McKaylie Caesar, a graduate student-athlete at Utah following her transfer from Cal State Fullerton, joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss competing Nov. 10 at the NCAA Division 1 Mountain Regional at Chaparral Ridge Cross Country Course in Lubbock, Texas. Caesar finished ninth for the Utes, who took fifth as a team Oct. 27 at the Pac-12 Championships at Chambers Creek Regional Park in University Place, Wash. She examines being an All-Big West honoree by placing in the top 10 in her final conference meet last season for Cal State Fullerton and earning all-conference honors in her Pac-12 debut. Caesar shares her excitement for being able to race in her first Mountain Regional meet after placing 65th and 48th in her previous experiences at the West Regional event. She analyzes how significant it is to have an opportunity to qualify for her first NCAA final Nov. 18 at the Panorama Farms Course in Virginia, as the Utes have advanced to the Division 1 championship meet the past three years. Caesar explains how valuable it has been to have joined the Utah program during the same year as freshmen Annastasia Peters, Katarzyna Nowakowska and Kyla Martin, in addition to being able to provide experience in the lineup along with Morgan Jensen and Clara Mayfield. She shares how instrumental Utah coach Kyle Kepler has been in her continued development and improvement, in addition to having the opportunity to train on a daily basis at elevation in Salt Lake City as well as Park City. Caesar revisits the learning experiences from racing in the deepest regular-season field in the country Oct. 13 at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, and how she hopes that race on a challenging course and in inclement weather will benefit her competing in such a high-quality Mountain Regional. She also speaks about how unique it was to race in the final Pac-12 championship meet under the current conference alignment. In addition, Caesar expresses gratitude for Utah allowing her to pursue an applied psychology certificate after earning her degree in child and adolescent development at Cal State Fullerton.