With a slight nod of her head, she acknowledges her coach to start the women’s cross country team’s practice. Though she is not a captain, senior Kasey Currier leads the team out the doors of the Hill Center, into a damp, drizzling Ithaca afternoon. She starts to set the tempo — as she picks up speed, the blue streaks of her shoes become a blur as the team follows suit.

Returning from last semester abroad in Tanzania, Currier is looking to pick up the pace entering her final collegiate cross country season.

Currier said the conditions overseas did not cater to cross country, so she has been pushing herself extra hard since coming home.

When she returned to Ithaca this summer, Currier began training for the fall season with best friend and teammate, senior captain Lindsey Nadolski.

“We are on the same page as far as how much a part of our life [cross country] is, how serious we take it, what motivates each other,” Currier said.

Occasionally Currier and Nadolski find ways to make their runs more interesting.

“We go to the gorges a lot,” Nadolski said. “We’d go running and end up at the gorges and jump in.”

Currier ran track in high school, picking up cross country in her junior year. Having proven herself in high school with all-conference, all-state and all-region honors three years running, Currier credits her mother, who runs regularly.

“I guess I got it from her,” Currier said.

But for Currier, running means more than just a pastime or exercise.

“Running has so many benefits,” she said. “The feeling you get after you have accomplished something, I can’t pass [that up].”

 Currier and her teammates both describe her as having her own personal running style, starting slowly and reaching the front of the pack by the end of the race.

 “I start out slower than anyone else,” Currier said. “That is just the way I have to do it. Passing people, mentally, is really good for me. I try to make each mile faster than the last.”

Head Coach Bill Ware said Currier’s approach is also a good tactic to staying invested in the race.

“She builds it up and builds it up throughout the race,” he said. “It helps her mentally.”

This technique has contributed to Currier’s success, which the team does not overlook.

“A lot of younger runners look up to her,” Nadolski said. “She sets an incredible example with the way she races and the way she trains.”

Ware said Currier has been a steady performer since her freshman year.

“It’s harder to improve when you are good as a freshman,” he said. “She’s been a rock, no question about that.”

Currier’s work ethic goes for more than just cross country. Nadolski, also Currier’s roommate, said Currier is also academically successful.

“She works hard for good grades,” Nadolski said. “Academically, she is very successful. She’s very schedule- and detail-oriented. She has Post-its everywhere.”

Off the trails, Currier and Nadolski both unwind by watching their favorite movie, “Sweet Home Alabama.”

“I can probably speak the whole movie,” Currier said.

The two runners spend so much time together that Nadolski even knows precisely what irritates her roommate.

“She hates Icy-Hot,” Nadolski said. “I think that might be one of the things she hates most in life, is the smell of Icy-Hot.”

Though Currier is not a captain, as a senior with four years of experience, Nadolski said she respects her contributions.

“I don’t think I could do it alone,” Nadolski said. “Kasey is part of the backbone, the younger girls love her and she’s hilarious in her own way.”

Sophomore Danielle Sisti said she looks up to Currier’s dedication and individual style.

“She’s a leader,” Sisti said. “But she has her own way of doing it. She doesn’t want to dictate — she’s always encouraging other girls.”

With this being Currier’s final season, she has started strong with three top-15 finishes, complementing three team wins. Though it is her last season running for the Blue and Gold, Currier said she will approach it with her usual enthusiasm.

“It’s just an excuse to try harder,” she said.