SAC Student-Athlete Insider: Jenny Grant

PREVIOUS POSTS  [Aug. 20]

These past two weeks have been full of school and cross country. It's been nice getting into a routine and being back in the classroom. Tusculum is one of only four schools in the United States that runs on a block system. This means we take one class for three hours a day for eighteen days. This is one block and we have four blocks in one semester. We have four days off before starting the next block. Most people ask if it's overwhelming to be in class for three hours everyday and if we feel rushed since we complete a whole class in only eighteen days. However, the block system makes it very easy to schedule time for other activities and I feel like I learn the information better because I am working with it everyday for three hours. It makes it easier to complete homework and study for tests. It's also nice for athletes because when we travel, we only miss that one class and don't have to worry about a test in this subject, an essay in this one, and a reading in this one. We only have a week and a half left in this block!

Aside from class and practice, I've been busy with other activities on campus like President's Society, in which I give tours to prospective students. It's a lot of fun to meet the students and their families. This week we will have our first meeting for the Pioneer Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (PSAAC). I am excited for PSAAC to start because we've been working hard on getting a student section started at our home athletic games and we have a lot of fun events planned for this upcoming year! I've also been working on applying to graduate school and finishing my psychology research project. Applying to graduate school is a lot of work with writing personal statements, getting recommendation letters, sending transcripts and GRE scores, and more. It's overwhelming sometimes not only because of the amount of time involved in applying, but also to know that this will be my career path. It's a big decision, but I am looking forward to it!

We ran our first meet in Spartanburg, SC at the Eye Opener Invitational! It was exciting because it was one of the bigger meets we will go to, with close to 200 runners in each race, and we got to show off our new uniforms! Everyone was a little nervous before since it was the first race of the season and such a big one at that, and it was hot and humid (91°F). We all focused in during the warm-up and were ready to go. The course was mostly flat with some little inclines and a bigger hill at the three mile mark. The course was grass, but a few places turned into rocky dirt. I felt great the first two miles, but the heat started to get to me during the third mile in the form of a side stitch. I just tried to breathe through it and keep going, but it slowed me down a lot. Even though I felt like I hydrated properly before the race, it probably was not enough for the high heat and humidity. I finished in 62nd with a time of 23:08. I was disappointed in my performance because I know that I've worked hard enough over the summer and the past few weeks to be running faster than that and I felt like I was just using the side stitch as an excuse. However, I know that it was only the first race and it was hotter than what we're used to running in at practice at 6AM, so I tried not to get down on myself too much and just look toward next week's race at Lenoir-Rhyne.

Even though I was disappointed in my own performance, I was so proud of everyone's performance on both the men's and women's sides. The women finished seventh out of fourteen Division II teams, while the men finished eighth out of fourteen. The men defeated SAC rival Carson-Newman and were only 3 points behind Newberry. I was especially proud of them considering the physical problems our boys had during the race, which included a pulled hamstring, a bloody foot, a heat stroke, shin splints, and knee problems. The women did really well in finishing closer together than we have before. The first three of us finished within a minute of each other and then the next three also finished within a minute of each other. Overall, I am really proud of and happy about our performance. This is one of the best starts Tusculum has ever had to a cross country season, despite some injuries and the heat. I am excited to see how we will do this weekend at LR, but especially the rest of the season. Go Pioneers!

- Jenny Grant, Tusculum cross country