TURLOCK—Vera Ross lead the SF State women’s cross country team on Saturday, but she’s ready to tackle her true love—middle distance track—and then conquer the next field, sports psychology.

Ross’ final efforts at the California Collegiate Athletic Association’s Championship in Turlock placed her 26th out of nearly 100 runners. It also pushed the women’s team into sixth place, one point above their biggest competitor, Cal State San Bernardino.

“Vera has the tools to be an all-conference runner on the track and [in] cross country,” assistant coach Pete Cushman said.

The light-footed junior plans on staying on the field as a coach after she receives a master’s degree in sports psychology, Ross said.

After seven years of running, she understands when to run at her own pace, when to get ahead of the pack and when to just ignore everyone else on the course.

“People don’t see the strategy," Ross said. “To outside people it might look like there isn’t any.”

In a largely individual sport like cross country and track it can be hard for spectators to know who did well and who didn’t, Ross said, but the runner knows. “You know when you have feelings of regrets. It’s just a personal feeling.”

“I’m constantly thinking about where I am in a race,” Ross said, but when she’s on her own time it’s the scenery that captures her attention. Running through Golden Gate Park, Chrissy Fields and across the Golden Gate Bridge into the Marin Headlands keeps this Bay Area native in top form.

Running with teammates, during a race or not, keeps the team competitive and livens up 25 minutes of solo running, Ross said, “otherwise it would just be super lonely.”

While at Campolindo High School in Moraga and Diablo Valley College, Ross became a powerhouse runner and still holds several records for distance running, but she didn’t discover her aptitude until her high school freshman year.

A friend encouraged Ross to try out for track, Ross said. “The first day we ran two miles and we felt so good about ourselves. I guess I never stopped.”

SF State coaches are glad she didn’t.

“Vera’s got a lot of talent. She’s adapting to a new program,” Cushman said, referring to the different training techniques used for cross country’s 6k runs and track’s 1500 meter runs.

“I thought she had a chance at all-conference but it was such a competitive field,” coach Tom Lyons said. “She ran pretty well.”

Lyons is looking forward to the track season—Ross’ forte—and his third season as assistant coach.

The junior runner is certainly a fierce competitor but fellow teammates and roommates know a different side of Ross.

“They call me princess,” Ross said after finishing a 6k run with her hair just as pristine as the moment she began.