Katie Osika, the Big Ten cross country runner-up and two-time NCAA Division 1 finalist in her fifth year representing Michigan State, joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to recap the Spartans capturing their third women's team crown in four years and ninth overall Oct. 28 in Ann Arbor, Mich., along with discussing her preparation to compete Nov. 11 at the Great Lakes Regional meet at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind. Osika explains how significant this team title is for Michigan State, especially with such a young lineup and the overall depth of the conference this season. She examines how much Michigan State has improved this fall from competing Sept. 23 at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota to racing Oct. 14 at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Madison and how valuable those experiences were in creating the belief that the Spartans could rebound from a third-place finish at last year's Big Ten final to achieve a seventh championship in the past 13 seasons. Osika also analyzes her improvement from finishing 50th at the conference final at Penn State last year to placing second on the 6-kilometer layout at the University of Michigan Golf Course in 20:04.6, trailing only Addie Engel of Ohio State in 20:00.0. She expresses gratitude to coach Lisa Breznau and how significant she has been as a mentor, along with inspiring Osika to potentially pursue a career in coaching following her graduation. Osika reflects on Michigan State earning fourth at the March 2021 NCAA Division 1 final at the Greiner Family Course at Oklahoma State in Stillwater and how she is the lone remaining member of that lineup after teammates have graduated or transferred to other universities to pursue graduate degrees. She speaks about the challenges of competing at the LaVern Gibson course, where she hasn't raced since NXR Midwest in 2017, along with racing against Notre Dame and Toledo, in addition to several Big Ten opponents, in pursuit of returning Nov. 19 to Stillwater for the NCAA final. Osika also shares how her family history in the support has continued to inspire her, with her parents P.J. and Andrea competing at Eastern Michigan, in addition to older sisters Alyssa (Ferris State) and Shannon (Michigan) also racing in college, and older brother Tommy also attending Michigan State. She also reminisces about the highlights of her summer trip with Alyssa to Greece and speaks about returning for a sixth year.