Out of all the sports at N.C . State the team that is doing the best and has the best record may come to be a surprising one to some.

With the men’s team closing out a victory two weeks ago in the ACC’s and the women’s team tying for third with Virginia, fans may forget that it is not only football season; it is the peak of the cross country season as well. 

One might say “It is just running” but there is a lot of background work put into a sport with no timeouts , substitutions or water breaks. 

Being a part of the cross country team also means that one is a member of the indoor track team and the track and field squad as well.  Participating in three varsity sports in three different seasons ultimately means no offseason. 

Cross country training starts in the season after a one to two week break from track, where the team only runs three miles every other day. Then track season training begins following cross country again with a one to two week break running only every other day toward the end of November. 

Senior Andie Cozzarelli has been doing this cycle for four years now and learned early on that running hard every day is not going to get her where she needs to be; it is not all about running. 

“In order to perform well we have to be just as disciplined outside of practice as we are during practice,” Cozzarelli said. “A part of our training is injury prevention and we must keep up with our strength training including going to the chiropractor and getting massages regularly when something doesn’t feel right.”

Technician decided to do a walk through of a normal day in the running shoes of Cozzarelli who is balancing a 3.11 GPA in Civil Engineering and being on a top-notch team 

4:00 – “I wake up starving a need to eat usually a bowl of cereal, trail mix and coffee but then I go back to sleep for a little.”

6:15- “I wake up again and head to practice early with my roommate Anna Gillespie who is also on the team, to foam roll or get treatment.”

7:00 – “We begin with a warm up of two laps around the track, coordination drills and stretching.”

7:45- “I begin my 55-60 minute run which turns out to be about 8-8.5 miles around campus, followed by 8×100 meter strides when I am finished.”

9:00- “We all have to do a core workout or circuits that range from 15-30 minutes, then I shower and see my trainer for treatment and either head to class or work on homework.”

This is a normal morning for Cozzarelli , but practice ranges in distance coming to a total of 55-60 miles per week, and for the men’s side, normal mileage per week is around 80. 

However, Cozzarelli has not always been a runner. Attending Apex High, she was a part of the 4-A championship soccer team in 2007, but cross country has been her passion. In other sports, if an athlete puts all he or she can into practice, he or she is able to perform at that level during a match or game, but in cross country it is a different story.

“Running is a test of your own mental toughness, you can be perfect in practice but if you aren’t mentally tough come race day nothing you’ve done in practice really matters,” Cozzarelli said. “Other sports use running as a form of conditioning or punishment but in our case it’s just another day.”

Cozzarelli started out with an 18:03 best time on the 5k course in high school and has dropped over a minute while in college. Her hardest workout that puts her mental toughness to test is one where she has to run a mile on the track, head towards Miller Fields run twice around, back to the track again and repeat this accelerating in speed each circuit not including warm up or cool down. 

Despite the tough workouts, the competitiveness of the sport is what keeps Cozzarelli on her toes. This weekend while the football team is going up against Boston College, the men’s and women’s cross country teams will be competing in Louisville, Ky . at the NCAA Southeast Regional meets in hopes of proceeding to Nationals. 

“In running you’re in control of your own outcomes,” Cozzarelli said. “It’s awesome seeing the hard work you’ve put in pay off when you hit that mark you’ve been trying to reach but at one point didn’t seem possible. 

“There is nothing better than a last minute surge at the end of the race to beat an opponent at the line.”