Irene Kosgei has mastered the art of juggling.

Not the kind that involves rubber balls, bowling pins or oranges. Kosgei has managed to juggle her time, and sometimes it can be a circus.

She's a full-time physical therapy student at the University of Mary, which involves a challenging and demanding workload. She works evenings at HIT Incorporated, a human service organization, and she's engaged to be married.

Kosgei is also a member of the U-Mary cross country and track and field teams. Kosgei and the U-Mary women's and men's cross country teams are set to begin their season on Friday at the Northern State Alumni Open.

"I try to manage my time," said Kosgei, a junior from Kapsabee, Kenya who carries a 3.9 GPA. "When I'm not running or in class, I do my assignments and my homework. Some days I feel so overloaded."

Even though Kosgei faces daily demands and deadlines, running offers her an outlet.

"I like the feeling of being able to compete," she said. "Imay not be the best, but I am always aiming to be the best runner."

The U-Mary coaching staff believes that Kosgei could challenge to be the Marauders' top runner this season. Associate head coach Dennis Newell said it will be a strong battle in positions one through six.

The Marauders return juniors Kristen Neumiller and Alyson Piccolo. Both were second-team all-conference selections last season.

The Marauders are loaded with promising freshmen Jennifer Agnew, Melissa Agnew, Dakota Wolf, Emilee Morehouse and Alicia Nehl.

U-Mary is projected to finish sixth in the Northern Sun, according to the coaches' preseason poll.

"Preseason polls aren't worth the paper they're on,"head coach Mike Thorson said. "We've got a pretty good crew of women. The one thing the women have going for them is the quality of depth."

U-Mary placed fourth at last season's Northern Sun championships. Kosgei was its third runner, placing 23rd.

Kosgei has been an outstanding role model to her U-Mary teammates.

"Her academic priorities are huge," Newell said. "The fact that she has a 3.9 GPA speaks volumes about her commitment. She does have some talent to work with, which always helps, but she's just not relying on that talent. She's a very positive person. … She's so happy because she knows she has five, six, seven girls around her."

Kosgei started her career at Dickinson State, but transferred to U-Mary because of its physical therapy program.

During last year's track season, she set a school record in the 5,000-meter run.

On the men's side, the Marauders are projected to finish seventh.

"We're down on numbers, so that might be a generous preseason polling," Thorson said. "We are probably going to struggle a bit. We don't have the numbers or the depth. One or two people don't make for a cross country team. We don't have a whole lot of quality depth. But we have some good young guys with good attitudes."

U-Mary finished eighth at last season's conference meet with Eamin Entwisle coming in 11th, earning second-team all-conference honors as a freshman. Entwisle is returning for his sophomore season.

The Marauders field just one junior, Quincy Pierce. Entwisle, Nathan Stamstad and Eric Mohrbacher are the sophomores. Joshua Nuss, Taylor Thompson and Casey Jore are incoming freshmen.