At one point in everyone’s life, they find that they will have to do something all on their own.

For some it may be that they move out of their parent’s house, find a job or even go to college.

When Ashley Mulvaney showed up for the first day of practice for cross country, she found that she’d be all on her own, for the moment.

“One by one, the women didn’t come, and no one showed up,” said Mulvaney when told that there would be others joining.

Most people may not see cross country as a team sport. To most, it’s just people simply running for the sake of running. What they fail to realize is that cross country is as much a team sport as baseball or basketball.

“It (track and cross country) is an individual sport, in that your individual performance creates a team total or score,” cross country coach Matt Hart said. “As a group or a team, when running you feed off of other people’s energy, and help push you.”

Running alone has its drawbacks.

“When you’re by yourself you have to be a self motivator, but if you’re running with other people as a team, you have people to help motivate you and help you improve,” said Mulvaney. “When I’m with a team I’m more competitive. If you have women who are faster, then they push you to work harder.”

Hart said that running alone, leaves the mentality up to the athlete. “Some athletes need to be pushed, and some can motivate themselves. It all depends on the athlete,” said Hart.
In cross country, a school needs five runners to compete. A first place runner gets one point, second place gets two, etc. and the lowest combined score wins. It doesn’t matter how good a top runner may be, if they can’t get the rest of their team to place with them, said Hart.

If the women’s cross country team doesn’t get at least five runners, Mulvaney will likely red shirt this year.

Red shirting means that she is still officially on the team, but she’s just not competing. “I’d be able to save eligibility for next year, and be on a team. I’ll still train all year and hopefully come into cross country in shape and help do some damage and improve my PRs (personal records).”

Mulvaney says that if more women signed up for cross country, this fall, she’d love to compete at the meets.

“I have no problem competing. I love to compete, ‘cause sitting out kind of sucks.”
During practice, she can’t always run pace with the men. Luckily she’s had Tiffaney Edwards, assistant cross country coach, to help her during practice. “It’s nice to have another woman to run with, it goes back to that team mentality,” said Mulvaney.

Growing up in Oakville WA, Mulvaney came to MHCC on a running scholarship last year and competed in both cross country and track and field. She ran cross country and track since 7th grade. Being one of seven children, her older siblings involved in running influenced her decision to run.

Her personal records (PR) for track and field are as follows: in the 1,500 meters she 5:24.91 on 4-2, in the 3,000 meters she ran 11:31.14 on 4-29, in the 5,000 meters she clocked in at 20:35.10 on 4-16, and she qualified for state with her time of 44:11.06 for the 10,000 meters on 4-2.

As discouraging as it may seem to be the only one running for the women, Mulvaney isn’t about to quit any time soon. “I like to run, I’ll run for fun. I just enjoy it, and it’s a lot of hard work, but it’s worth it,” said Mulvaney.

Coach Hart said that she’s showing improvement with the new cross country program, “She shows up, does what we ask her to, she’s coach-able, and she’s a student of the sport, constantly asking questions,” said Hart, “We just need to get those long legs of hers to turn over.”