10 Questions with Kristiane Width
September 08, 2016 | Women's Cross Country
Junior Kristiane Width, who led the Oregon State cross country team with a fourth-place finish at the Sept. 3 John Frank Invitational at Avery Park, took the scenic route to Corvallis and OSU from her childhood home of Oppegard, Norway, an Oslo suburb.
The daughter of a Norwegian diplomat (Henrik) and a journalist (Terhi), the redshirt junior political science major also lived in Sweden and Finland before coming to the United States in 2009 when her father was posted at the Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations in New York City.
A track standout at the United Nations International School in New York City who had never competed in cross country before enrolling at OSU, she has battled through injuries at OSU to letter four times while cracking all-time top-10 lists and earning Pac-12 all-academic honors in each  sport.
What was your race strategy at the John Frank Invitational?
KW: "I wasn't sure how fast we were going to go out so my plan was to see what pace we were going at. We went out pretty fast, the first mile was in 5:30 or so. I decided to stick with the lead group because they were doing a good job of holding the pace."
What is the potential of this year's cross country team?
KW: "Definitely a strong team. We have incredible depth, ranging from freshmen to fifth-year seniors. We have people with no experience who are ready to get into collegiate racing, and girls who have been doing this for years."
Do you have a specific pre-race ritual?
KW: "Because I've been injured so much, I don't want to get nervous. People get anxious and they take racing as a burden. I used to think that way, too, in high school it was like, 'Oh, I have to go race again.' Now, every time I get to the line it's such a milestone for me [because of injuries] and I just want to relax.
"This is what I love doing and I want to find a way that makes me see how I love the sport. Just relaxing, listening to some beats before I get ready. Just very relaxed, but deep down inside, I'm ready."
What has been your favorite moment as an OSU athlete?
KW: "My favorite moment is every time I put on the uniform and I get to represent the university, whether it's in Avery Park or in California or Colorado, it doesn't matter. Every time I put that uniform on it's the best thing I know of."
What was the toughest adjustment you had to make upon moving to the United States from Europe?
KW: "The language. I didn't speak any English when I first got here, so that was a struggle at first. I didn't know how to communicate; I was so lost in class. That's why I started joining the club teams at school. When you are running or playing soccer, you don't have to know the language. Sport is universal."
What do Americans do that you've found to be unusual or strange?
KW: "My No. 1 pet peeve is when Americans walk with their shoes on in their houses. In Europe, you take off your shoes before you get inside the house. My No. 1 rule with all my roommates is, if you're going to live with me you're taking off your shoes when you get in the door. Then we don't have to clean as often."
Cross country and track athletes do not have a specific jersey number, like players in other sports. If you could choose a number, what would it be, and why?
KW: "I would go with 24. In first grade, the first math problem we did was adding your birthday with the month you were born in and the last digit of the year you were born. That added up to 24 so that symbolizes me as a person."
Where is your favorite vacation spot?
KW: "Our family summer house in Finland, in Parainen. It's right on the ocean and it's a safe place, a place where we can always meet as a family, considering that my parents live across the world [In Bangladesh] and my brother doesn't live close [in Finland] and I live here."
What other sport do you enjoy besides running?
KW: "Soccer, I played it. But I am also becoming a big football fan. We didn't have a football team in high school so the first time I watched football was at Reser Stadium my freshman year. I didn't know anything about it.
"Now I am very, very invested, even though I don't know all the rules. A big dream of mine would be to shadow a game and see all the behind-the-scenes preparation."
What do you hope to be doing 10 years from now?
KW: "I hope to be working for an international organization like the United Nations or the World Health Organization, preferably with foreign aid in a developing country."
For more information on the Oregon State track and field program, follow the Beavers on Facebook at Facebook.com/OSUTrackCrossCountry, or on Twitter at twitter.com/@BeaverTrackXC
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