This year was an exciting year for the cross country team. With a Canadian Colleges Athletic Association national gold medal, the runners had to have been very proud of their work this year. Becky Pietersen sure was. As a second year nursing student, running is her life.

“I love it, I played soccer, hockey, basketball, and I wasn't that great at any of them but I was good at running, so I just went and did that,” said Pietersen.

In running, it is an individual sport but you are part of a team. It is a different dynamic than the typical team sports, such as soccer and hockey. In races team members individually compete for standings, but the team who wins is based on standings of the members. Pietersenwas a late comer for Fanshawe's team.

“Last year I was a late acceptance,” said Pietersen, “I didn't think I could run on the team. I joined halfway through the season, we were the under dogs and we surprised them, this year we had to keep up our status.”

And how did she do this year? Well she had a fifth place finish at the CCAA nationals.

“I placed fifth at nationals which was great! I was really happy with how I ran; I was psyched because the team won,” said Pietersen. “We won nationals last year, so we were coming in as defending champions. We had to perform well; it was really close between us and a school from Alberta.”

So for Fanshawe, the goal is to get to nationals and possibly three-peat. But what about for Pietersen, what does the future hold for her?

“I want to run as long as I can, I get to do it next year at University of Western Ontario, I also get to do track as well which I am excited about.”

So the future is bright for the young runner. It would not be out of reason to expect to see her name again in the near future placing in a national competition. Pietersen did have some advice and thoughts for anyone who wanted to run.

“Do it. It is going to be hard. Expect a lot of hard work but it will be worth it,” she said. “Also expect to get a new family. We see each other almost every day, we all got so close, it is awesome!”