Susan Barth Leading Strong MU Women's Cross Country Team
11/3/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Nov. 3, 2000
For an individual sport like cross-country, it is sometimes difficult to get a team to gel together. However, sophomore runner Susan Barth has taken her individual talents and used them help her team.
Barth's second season as a Golden Eagle runner has been spectacular. She has been named Conference-USA runner of the week twice, finished first overall in two races, finished second at the Conference-USA meet, sparked her team to first place in the Conference Championship meet and helped the Golden Eagles to a No. 20 national ranking. Earlier this season, Barth placed 17th out of 239 runners at the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational, regarded as one of the top collegiate cross country events in the nation. Next up for Barth and the Golden Eagles will be the NCAA Great Lakes Region Championship on Saturday, Nov. 11, in Ypsilanti.
However, this individual, participating in an individual sport, owes it all to her teammates.
"There's no way I could have done what I have done without my teammates," says Barth. "We really work off of each other. In the races, Jesse (Swan) gets out first and if we can hang on to her in the beginning, someone will take over and finish the race strong."
More often than not, that someone has been Barth. Her best finish in the 2000 season was a 5K 17:46 at the Bradley Invitational, a race that she won convincingly. Her 21:20 at the 6K Conference-USA Championship was good enough for second place and her best 6K race of the year.
"That's the thing I like about this team -- Susan has been the No. 1 runner each meet, but we remain very much a team," said head coach David Uhrich. Uhrich was named Conference-USA Coach of the Year for the third time following the team's first- place finish in the conference meet.
"Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses," Uhrich continued. "The rest of the team wouldn't be running as well if Susan wasn't running as well and Susan wouldn't be running as well if the team wasn't running as well. Our team has really embraced the concept of being an team."
Since her days at Bluffton High School in Bluffton, Ind., Barth has always shown her talents as a runner. At times in high school, she was almost too fast for her teammates, something that changed when she arrived here at Marquette.
"I would dread workouts during high school, I would always end up by myself and it wasn't fun," recounted Barth. "Here, workouts are fun because we are able to work with each other and compete off of each other."
These daily workouts are something that has gotten Barth to the level that she is at today, one of the top runners in Conference-USA.
"I keep detailed track of the workouts from year to year to chart the performance of the runners," said Uhrich. "Susan ran so nice last year as a freshman, and this year her workouts have been even better, using these charts helps to build her confidence. The runners need to believe in themselves, their teammates and their coach. The ones who do that succeed, the ones don't fail."
With Barth running as well as she is now as a sophomore, there is no telling where she could end up in the coming two seasons.
"I just want to keep getting better, I really don't know what's reasonable and what's not. There is really no off-season for me. After cross country, I jump right into track and after track it is back to building miles for the next cross country season."
All the time she puts into running makes one think that there is little time for anything else. However, Barth keeps focused on her studies and was a Conference-USA Academic Medal Winner last season, maintaining a 3.75 GPA or above in Marquette's physical therapy program.
"Running does keep me busy, but if it means giving up that hour of television to study those are the sacrifices that I am willing to make. It's all worth it."