Frisco local Sydni Wilkins shined in her collegiate debut contributing to Texas’ wins in all four women’s regular season meets. But her biggest goal is currently still a work in progress: finding her place on the team.

“I guess my biggest goal is having that positive impact on the team,” Wilkins said. “If that’s with my placing and my performance, or just being a good teammate and just playing my role that I need to if that is running a certain time, or just being there for my teammates.”

Wilkins ended the Stormy Seas Opener as a finisher with a time of 17:40.11. Nearly a month later, she faced another 5K at the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival. Wilkins, who was barely running in the 17s in high school, ended up setting a personal record, or PR, of 17:00.1, taking 39 seconds off her previous time. 

“I think just the environment — having the goal to beat LSU and Arkansas specifically and ending up winning — I think all that mixed together and just the adrenaline was just a completely different experience than high school meets,” Wilkins said. 

Wilkins began running cross country in her junior year of high school as a way to stay in shape after quitting soccer. It was an instance of accidental success as Wilkins found that running suited her. With no intentions of competing at a collegiate level, Wilkins’ senior season was coming to a close. After regionals, Wilkins was approached by a reporter who asked how she felt about her last-ever cross-country meet coming up. 

“And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, wait, that can’t be my last race,’” Wilkins said. “I already applied to all my colleges and stuff and already did all my tests and my essays … And so I had to kind of restart that whole process and start reaching out to coaches again.” 

Sarah Smith, Texas women’s cross country assistant coach, reached out to Wilkins after she competed in a Nike Cross Regionals race, and while she still had to work towards it, Wilkins thought maybe she could compete at a program like Texas. 

Wilkins says her early success with the Longhorns can be attributed to the team culture. 

“And it’s kind of like everybody just wants to see everybody do their best because, at the end of the day, we all have the same goal of the team doing well,” Wilkins said. “So that’s what makes it even more special.” 

As the regular season concludes for Texas women’s cross country, long-term goals come into the forefront of focus. For Wilkins, that’s helping the team get as far as they can go knowing she gave it her all. 

Both men’s and women’s cross country will compete in the SEC Cross Country Championships on Nov. 1.