The Southerner’s pick for Athlete of the Month for November 2024 is Liv Mueller. Mueller, a South High sophomore, recently ran in the state cross country meet on November 2. Mueller is the first girl that South has sent to state for cross country since 2011. To get there, she placed 5th in individuals in the section meet and ran a personal record of 20 minutes and 13 seconds, which also earned her the spot of the third fastest girls 5K time in South history. Later at the Nike Cross meet, she beat her record again, running a 19 minute 48 second 5K.
Along with these amazing achievements, Mueller had a great season overall, constantly improving her technique and speed and making new personal records in almost every race. Mueller understands the struggle of cross country being a very mental sport where you are constantly in your head, but she says she was still able to push through to have a very successful season.
While during the state meet, Mueller did not achieve the results she had originally hoped for, she reflected positively on the experience itself. “There were so many people around me all the time. I’ve never had that many people constantly yelling, like a constant noise around me. It was just amazing.” The South cross country team came to support her on November 2, adding to this encouraging environment. Mueller speaks fondly of the team saying, “We support each other, and however we can, we help each other out. We cheer everyone on, we commiserate together, we’re just here for each other.”
As only a sophomore, Mueller is less than a minute off of the fastest girl’s 5K time in South history, and with 2 seasons left, she still has plenty of time to keep improving and beat that time. As for this season, Mueller has improved by almost 3 minutes since the beginning of the season and has grown and learned a lot with the encouraging environment that the team has created.
