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TechnographCassie's Hunt...for a national championship
By Erin Foley
Posted: 11/15/05 Section: Sports
"I knew she didn't do a lot of mileage in high school; she wasn't heavily trained," Harvey said. "Unlike a lot of people that I was recruiting, this girl didn't even run all year round, and she was still a state champion when I was looking into her, so I was like, 'Wow she must be pretty talented, just naturally gifted.'"
In her three years at Illinois, Hunt has received countless honors in cross country. In 2003, she was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, becoming the first Illini to receive the accolade, and became the first Illinois freshman to qualify for the NCAA Championships. As a sophomore, she was named Midwest Regional Runner of the Year after setting the 6K school record, course record and personal best time with a time of 20:21. Hunt became the first Illinois woman to win the individual regional title.
She stole the show at the Big Ten Championships three weeks ago. She earned a place in the Illinois history books and became the first Illinois woman to ever win a Big Ten individual title.
It was only a matter of time, Harvey said, before Hunt was able to break out of her slump.
"When somebody is that fit and that talented, at some point something is going to change," Harvey said. "Like for any athlete, it can be baseball or football, at some point something is going to change."
Doing individual workouts in the days leading up to the Big Ten meet, Hunt said, were what allowed her to get her confidence back. Junior teammate and roommate Stephanie Simms said she was happy to see that Hunt did not let the little things get in the way of working toward her goal and that it was an honor to work with someone so talented.
"I think I was just as excited as she was," Simms said of Hunt winning the title. "All year long, I thought she could win; everyone just kind of lost sight of it, but it's definitely an honor."
The three-time All-American in track and field knows her accomplishments are something unparalleled in distance running at Illinois.
In her three years at Illinois, Hunt has received countless honors in cross country. In 2003, she was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, becoming the first Illini to receive the accolade, and became the first Illinois freshman to qualify for the NCAA Championships. As a sophomore, she was named Midwest Regional Runner of the Year after setting the 6K school record, course record and personal best time with a time of 20:21. Hunt became the first Illinois woman to win the individual regional title.
She stole the show at the Big Ten Championships three weeks ago. She earned a place in the Illinois history books and became the first Illinois woman to ever win a Big Ten individual title.
It was only a matter of time, Harvey said, before Hunt was able to break out of her slump.
"When somebody is that fit and that talented, at some point something is going to change," Harvey said. "Like for any athlete, it can be baseball or football, at some point something is going to change."
Doing individual workouts in the days leading up to the Big Ten meet, Hunt said, were what allowed her to get her confidence back. Junior teammate and roommate Stephanie Simms said she was happy to see that Hunt did not let the little things get in the way of working toward her goal and that it was an honor to work with someone so talented.
"I think I was just as excited as she was," Simms said of Hunt winning the title. "All year long, I thought she could win; everyone just kind of lost sight of it, but it's definitely an honor."
The three-time All-American in track and field knows her accomplishments are something unparalleled in distance running at Illinois.
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