On the run

PROVO — BYU's Kassi Andersen is an expert when it comes to obstacles.

Not only has she mastered steeplechase hurdles — with two All-American citations, an NCAA individual title and a NCAA meet record to prove it — she also recently recovered from a tragic bicycle accident, which put her running career on hold.

However, Andersen is now facing a new task and another interruption to a stellar running career — an LDS mission.

Leaving in only a few weeks for Cleveland, Ohio, she is full of different emotions for her assignment that includes the next 18 months.

"I'm excited, but it's a little scary facing the unknown," said Andersen, who will also serve as a tour guide in Kirtland, Ohio during her mission.

"It will be something different for me, a new thing to work at. Some things I do will be good for all aspects of my life, like serving and growing in other ways."

Although she said she hasn't been to that area exactly, Andersen came close three years ago when she competed for BYU's cross country team in Terre Haute, Ind. In that first trip to the NCAA Championships, she took sixth overall to earn her first All-American citation in cross country as a Cougar, repeating the honors in 2003 with a 13th-place finish.

In track, she earned All-American honors as a freshman in the 1,500 meters in 2002, following up with an NCAA championship in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2003 and a fourth-place finish in the same event the next season.

BYU women's cross country coach Patrick Shane said both her successes and struggles in the last few years will be beneficial to her in the future.

"She will be a great missionary," he said. "I know she will apply the drive and determination that made her a national champion and All-American to her mission. When you've gone through so much like she has, I am assured she will handle the rigors of a mission in stride."

Although she will put her master's program in exercise science on hold as well as her running career at BYU, Andersen enjoys training on her own and preparing for her new assignment.

"I'm learning a lot about Church history and how the roots of the Church grew; it's also fun talking about my mission with other people," she said. "I also talked to some girls on the team who served missions, and they didn't do a lot of running but did do abs and pushups and jump rope."

Even though she will try to stay active in Ohio, the 22-year-old hopes to let her body rest after trying to come back too fast after her accident late last summer when struck by a vehicle while training in American Fork Canyon and also avoid any minor injuries, which have nagged her throughout her last few years of intense training.