The ASU women’s cross-country team has seen a steady decline in its national ranking this year, mainly due to key injuries. Junior Camille Olson and All-American senior Ali Kielty have yet to race this year in a significant meet due to injury, although Kielty is expected to return in a few weeks.

The setbacks could have sunk ASU’s season entirely, but instead the Sun Devils have been able to hang tough due to impressive depth. The main reason ASU has been able to stay among the nation’s best, however, is Kari Hardt.

The senior from Queen Creek came into this season with some impressive credentials. Hardt earned All-American honors last year in cross-country after finishing 39th at the NCAA championships. She currently sits ninth all-time in ASU history in the 1500-meter run in track.

In each of her first three seasons, she earned All-West Region honors and in the previous two seasons she was named second team All-Pac-10.

She has steadily progressed as one of the top runners in the Pac-10, finishing 12th at the conference meet her sophomore year and ninth her junior year.

With her good friend Kielty out, Hardt has stepped up both as an individual runner and taken on a leadership role.

“There [are] older girls, too, so I think the leadership role we share pretty well among us,” Hardt said. “But as for racing, it’s a lot different without Ali. I miss Ali a lot; we’ve been racing together since we were freshmen, so not having her has just been different. I’ve had to step up a lot more as an individual runner.”

Her leadership has also been noticed by ASU head coach Louie Quintana.

“Not only is she our top girl on the team, she is very committed to this team doing well,” Quintana said. “She’s very cognizant of our tradition of women’s cross country. She’s extremely vocal about that in a very positive way and really helps out the young athletes.”

Her performance on the course this season has been on par with her previous accomplishments, if not better.

In the two major races this year that ASU has competed in, Hardt has been the leading runner on the women’s side. She finished 18th overall at the Notre Dame Invitational and then finished 11th overall at the NCAA Pre-National meet. Both of those meets featured more than 175 runners.

Her high finishes have become almost commonplace as she continues to carve her name into the ASU record books. Quintana thinks Hardt has already been one of the best ASU runners of all time and can do even better.

“She has been clearly the best recruit we’ve ever had here at ASU talent-wise,” Quintana said. “We’re extremely fortunate to have someone like her on the team. Over the next month or so we’ll see how it all works out, but she can be someone who is high up in the national meet.”

A high finish in the national meet could serve as a gateway to an Olympic bid for Hardt as soon as 2012. She was a member of the World Junior Team her freshman year and has the Olympics on her mind.

“That thought definitely crosses your mind,” Hardt said of making an Olympic team. “I have a lot of work to go if I want to do that but mostly I just need to focus on staying healthy, and if I stay healthy maybe that could be in my future.”

Until then, Hardt continues to rack up the awards and has become a mainstay atop the leader boards.

Reach the reporter at kyle.glaser@asu.edu.