#TuksAthletics: Tuks crowned 2025 USSA Cross Country champions

This past weekend at the 2025 ASA Cross Country Trials, held alongside the USSA Cross Country Champs in Tshwane, Tuks' athletes demonstrated their resilience and perseverance.

Tuks were crowned overall champions after winning four races. Karabo Mailula and Tshepo Mhulangane were the respective winners of the women's and men's 10 km events. Carmie Prinsloo won the 2km women’s race. Tuks was also the fastest in the long relay race. This is the second time in three years that Tuks has won the USSA cross-country title.

Hardcore long-distance athletes will tell you that if you really want to test yourself, go do cross country. You can rest assured that cross-country will test your endurance. Prinsloo can confirm these facts after running two races in 80 minutes on the first day of the championships. The two races came first, followed by the 10km.

"I fully committed to the 2km race." Getting my head around racing in 30 minutes again was a challenge. My legs felt 'dead'. However, I couldn't afford to dwell on that. It was essential to try to forget that I had already raced once. Thinking that most of the athletes I was competing against had fresh legs is a sure way to feel negative. I started the race at a comfortable pace. My goal was to run, catch up, and pass the athletes one by one. It worked. I finished third.”

Prinsloo is a seasoned campaigner when it comes to winning medals for Tuks at USSA events. Earlier this year, at the Student Athletics Championship, she won the 1500 m and 5000 m races. She was also part of the 4x400m relay team that won the gold. 

Yet she can't help but be taken aback. She qualified in the 1500m and 5000m to represent South Africa at this year's World Student Games. However, she was unable to participate due to an administrative error. The situation was made worse because this was the fourth time she had missed participating in the World Students' event. 

"I was seriously contemplating packing up my running shoes for beneficial. I actually did. I even informed my coach that I was done. It felt like it was time for me to start doing something else. Perhaps triathlon. Fortunately, the urge to start running overwhelmed me again after a few days."

Her big goal is to qualify for the 1500m for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year. According to her, it is an achievable goal if she trains properly.

My speed is acceptable. The mistake I made this year was training like a sprinter in the gym with too much weight instead of doing more repetitions with lighter weights. As for next year, my coach, the biokinetist who works with me, and I must collaborate to ensure that I train properly. It's imperative that I resume my personal best times in running.

Prinsloo is open about her decision to study at the University of Arkansas after school.

"From a pure athletics perspective, it was a mistake, but not from an academic perspective. My matric marks were not good enough to get selected at Tuks to study Speech-Language Pathology. In America, I aced my studies, which is why I am now studying at Tuks.

"The time in America also taught me the value of cross-training when you are injured. Shortly after I returned to South Africa, I suffered an injury, but I didn't lose my fitness because I knew exactly what to do to recover."