For Sarah Hurley, the chance to continue her career in running by joining the Badgers was an opportunity she could not pass up.

A sophomore on the University of Wisconsin women's cross country team, Hurley began running in seventh grade simply for something fun to do after school, but it soon became her passion as she progressed through high school.

Hailing from Appleton, Wis., Hurley grew up a Badger fan, and after visiting the campus she made her decision to not just attend school at UW, but run competitively by walking on as a freshman.

"I really like the campus," Hurley said. "I love the area for running with the trails and places to run. It's beautiful."

With a demanding training schedule, having many locations to run keeps 55 miles a week from becoming repetitive.

The hard work and hours of practice is paying off for both Hurley and her team, after a second place finish at the regionals and a chance at a top finish at nationals.

While she shares the same team goal, she has other personal aspirations that she is working toward this season.

"I just want to run the best I can and help the team anyway I can," Hurley said. "I'd like to PR, get my personal record. We already ran the nationals course, and I'd love to beat my time from that race and keep improving."

Hurley's dedication, hard work and desire to succeed have made her an asset on both the cross country and track teams. Nothing comes easy, and Hurley pushed herself over the summer and continued to do so during the season in order to reach her goals.

"I ran a lot this summer," Hurley said. "My summer training was just a lot more miles than it has been in years past, basically higher mileage over the summer."

In preparation for any big race, like most athletes, Hurley tries to relax and keep her mind off of it until right before she steps onto the course.

"Once it's race time, the morning of the race, I just try to visualize myself at different spots in the race," Hurley said. "I think about what hills I need to attack."

Hurley applies her determination from running to other aspects of her life, including academics with high hopes of a future career. Concentrating on political science, she is possibly working toward grad school or even law school with a dream job in mind.

"I'd love to work for the government at the Capitol and stay in Madison. That's one of my dream jobs," Hurley said.

Even with a demanding schedule as a student-athlete, she is able to balance her academics with practice and meets on weekends. While running is a big time commitment, being a three-sport athlete in high school prepared Hurley to create the balance she is maintaining now.

The amount of time that training and meets take up could never take away from doing what she loves; in fact, it is one of the reasons she continues to run.

"I love the sense of accomplishment after finishing a race," Hurley said. "It's a great feeling when you see the end result and you're done. You realize that all the training and hard work has paid off."