For the first time in her collegiate career, sophomore cross-country student-athlete Sarah Reiter was honored with the Big Sky Conference athlete of the week on Sept. 23.

Reiter was recognized due to her performance on Sept. 20 at the Big Sky Cross Country Triangular Meet in Portland, Oregon. At the meet, she won the cross-country women’s 5,000 meter race with a time of 17:42.

For Reiter, who is currently majoring in marketing with a minor in international business, this honor was unexpected.

“I was like really surprised,” Reiter said. “I wasn’t expecting it, it was a nice surprise.”

According to goeags.com, Reiter is currently one of the top runners for the Eagles after a successful first two meets of the season.

“It’s going really, really good,” Reiter said about her season. “Last year was my first year at Eastern, so then this year I definitely can see that I’m in so much better shape. I’ve been doing a lot better, [for example] my times, and placing higher.”

Aside from the Triangular meet in Portland, Oregon, Reiter was one of the best performers at the Eagles’ first meet this season. Back on Aug. 30 at the Clash of the Inland Northwest in Spokane, Washington, she came in third place in the women’s 4,000 meter race.

For these competitions, Reiter stays dedicated to training and putting in the necessary miles when running. “I like to keep it fun,” Reiter said. “I don’t really stress out about it. I just keep having fun and just stay relaxed and that’s when I feel like I run the best.”

“We run about 70 miles a week,” Reiter said. “And then we have like, two to three workouts a week typically, and we have one long run a week too.”

Starting the season off with a strong start, Reiter wants to continue to keep competing at a high level. She wants to make an impact at this year’s Big Sky Conference Championship in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

“I set a goal for myself to hopefully place in the top ten at that meet,” Reiter said.

“You don’t have to tell her to do anything twice,” head cross-country coach Chris Zeller said. “She’s a self-starter and really self-motivated. We have lots of girls that are great at being self-starters, but nonetheless she’s a natural leader on the team.”

According to Zeller, Reiter has a courteous attitude.

“We had a recruit [last week] and she volunteered right away to be the recruit’s host,” Zeller said. “She took it upon herself to make that recruit feel really welcome, and that’s how she is with everyone on the team.”

As a coach, Zeller recognizes Reiter’s strengths. According to Zeller, Reiter suffered a bone bruise earlier this fall and she spent twice the amount of time cross-training despite her injury, just to make sure she didn’t lose any fitness from not running.

“On the days when she wasn’t running, she would do a workout and then cross-train on the recovery days,” Zeller said.

Zeller also mentioned one skill that the coaching staff is currently helping Reiter with. “I think speed is something we’re always working on a little bit with her.”

Reiter took the time out to explain how a cross country athlete earn points for her team The top five girls score and at the end of the meet the team with the least amount of points win.

“That’s why I love cross country because it’s so team oriented and it’s a lot of fun,” Reiter said.