Linnea Ousdigian, a freshman cross-country athlete, runs for the girls team at Mounds View. Not many are able to become a top runner, but Ousdigian managed to start running on the varsity team starting in 7th grade. But even as a freshman, Ousdigian consistently places in the top 15 at races with her sub-18:00 5k time. 

Before Ousdigian started taking running seriously, she liked running just for fun. “I decided to join my middle school cross country team in 5th grade since it was a sport that complemented Nordic skiing,” she said. 

Ousdigian comes from an active family. Her brother ran cross country at Mounds View too, and her parents were also involved with sports from a young age. 

Ousdigian didn’t know what to expect at first, but upon joining the Mounds View Cross Country team in 7th grade, she noticed how engaged the team was. “At least at Mounds View, the cross country team has just such a good environment, and all the people in it are so nice and welcoming, and so encouraging. It’s just a really fun environment to go to every day,” she said. During COVID, Ousdigian was still competing for the middle school team and only had mandatory practice twice a week. But by the time she entered high school, she began to take training seriously by going to captain’s practices over the summer.

Being a top runner for the team, however, placed a lot of pressure on Ousdigian. “The biggest pressure, though, is to run faster than you have before,” she said. Even with the pressure to constantly improve her personal record,  “To cope with pressure I usually pray, take deep breaths, smile and just be my normal self,” said Ousdigian.  

With the team currently ranked third in state, Ousdigian strives to help her team continue their streak at the state meet or potentially place higher. “[I hope] that our team does get top three in state, that’s podium at state, so I think helping lead the team to that would definitely be [my goal], or going to [the] national meet, which would be really cool,” said Ousdigian.

Ousdigian also hopes to potentially continue her passion after high school. “Yeah, I think it would be really fun, and I would definitely want to [run in college] if I get the chance to,” said Ousdigian.