Ciara O'Shea, a four-time Kentucky AAA state cross country champion and a North Carolina-bound senior at Madison Central High, joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss her quest for a fifth career state championship Oct. 29 at the Bourbon County course in Paris. O'Shea boasts the 5-kilometer record at the Bourbon County course by clocking 18:15.37 in 2020 and is attempting to become only the third prep female competitor in state history to produce a sub-18 effort at the state meet, joining Gabriella Karas of Collins and Michaela Reinhart of Lexington Catholic at the Kentucky Horse Park course. She revisits her first state crown in 2018 at the Kentucky Horse Park, along with winning championships in 2019 with her brother Conner, now at East Carolina, along with expressing gratitude to state officials for hosting a state final during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which allowed her to pursue a fifth state title this season. O'Shea also explains how meaningful it is to have the girls AAA final be the last race on the state championship schedule and how significant it will be to represent Madison Central for the last time in a cross country race on Kentucky soil. She examines her strongest performances from the regular season Sept. 17 at the Trinity/Valkyre Invitational and Oct. 1 at the Nike XC Town Twilight meet at the LaVern Gibson course in Indiana, and the confidence those races have provided entering the postseason. O'Shea analyzes the lessons she learned following her 26th-place finish last year at the Eastbay National Championships at Balboa Park's Morley Field in San Diego, and how that has provided motivation and inspiration to complete unfinished business this fall. She shares how valuable the opportunities to race at indoor track and outdoor track national meets have been to gain experience against more elite competition, in addition to helping improve her mental toughness. O'Shea also speaks about her decision to attend North Carolina and the emotional and mental weight it has lifted this season, allowing her to focus on academics and athletics at Madison Central, with the support of principal Brandon Fritz.