CEDAR CITY, Utah - With the Western Athletic Conference championships on the horizon, athletes in the Southern Utah cross country program have begun preparing for their last hurrah.

For some veteran racers, this marks the end of an era in their career and potentially one of the last collegiate cross country races they'll run. However, for many of the underclassmen, a final season in the WAC is only a warm-up before tackling the Big Sky Conference.

With plenty of eligibility left for the campaign into a new collection of foes, true-freshman Aspen Hacker is only on the start line of what's shaping up to be a promising four-year race with the Thunderbirds.

Starting Strong

Since joining the Southern Utah team, Hacker's impact has been exceptional. In a solid start to the year at the Utah Valley University Invitational, she placed 22nd in the three-mile with a time of 18:26.8.

It was at the UC Riverside Invitational, though, that she truly emerged as a star. Finishing 17th in a field of 219 athletes, Hacker not only led her team but shattered the freshman 6K record with a 20:55.5.

Continuing her breakout, she put on a show in front of Southern Utah's fans at home, crossing the line first for the Thunderbirds again at the Color Country Invitational. An impressive 4K time of 14:40.3 granted her fourth place.

Closing out an outstanding opening to her year, Hacker's 21:11.6 6K at the Bronco Invitational landed her 15th among 151 racers. Her performance, along with standout showings from sophomore Audrey Hales and redshirt-freshman Nixie Killpack, boosted the team to third place in a field of 16.

Despite exceptional finishes in the regular season, Hacker is far from finished. She's keeping her eyes on the prize before the postseason comes to a close.

"Conference is coming up next Friday. I want to place at least top ten. Coming in the home meet, I placed fourth, and I know I can do better than that performance," Hacker explained. "I want to get a sub-21 again, and beat my P.R. if possible."

Keeping Her Stride

While inspiring results primarily show on the race course, only a mere fraction of the time in a season — less than three hours total for many collegiate cross country runners — is spent competing.

It's in the long days of conditioning and preparing that Hacker and the Southern Utah teams build their way to success. In challenging moments of difficult training, Hacker can turn to her roots at Kern Valley High in California for a boost of self-confidence.

Those who knew Hacker during her high school career would hardly be surprised that she's already broken a Thunderbirds record. Even though she didn't join cross country until her junior year at Kern Valley, she shattered the school's record books. To top it off, in her senior season, she earned first in the High Desert League Finals.

More than records or first-place finishes, Hacker's proudest accomplishment is representing her hometown at the Promoting Excellence in Activities and Athletics Awards.

"In the area I grew up in, they have these awards they put on," Hacker shared. "It pulls from a huge selection of different athletes from Bakersfield and the tiny towns outside. I won the Athlete of the Year twice in a row, which I didn't think was possible. Coming from a small town, people didn't even know where Kern Valley was when I went out to Bakersfield."

A hometown hero with hopes of collegiate competition, Hacker and her high school coach shared her decorated resume with schools of interest. When her coach heard back from Southern Utah University, also known as the University of the Parks, Hacker couldn't pass up the opportunity.

"I grew up in a super outdoorsy area where we were kayaking, mountain biking, rock climbing, snowboarding, and doing everything outside," Hacker stated. "That's what brought me here: the outdoors and all it has to offer."

Crossing the Finish as a Family

Cedar City provides Hacker a great location to explore the outdoors, but she was nervous about the new exercise site at first. 

"Coming from 2,000 feet [of elevation] all the way up to 5,800, I didn't feel it as much as I thought I would," Hacker said. "We went up to Brian Head my first week, and that helped with the altitude adjustment. Getting way up and then coming back down made it a whole lot easier."

Hacker adapted to the culture in Southern Utah almost as quickly as the environment.

"I have so much fun with these girls," Hacker shared. "We're all here to push each other and bring each other up as much as possible. We stay in a pack during workouts. If someone is dragging behind, you bring them up with you."

Although cross country results are often looked at as individual times and places, Hacker finds more meaning in practicing and racing as a unified team.

"You're not always trying to just beat everyone out," Hacker explained. "It may seem like that when it comes to a race, but you still want to carry your teammates with you. It's not as individual as you would think, and that's what Coach [Eric] Houle's trying to teach us."

With a powerful combination of individual drive and team camaraderie, Hacker has entered the world of collegiate racing and is here to stay. Her first cross country season may be nearing an end, but she has plenty of fuel left in the tank to establish a lasting legacy with the Thunderbirds.

"Aspen has been a great addition to our team," Houle stated. "She's hard-working, highly competitive, and she'll accomplish big things while at Southern Utah."

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