Carmie Prinsloo qualified for the World Student Cross Country Championships by winning the 3km race at the national student trials at Tuks on Saturday.
The Tuks Speech-Language Pathology student ran a tactically brilliant race, taking the lead within the first kilometre.
"There were some good athletes in the race, which is why I decided to up the pace quite early on. I was worried that if I left things too late, I would make things difficult for myself. Keeping the race 'honest', tiring my rivals, paid off," explained the South African Students 1500m champion.
According to Prinsloo, she had a good reason to run the 3km race rather than the 10km race at the USSA Cross Country Trials over the weekend.
"The FISU World Champs takes place from 14-15 March in Italy, which is in the midst of the track and field season. The aim is to be competitive. I don't want to race to make up the numbers. I am confident that the training I do as a 1500 and 5000-metre athlete will be adequate to be competitive in a 3-kilometre cross-country race.
"The thing about cross-country racing is that you have to study the route beforehand to work out your race tactics. I usually test my rivals on the route's uphill sections, making a surge. Or when running into a steep bend."
Prinsloo also wants to make a name for herself in the 1500 metres this season. Her immediate goal is to run 4 minutes 10 seconds. Actually faster, because the qualifying time for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games is 4:08.09. She believes it is doable.
"The 1500m is one of the most challenging races because it is about endurance and speed. One of my strengths is that I run tactically astutely, and my speed is not too bad either.
"The one thing I need to work on is my ability to accelerate in the final stages of the race. My coach, Wiam Grimes, and I are working on that. One of the things we are trying to change is my stride length. It might help me to be faster."