The University of Mississippi Athletics
FEATURE: Loral Winn in the Spotlight, and Behind It
11/20/2024 | Cross Country
OXFORD, Miss. – The spotlight has had no trouble finding Loral Winn during her Ole Miss career.
She's one of the most decorated women's cross country runners in program history, who will conclude her cross career this Saturday at the 2024 NCAA Championships. She's a multiple-time All-American on the track with another outdoor season on the horizon in 2025. And she is superb in the classroom, with seven USTFCCCA All-Academic honors and a Taylor Medal to her name.
But this semester, Winn has turned the spotlight around on her fellow student-athletes as a sideline reporter for Ole Miss' SEC Network+ broadcasts and as an intern for Ole Miss Sports Productions.
Winn has become a fixture in front of the camera at Ole Miss sporting events like volleyball, soccer and basketball, interviewing Rebel student-athletes and coaches – as well as opposing teams. But she has also put in the work when the lights are off, researching storylines for games, conducting sit-down interviews for in-game use, and editing videos for a wide-range of use for Ole Miss Athletics.
Winn is in the final stages of her master's degree in journalism, something she says has helped her greatly with her newfound work in broadcasting.
"Before I did anything broadcast, I loved to write, and I still do," Winn said. "I think my passion for writing helps me in the broadcast side because you have to be able to write a script. That has helped me a lot."
But no matter the medium, Winn says storytelling is what drives her as a journalist.
"I love the storytelling aspect, getting to sit down and get to know someone and pick their brain," Winn said. "The passion for hearing people's stories and wanting to be able to tell them in a way that's compelling for others to know, is probably the reason I've been so gravitated towards (broadcasting)."
And, impressively, she's done all this amid some of her best running as a Rebel.
Winn has been the low stick for Ole Miss all year long. She opened with a fourth-place finish at Missouri on Sept. 27, where the Rebel women put together a strong third-place team finish. At Wisconsin's Pre-National Invitational, Winn was the top Rebel finisher in 69th place against a championship-caliber field.
Winn kept the pedal down during championship season. She earned First-Team All-SEC honors at the conference meet on Nov. 1 – her third career All-SEC nod – in seventh place at a season-best 6K of 19:17.5. And just last week in Tallahassee for the NCAA South Regional, Winn punched her ticket to nationals as an individual with her sixth-place finish at 20:07.7 – her third career All-South Region finish.
No Rebel woman has as many career sub-20 6K times than Winn, who owns six – including two this season. But she also is the only Ole Miss woman to ever break the 19-minute barrier in recorded program history, her career-best 18:52.10 from the NCAA South Regional last year that helped the Rebel women punch a team ticket to the national meet.
The competition this Saturday will be no stranger for Winn, who has been part of three national team berths prior in 2020, 2021 and 2023.
Winn is the bridge between two eras of Ole Miss distance running, having started her career under Ryan Vanhoy before continuing to ascend as an athlete under current head coach Adam Smith – who Winn credits with earning the trust of the Rebel squads right away upon his arrival in Oxford in 2022.
"(Smith's) intentionality just struck me immediately," Winn said. "I think it's easier to have success right off the bat with a new coach when you can trust them, and he just built that trust with every single one of us throughout the entire summer before he got here. He's the same person every day."
Smith – who has coached champions at both the collegiate and professional levels of the sport – has equally high praise for Winn heading into her final cross country meet as a Rebel.
"I've been around this sport for a long time, and I don't think I've been around a runner as consistent as Loral Winn," Smith said. "Each week she shows up and raises her own bar. She wants to be the best Rebel to put on a jersey, and I truly believe she's capable of that, while representing our women's program this week at NCAAs."
Winn will look to do just that this Saturday when she toes the line at the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships in Madison, Wisconsin. Uninterrupted coverage on ESPNU begins at 8:30 a.m. CT, with the women's championship 6K set for 9:20 a.m. CT, and the men's championships 10K scheduled for 10:10 a.m. CT.
