Junior Taryn Surtees took first at the UAA championship and was named UAA Most Valuable Athlete for the second straight year. (Mary Butkus | WUSTL Photo Services)

Hometown: Chagrin Falls, Ohio
Major: Spanish/Biology

Taryn Surtees finished first with a 21:07 as the women’s cross country team won the 2009 UAA championship. Surtees earned the UAA Most Valuable Athlete title for the second year in a row and is the Student Life Athlete of the Week.

Student Life: When did you start running?

Taryn Surtees: I started running track in 7th grade. I ran the 800-meter race after finding that hurdles didn’t really work out for me. The year after I started running cross country as a last minute decision to stay in shape for track. However over time I began to appreciate cross country more and more.

SL: Out of three years running for Wash U., you’ve been the UAA most valuable athlete twice. How was it different the second time?

TS: Last year it was a lot more exciting. It was a really big goal of mine. However this year I’m a lot more focused on the team, I was worried more about how the team was performing at conference rather than just myself. It ended up putting a lot less pressure on me, which is when I run the best, so it was probably a big factor in my race time. Being the UAA most valuable athlete was more of a steeping stone to the greater goals I have this year.

SL: What are your personal goals for the season?

TS: I haven’t talked to the coach yet, but I am really hoping to be in the top 10 at nationals. I was hoping for top 5, and that’s still at the back of my mind, but there are a lot of variables and strong runners who are going to be there, so it’s really more realistic to aim for top 10.

SL: Is there a certain time you want to beat?

TS: Well at Oshkosh I got a 34 second personal best of 21:07, so breaking 21 minutes would be awesome. We have regionals at the same course as Oshkosh, so I hope I will do as well as I would like. But I’m definitely more focused on the team doing well. I was more worried about time when I was in track, but in cross country I’m a lot more focused on the team.

SL: How do you balance work, being a pre-med major, and running?

TS: It’s definitely a learning process, and without a doubt something that I’ve learned how to do with time. I used to feel really bad in freshman year when I couldn’t concentrate on my work on the bus because people were talking, but since then I’ve gotten a lot better at managing my time. I know that I won’t have my team forever so Id rather be spending time with them when I can at the meets, rather than worrying about work that I may be missing. We do run at 6:30 in the morning so that requires getting enough sleep, which can be hard when you have an exam the next day. It’s definitely a trade off between work and running, but I’m getting a lot better at balancing it with time.

SL: You’ve got another year after this. Do you think the Wash U girls can win UAAs again? And do you think you could get most valuable athlete again?

TS: I don’t know. Everything depends on being healthy, who’s in the conference, or if some crazy freshman comes out of nowhere, you never really know. A lot of things could happen. I don’t think we’ve ever had a three time champion at the UAAs, so I would love to be the first.

SL: Is there anything you want people to know about cross country that they may not know about?

TS: Yes! Races are six kilometers! So many people come up to me asking what event I run in cross country. Every cross country race is the same distance, 6K!

Cross country competes at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships on Nov. 14 in Oshkosh, Wis.

The women were led by junior Taryn Surtees with a time of 21:04, finishing sixth overall. The men were led by sophomore Michael Burnstein who had a time of 24:48, finishing 13th in the meet.

Surtees was followed by senior Molly Schlamb, finishing 10th overall, with a time of 21:55. Rounding off the Bears’ top three female finishers was junior Jessica Londeree, who was good for a 20th place finish with a time of 22:09.

“The meet was awesome; we had a great team race with tons of personal bests,” Schlamb said.

The women’s team was only beaten by top-ranked Calvin College, whose runners combined for 80 points in the meet, beating out Washington University by 13 points. Coming so close to the first place victory showed the Wash. U. team that they have promise to be one of the top contenders in the cross country field, but lots of practice is necessary for that to happen.

“Yesterday showed that we are going to be ready to make a really strong showing in the upcoming meets,” Schlamb said. “The next few weeks we have some tough training to get through.”

Following Burnstein in the men’s race was freshman David Hamm (25:18, 35th), senior Alex Bearden and junior Dave Spandorfer (25:30, 51st), fresh off of an early season knee injury. Finishing off for the Red and Green was sophomore Malik Nabulsi at 64th place, 10 seconds behind Spandorfer.

“We have four weeks until we return to Oshkosh for the nationals qualifying meet in one of the most difficult regions in the country, but by that time we will be a much faster and smarter team,” Nabulsi said. “We’ve only just begun increasing the intensity of our training.”

The team is focusing on training for the time being to get ready for the University Athletic Association meet. “We’ve got some difficult competition from Emory and NYU, but if things keep going the way they have been, it will be a very successful weekend,” Nabulsi said.

Despite all that, the team is keeping its eyes on the prize, with Regionals looming in the middle of November. They are buckling down on their training while figuring out what doesn’t work and fixing it. “Specifically we are increasing our speed work but still maintaining our mileage. We need to continue to work hard in practice to prepare for UAAs and regionals,” Burnstein said.

With enough hard work and determination, this team looks ready for great things at regionals and beyond. “We will line up at nationals knowing that we are ready to see what this team can do,” Schlamb said. “I’m excited to see what we can accomplish together.”

Against mostly Division I squads, junior Tayrn Surtees was able to lead the women with a time of 18:04:28, and sophomore Michael Burnstein led the men with a time of 25:06:99. Surtees finished 21st and Burnstein finished 45th.

Running against Division I teams like University of Kentucky and Western Kentucky University, two runners on the women’s team were able to break the 20-minute barrier: juniors Jess Londeree (18:44:48) and Sangeeta Hardy (18:55:91).

Freshman runner David Hamm ran for 25:47:62, finishing second among the Washington University runners. Sophomore Malik Nabulsi, who beat his time from last week’s meet by over a minute, said, “I think we left this meet a much better team because we took risks during the race and learned from them.”

Senior Molly Schlamb, the second finisher for the Red and Green, finished 10 seconds behind Surtees. “The race was awesome with perfect weather, a fast course and great competition,” Schlamb said. This is the second meet in a row in which Schlamb finished second for the Bears. Schlamb beat her time from last week’s meet by just under a minute.

The teams continue to have their eyes set on the regional meet in November. The teams did well to continue their drive to qualify, which senior Zach Griffen attributes to the fact that Saturday’s meet was the best meet the teams will run all year. “This meet was all about getting our feet wet,” Griffen said. “NCAA regionals and nationals will be similar to yesterday.”

If Wash. U. runners continue running like they have been, they will be able to run at regionals and continue their trek to qualifying for nationals. The team is slowly working its way up and aiming to field an experienced squad.

“Come regionals we are going to have a strong seven [runners] toe the line, and we will all feel the excitement,” Nabulsi said.