HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. - The Centenary University women's and men's cross country teams are set to compete at the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Championship on Saturday, Nov. 2. Before the gun sounds for the start of the race, Cailin O'Hara an intern in the sports information office and current member of the cross country team, sat down with Cassidy Haller, the Cyclones' top female racer, to talk about her career.

Haller, who began her collegiate career as a basketball player, battled through multiple knee injuries before turning her thoughts to cross country. Last year in her first season on the cross country team, Haller finished fifth at the CSAC Championship and earned All-CSAC accolades.  
 

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1. What was the hardest part about transitioning from basketball and soccer to cross country? How do you think transitioning into different sports has helped you?
The hardest part about transitioning from basketball and soccer to cross country was watching my teammates and not being able to play. Since I never ran cross country before college, I had to condition myself for long-distance rather than short-quick sprints. I was unfamiliar with how the scoring of cross country worked so I had to learn that too. I believe transitioning to different sports has helped me become a well-rounded athlete. It has made me appreciate each sport more because I know the work that goes into it at the collegiate level. 
 
2. What made you want to continue playing sports after the injuries?
Sports have always played a huge role in my life so thinking about not being a part of a college team was not an option for me. Being an athlete has taught me so many life lessons. Before college, I never ran cross country. But after so many injuries to my knee, I knew it was the one sport I could participate in without constant hard pivoting. Although cross country wasn't the sport I planned on doing, I didn't want to stop competing. If my knee allowed me, I would be a two or three sport athlete. 
 
3. How has cross country impacted your life?
Cross country has taught me more than any sport I ever played. Mentally and psychically the sport pushes you to your limit. For me, the mental aspect of the sport is what challenges me. Growing up watching my sister run cross country, I always said I would never do this sport. Not because of the physical work but because of how much mental focus you need to have. It's an intimidating sport, watching the start gun go off and everyone race to the finish. Once you hit mile two, your body is telling you that you can't go up this hill. This is where it tests you mentally, your mind is telling you to slow down. Cross country has made me a stronger individual and has shown me how relentless I am. 
 
4. How did early success in running cross country help keep you motivated? 
Early successes gave me confidence, especially since it was a sport I never did. I realized that I could be a real competitor in the sport and make some noise. Most importantly, I wanted to show other individuals who faced or are facing an ACL injury that you don't have to give up. ACL injuries are extremely common in women and individuals who never went through the injury may not be aware of how much work goes into returning to athletics. In my case, it was three years of surgery, rehab and then training to come back. So having early on success was extremely rewarding and showed me that all the hard work I put in was paying off. 
 
5. Did you ever consider not playing any sports in college? If so what made you change your mind? 
After my third ACL injury, I still knew I was going to return to athletics. I wasn't sure what sport it would be but I was training all summer. There was one instance I considered not returning to play, this was after my last surgery when I got an infection inside my joint. The infection began showing signs three months after my third surgery. At this stage in my recovery, I was not using crutches anymore and was learning how to re-bend my knee. My knee blew up like a watermelon and I had to go back to using crutches. At first, I thought maybe I just irritated it during one of my rehab sessions. But then I started having other symptoms such as body aches, extreme pain, redness in my knee and a high fever. My mom brought me to my surgeons and they drained 10 vials of fluid from my knee.

They decided to do emergency surgery to see what was going on. When I woke up, they told me they did find an infection inside of my joint and cleaned all of it out. I spent the next few months at home a lot which was hard because I wanted to be at school with my friends. I began my steps to recovery which consisted of seeing an infectious disease doctor, who inserted a PICC line into my arm for the next month to give me antibiotics. I started back up at rehab and had an at-home nurse come each week to clean my PICC line. While spending a lot of time at home, it allowed me to think about if I wanted to return to sports. The infection scared me, at this point I decided that playing basketball was probably not the best choice as I was going to be a junior and the chances of tearing my ACL again were high. This is when I decided that cross country was the best fit for me. 
 
6. Who if any helped you in choosing to run cross country? 
My mom and sister were huge impacts when it came to me choosing to run. My mom is the person who knows me best, she was there for every one of my surgeries and recoveries. She was my at-home nurse while still coaching and traveling for games. She gave up a lot to give me the best care. Each time after tearing my ACL I would tell her seconds later "I'm coming back". It was hard for her to watch because not only was she my mom but she also was my basketball coach in high school and here at Centenary. As a mom, she wanted me to stop but as a coach, she knew why I didn't want to give up. My sister convinced me to run as she ran herself at Centenary and believed I would be successful at it. She also thought it would be a better decision because the sport doesn't require hard pivoting like soccer and basketball. 
 
7. How has your experience with cross country changed you?
Overall cross country has shown me how relentless of an individual I am. It has given me a great coach and teammates and has molded me into the person I am today. It has taught me to fight until the last minute because your placement affects the entire team.