GEORGETOWN, TEXAS - Junior, Breanna Steele represented Southwestern University Women's Cross Country competing at the NCAA National Championships on Saturday, November 23rd. Breanna finished the 6K with a time of 22:13.5, where she finished in 79th place out of 293 individuals! Highest finish ever for a Southwestern University Cross Country Runner at the NCAA D3 National Meet.  

Coach Joe Sponsel said this post meet about Breanna "I'm extremely proud of Brea! The National Meet was a new environment for us and she handled it well. She stayed focused on what she needed to get into the right headspace for the race and compete with the best. She had her sights set on a higher finish and I know she will be here again next year to achieve that, but the season she had is very impressive. Not just that she ran fast times, earned medals, and broke records, but more so how she got there. It wasn't by accident.It was very purposeful each step of the way starting with a conversation we had at the end of cross country season last year. She stayed dedicated to the work in training, the necessary sacrifices outside of it, and never was satisfied with achieving one of the small steps of progress, though still enjoyed the journey along the way. The intentionality of her last year was vital because when we look back on the season we know how she improved so we can alter the plan to do even better next year, hopefully bringing some more Pirates with our crew."

Breanna Steele gave her thoughts following the meet saying "Being at the national stage was a really really valuable experience. I worked really hard to not only get there, but to be a competitor at that level. It's pretty tough to walk away not achieving everything I believe I'm capable of, but I learned so much. I learned about how to prepare, what to expect once I'm there, and what I want to do differently next time. I was serious about not wanting to be mediocre, and I'm still not done tearing down that narrative for myself and for Southwestern's XC program as a whole. I know I have a lot more to give and I think for me, nationals is an important catalyst for what's to come."