Erin Teschuk is riding one hell of a wave right now.
After winning the individual title at the NCAA Midwest Regional in Lawrence, Kansas this past Friday, she qualified for NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship.
This is the second year in a row that she has done that.
Teschuk won that race well ahead of everyone else. She finished the six-kilometer course in 20:07.7 minutes which was five full seconds faster than anyone else.
After winning the race in Kansas, she was named Midwest Region Cross Country Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row.
She has won all three races she has entered.
She is one of only two undefeated Division I runners in the country.
She won the Stanford Invitational on Sept. 26. She won the Summit League Championship on Oct. 31. Finally, she won the before mentioned Midwest Regional on Nov. 13.
“It’s exciting. I think it gives me some confidence going into this weekend that I can compete with that top group of NCAA girls,” Teschuk said Wednesday. “I’m really excited to see cause I feel like I haven’t been fully tested yet … I feel like I’ll be able to run a lot faster with some tougher competition this weekend.”
Teschuk has been very adamant about how important it is to have the support of her teammates.
“It’s so important,” she said. “The thing about track is it’s not always fun. It’s a grind a lot of the days. So, having teammates who are supportive and going through it with you I think just makes it that much better. You support each other and it makes going to practice fun. I don’t think any of us could get through some of these workouts without each other.”
On continuing to exceed expectations:
“I think the main thing is to keep setting goals and to continue to adjust those goals,” Teschuk said. “We set the bar high and even if you end up coming up a bit short of that it makes it so things that used to be your main goals like winning a Summit League title are now a small stepping stone towards bigger goals.”
Teschuk will race on Saturday morning at Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky.