As captain of the women’s cross country team, Stressling led her teammates to a second place finish at the PacWest Championship meet.
Head coach Preston Grey said Stressling was a hard-working captain.
“She’s more of a ‘lead by example’ person than a vocal person,” Grey said. “She set the tone in training; she was always ready to go at practice.”
According to Grey, the team was the youngest it had ever been. “That presented challenges, but also opportunities,” he said. “There’s a certain excitement to having a young team.”
Stressling and her team struggled at the beginning of the season, but quickly gained momentum.
“[Stressling] was fit the whole time; it was just [about] getting the confidence,” Grey said. “[In the] middle of the season, the workouts started to get a lot faster, and her confidence grew along with that.”
Stressling finished first overall at the Triton Classic and the PacWest Championship meet, the last two meets of the regular season.
“I’m glad I made the decision halfway through to really put myself in it,” Stressling said. “It was worth the extra effort.”
Stressling and her teammates focused their efforts on earning a place in the Nationals, despite knowing that the team as a whole didn’t make the cut.
“We had a lot of moments where we understood what it meant to go to Nationals, [and] I’m proud of [my team for] using it as a learning experience,” Stressling said. “Let’s take what we learned and go from there. We’re excited for next year already.”
Stressling herself will compete in the Nationals, and hopes to finish within the top 35 runners in order to earn an All-American honor.
Grey described Stressling as “a runner that likes to go to the front of the race and hang on.”
“Usually where you start, you don’t vary too much from there,” Grey said. “With the type of runner she is, she’ll just hang in there and fight.”
Stressling also faces relentless competition in her musical efforts, particularly in her involvement with APU’s Chamber Singers.
Only nine colleges are awarded the opportunity to perform at the National Collegiate Chorale Association’s annual conference, and Chamber Singers made the cut.
“Most colleges had summer rehearsals,” Stressling said. “We didn’t start in the summer; we were told we could do it in seven weeks.”
The choir performed eight pieces, all originating from Irish composers, with only one of the numbers sung in English.
“I like ensembles,” Stressling said. As a team player in both sports and music, she said, “I just love performing with a group. It’s way better than what I could do on my own.”
Due to the time-consuming nature of cross country and her studies as a music major, Stressling calls it a sacrifice to have little time to pursue any other interests.
“I love both enough to do only those things,” she said. “It wouldn’t be worth it if I didn’t love both of them.”
Grey said, “We [the athletic and music departments] both share her to a certain degree, and she’s passionate about both things and wants to do both things well.”
Stressling also mentioned the dedication required. “I could go through the motions and be a decent runner, [merely] exist in choir and leave no impact,” she said. “[But] I want to be excellent at both of them.”
Despite the demanding nature of her college career, Stressling noted that APU has made it easier for her to pursue both music and sports.
“It’s nice to have such a good school with professors and coaches who will take care of you,” she said. “They notice if you want to pursue excellence, and they’re helpful—as long as you show them that you’re going to put the work in.”
Stressling will compete individually in the 2015 NCAA Division II Women’s Cross Country National Championships in Joplin, Mo., on Nov. 21.