McKaylie Caesar, a Cal State Fullerton sophomore and a top-three finisher in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the Big West Conference championship meet along with the first female athlete in program history to produce a sub-20 performance in a 6-kilometer cross country race, joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss preparing to compete Oct. 29 at the conference final at the Ag-Ops course in Riverside, Calif. Caesar revisits opening her season with a victory Sept. 3 at the Mark Covert Classic with a 5-kilometer personal-best 17:29.9, followed by eclipsing the 20-minute barrier for the first time Sept. 23 with a third-place finish in 19:58.8 at the Bill Dellinger Invitational at the Pine Ridge Golf Club in Springfield, Ore. Caesar then examines clocking 19:52.8 to secure runner-up Oct. 15 at the Ag-Ops course at the UC Riverside Highlander Invitational and the confidence gained heading into the Big West championship meet. She shares how impactful Trinity Ruelas, the reigning conference cross country champion, was as a teammate and how grateful she was to train with her and Alyssa Block in an effort to improve from her 11th-place finish at the Big West championship meet last season. Caesar analyzes the depth of the women's competition in the conference, including Ryley Fick and Allie Scimia from Long Beach State, Sierra Atkins and Brianna Weidler from UC Davis, Collette Lowengrub from UC Riverside and Anna Vogtmann from UC Irvine, among many others. She also speaks about Cal State Fullerton trying to capture the team title and duplicate its achievement from 2019 at the Ag-Ops course and the challenge of knocking off UC Davis, which prevailed on its home course last year. Caesar looks forward to the Division 1 West Regional on Nov. 11 in University Place, Wash., and the motivation to improve on a 65th-place effort last season and competing for a berth at the NCAA championship meet Nov. 19 at the Greiner Family course at Oklahoma State in Stillwater. She expresses gratitude for Cal State Fullerton coach Alex Tebbe in helping her develop into one of the elite competitors in program history. Caesar also speaks about her future goal to be a kindergarten teacher, following in the career path of her mother Kristy.