BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Today we continue a new series called Student-Athlete Spotlight, presented by Coca-Cola, that will highlight Samford's outstanding student-athletes. Today's 10^th episode featured cross-country and track and field standout McKenzie Hogue.
 
Hogue and her cross-country teammates had the fall season shortened and will only be able to compete in two races, including the SoCon Championship Nov. 21 in Macon, Ga. She said it had been an interesting fall with all of the changes that have been made to the schedules.
 
"That uncertainty definitely had an impact," Hogue said. "Over the summer, I had really focused on, 'ok, get in the training now, build your base and build your endurance. We missed track, but man, we have cross country and let's look forward to that.' When that was taken away, that was definitely a hit to my motivation. I just tried to stay as positive as possible. It was really great once we got back to school, back as a team, that was the new motivation."


 
Hogue had a tremendously successful freshman season last year. She talked about some of the areas she would like to improve in this season.
 
"Coming back as a sophomore, I sort of know what's going on," Hogue said. "With that comes a little more demands in school, a little more demands as an athlete. I'm just handling everything with as much poise as possible, taking high-stress situations and trying to minimize that stress, handling all of the little things well, to be a better athlete, to be a better student. As Coach (Chad) Balyo likes to say, 'you're a product of your choices, not a victim of your circumstances.' I'm just taking that to heart and making sure I'm handling everything well."
 
Hogue also said she would like to take on more of a leadership role as a sophomore this season.
 
"Coming in my freshman year, what was so helpful for me was having upperclassmen there to kind of guide me, show me what's going on and to really just lean on them for support," Hogue said. "So, I really want to be there for our freshmen. We have a really good group of girls. I really think they have a big future here. I just want to be there for them as much as I can and kind of pay back the support I was given."
 
Hogue said another big focus of hers has been maintaining as good of a mindset as possible during training and heading into races.
 
"I want to make sure I can maintain as strong of a mentality as possible," Hogue said. "I'm studying psychology right now, so I love the mind, how does it work, how does it affect us. So, I'm kind of taking what I'm learning and applying it towards sports and towards life."