this was a lofty goal, she managed to reach it, as she participated in the 800m and 4x400m races in Alliance, Ohio.

“[Reaching nationals] was my goal senior year. We have a senior acknowledgement [celebration] at the end of our season, and our coach actually told me that he didn’t think I could do it,” Ross said. “So, it was actually really fulfilling that I made it there and was able to do well.”

She did extremely well at her only trip to nationals, as the SUNY Geneseo Knights ended the weekend in fifth place out of 80 universities. Personally, she finished in sixth place during the 800m and 12th in the 4x400m.

Even though she was a mid-distance runner at SUNY Geneseo, Magnussen is certain she has already made the conversion to long-distance running.

“It has been over a year since she really raced an 800m or mile,” Magnussen said. “In the last year, she has been focusing on long distance [like] 5ks.”

In this last year, Ross took a year off from school. As a result, she had time to train on her own and keep her student-athlete level of fitness up. Because of this, she was able to seamlessly transition to a top flight long-distance runner for the Lakers. Additionally, she can focus on becoming a tremendous leader for the Lakers. Her years at SUNY Geneseo can help teach the Lakers to become great, just like the Knights. The focus for Oswego State will be team-based instead of turning cross country into an individual sport.

“At Geneseo, I wasn’t in that conversation [of goal setting] because I wasn’t top seven. The conversation of team goals [at SUNY Geneseo] was always let’s win nationals because they know that they are going to go to nationals each year,” Ross said. “Here, it is more staying focused on doing well at SUNYACs, carrying that momentum into regionals and just staying focused as a team instead of just individuals.”

Although it was a bit of a reach, her entire mindset changed her during her senior year. This was highlighted by her coach at SUNY Geneseo, Dan Moore.

“[In order to make it to nationals,] she started cleaning up her sleep schedule, diet and nutrition,” Moore said. “She took all aspects of her life very seriously, and it paid off, not just by qualifying for nationals, but also by becoming All-American.”

Shea McCarthy | The Oswegonian