Karina James is a junior from Lowell, Ind. A health care administration major, James earned the 2025 Mid-American Conference Women's Cross Country individual title and is a three-time MAC team champion.
On why she decided to attend Toledo
I was definitely attracted to Toledo based off of the coach, mainly. Andrea (Director of Cross Country and Track & Field
Andrea Grove-McDonough) is probably the primary reason that I came here. The atmosphere of the team when I was on my visit was really good. They believed in how good they could be and the feeling was contagious. I just bought into that belief as well.
When I was doing visits, Toledo was my first visit. Then I visited Indiana University and UPenn. It honestly came down to a close call between UPenn and Toledo, but Toledo felt like home. I definitely fit in and meshed with the girls here way more than I did on the other teams. So, I always tell recruits to go where it feels like you belong, and I definitely felt like I belonged here at UT.
One of my high school teammates was on the team here at Toledo which is how I got connected to UT in the first place. It's so funny because I have this list in my saved memories (of colleges) when I was talking to them prior to my visit and Toledo was dead last. But it worked out. Everything that I was told Toledo was going to be and that my coach promised me has come to fruition and it's happened. Every time something happens it gives me chills. Everything this team said they could be, they were. There were no lies on the visits, which I really liked.
On how she got into distance running
It's a funny story, actually. When I was in fifth grade I was choosing between cheerleading and cross country and track. The reason why cross country and track were an option was because my sister, who is four years older than me, was pursuing running. She told me I needed to try running so I did and I was pretty good at it. I just stuck through it and I saw it out. Sixth grade is when I started running competitively. Growing up, I competed in many sports. I tried soccer, softball, all of it, but once I started running, that was it. I decided to stick with what I'm good at. My older sister actually ran cross country and track at Western Michigan so I got to compete against her for two years.
On if she expected to win the 2025 MAC title
If someone would've told me six weeks ago that I was going to win the MAC, I would've laughed in their face, because we just weren't there six weeks ago. It honestly happened really, really fast. The momentum has been coming since the spring but we had ups and downs. When I first got back on campus this fall, we were actually holding back my training because I had trained really hard through the summer. I had almost fatigued myself out a bit, so I was hitting a wall.
My coaches and I didn't know what this season was going to look like. Something that I kept telling myself, day-in and day-out, was, "Just be where you are, just be where you are." Suddenly, I was making these crazy gains. Coach McDonough and I were just giving each other this look like, "Okay!" It got to the point where we said "This is happening." I've always been the type to just trust it, even when I wasn't where I wanted to be for the past three years. I've always just trusted that the results will come. Coming into the year, I wanted to have fun, I wanted it to feel good, but I didn't know what that was going to look like. I didn't expect to have the success that I'm having, at least not this season. Everything I wanted is happening, so I'll take it. Everyone wants this every single season but I didn't know it was going to be like this.
On how it felt to win the individual MAC title
It was like a breath of fresh air, genuinely. Two nights before we even raced, Coach McDonough and I sat down and we knew I had the opportunity to win. I told her that if I go out there and I don't win, if I'm not number one, I'll still feel like I've won in a lot of ways this season because I have made so much progress and so many gains. I feel like we've really gotten some things going so I just had so much gratitude that whole weekend before I raced. I was a little nervous, but I was more excited and just so happy to be there and to be involved and to lead my team.
The individual title for me has been a long time coming and I haven't always enjoyed the ride, I haven't always felt good about it. One year ago, I was throwing up getting trying to get myself to the the starting line at MAC's because I was so in my own way and in my own head. So this year, I just had so much gratitude that whole weekend for winning as a team because it just means so much more than what people know or realize. It just means more for sure.
On how what is means sweep of all the awards at the MAC Championships for the second straight season
So a few years ago, the men raced first and they lost by a few points. We had to regroup and remind ourselves that it wouldn't reflect on our race. Seeing Joad (Martinho) win the individual title this year and then watching the men's team win, it just was this overwhelming feeling of "We're good." I felt like when I got on that starting line, I trusted the team and the coaches so much that I just thought to myself, "We're good, this is going to be really good," and it was. We pulled the coaches (MAC Coach of the Year) sweep, the individual sweep and the team sweep for the second year in a row so it feels really good. It just means more for the men to also win the team title this year. As for the women, we had a completely new lineup this year and we even had a new lineup for the MAC race. When I was running in that championship race, I just knew the team was killing it and running good.
(Vice President and Director of Athletics) Bryan Blair said after we won that Toledo is a cross country school now, and I think he was right. People underestimate what's going on with cross country and we have a really special group. We're like a crazy bulb of electricity and we're just going, going, going from the men's team to the women's team. We work so hard and have trained for these moments and these championships. Shoutout to our men's and women's teams, they're a lot fun and some of the hardest workers I know.
On her activities outside of cross country/track and field
I come from a big family so keeping up with them and being in contact with my sisters is important to me. I am doing an internship at the Dana Cancer Center at UTMC so that keeps me pretty occupied during the week and I just helped with a Breast Cancer Awareness 5K that we put on. My coach sometimes invites us go to events for her daughter's cross country team in Ottawa Hills.
On how she decided to study healthcare administration
I was planning on studying something in the business college and my uncle told me to look into healthcare and business. I was always attracted to healthcare but didn't know if I could handle the blood, guts and gore. I think I have some natural leadership qualities, so I think it just kind of fell into place. I am so happy I came to Toledo and wasn't someone who had to change their major 50 times. I came in with a healthcare degree route and I've stuck to it. I plan to go get my MBA next year here because I have another year of eligibility. As a long term goal, I definitely want to run a hospital of my own someday. That takes a lot of experience and a lot of time, so I'm planning to get some experience in managerial director position and hopefully make my way up to the leadership teams.
On her relationship with Coach McDonough
Two years ago, when we ran the outdoor track meets at Northern Illinois, Coach McDonough told me that if I ran a 2:14 time in the 800m that she would run me at the MAC meet. I didn't run 2:14 in the event and she didn't run me. I never held it against her, but I knew that she could've ran me and I never understood why she didn't. She travelled me to the meet but I didn't race, so I just sat there and I watched. I was milliseconds off from the time and she could've used a wild card in to put me in, but she didn't. This season, going from not qualifying for the MAC outdoor meet to winning a MAC cross country meet just goes to show that it really can happen to anyone. I respect Coach McDonough so much more and I understand so much more why because now that I've earned my spot on a MAC meet it just means so much more. It's one of my favorite stories -- she could've ran me and she didn't. I have all the respect in the world for her for not doing it and I think it just goes to show who she is as a coach. I would not be where I am today without her, that I know for sure.