"One of the proudest things in my life is being an Ole Miss Rebel, truly, and being able to represent this program," Winn said. "I will wear that proudly for as long as I live."
She's one of the most decorated women's cross country runners in program history, who will conclude her cross career this Saturday at the 2024 NCAA Championships. She's a multiple-time All-American on the track with another outdoor season on the horizon in 2025. And she is superb in the classroom, with seven USTFCCCA All-Academic honors and a Taylor Medal to her name.
But this semester, Winn has turned the spotlight around on her fellow student-athletes as a sideline reporter for Ole Miss' SEC Network+ broadcasts and as an intern for Ole Miss Sports Productions.
Winn has become a fixture in front of the camera at Ole Miss sporting events like volleyball, soccer and basketball, interviewing Rebel student-athletes and coaches – as well as opposing teams. But she has also put in the work when the lights are off, researching storylines for games, conducting sit-down interviews for in-game use, and editing videos for a wide-range of use for Ole Miss Athletics.
Winn is in the final stages of her master's degree in journalism, something she says has helped her greatly with her newfound work in broadcasting.
"Before I did anything broadcast, I loved to write, and I still do," Winn said. "I think my passion for writing helps me in the broadcast side because you have to be able to write a script. That has helped me a lot."
But no matter the medium, Winn says storytelling is what drives her as a journalist.
"I love the storytelling aspect, getting to sit down and get to know someone and pick their brain," Winn said. "The passion for hearing people's stories and wanting to be able to tell them in a way that's compelling for others to know, is probably the reason I've been so gravitated towards (broadcasting)."
And, impressively, she's done all this amid some of her best running as a Rebel.
Winn has been the low stick for Ole Miss all year long. She opened with a fourth-place finish at Missouri on Sept. 27, where the Rebel women put together a strong third-place team finish. At Wisconsin's Pre-National Invitational, Winn was the top Rebel finisher in 69th place against a championship-caliber field.
Winn kept the pedal down during championship season. She earned First-Team All-SEC honors at the conference meet on Nov. 1 – her third career All-SEC nod – in seventh place at a season-best 6K of 19:17.5. And just last week in Tallahassee for the NCAA South Regional, Winn punched her ticket to nationals as an individual with her sixth-place finish at 20:07.7 – her third career All-South Region finish.
No Rebel woman has as many career sub-20 6K times than Winn, who owns six – including two this season. But she also is the only Ole Miss woman to ever break the 19-minute barrier in recorded program history, her career-best 18:52.10 from the NCAA South Regional last year that helped the Rebel women punch a team ticket to the national meet.
The competition this Saturday will be no stranger for Winn, who has been part of three national team berths prior in 2020, 2021 and 2023.
Winn is the bridge between two eras of Ole Miss distance running, having started her career under Ryan Vanhoy before continuing to ascend as an athlete under current head coach Adam Smith – who Winn credits with earning the trust of the Rebel squads right away upon his arrival in Oxford in 2022.
"(Smith's) intentionality just struck me immediately," Winn said. "I think it's easier to have success right off the bat with a new coach when you can trust them, and he just built that trust with every single one of us throughout the entire summer before he got here. He's the same person every day."
Smith – who has coached champions at both the collegiate and professional levels of the sport – has equally high praise for Winn heading into her final cross country meet as a Rebel.
"I've been around this sport for a long time, and I don't think I've been around a runner as consistent as Loral Winn," Smith said. "Each week she shows up and raises her own bar. She wants to be the best Rebel to put on a jersey, and I truly believe she's capable of that, while representing our women's program this week at NCAAs."
Winn will look to do just that this Saturday when she toes the line at the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships in Madison, Wisconsin. Uninterrupted coverage on ESPNU begins at 8:30 a.m. CT, with the women's championship 6K set for 9:20 a.m. CT, and the men's championships 10K scheduled for 10:10 a.m. CT.
"One of the proudest things in my life is being an Ole Miss Rebel, truly, and being able to represent this program," Winn said. "I will wear that proudly for as long as I live."
Players Mentioned
/ Cross Country
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