In cross country, or most any other sport, the competitive nature of an athlete is often a key element that lends to the success of the individual or the team.

For South Alabama cross country runners Nate and Susanna Pudner, that competitiveness was instilled at a young age.

Competition between the fraternal twins born in Charlottesville, Va., literally started at birth as Nate was born nine minutes before his sister.

"My parents claimed I was supposed to be born first, but I pushed him out," Susanna noted.

The competitive nature wasn't just limited to themselves, but among their other seven siblings including four girls and three boys.

"We come from a big family with there being nine kids," Nate said. "Growing up with that many siblings added a bit of a competitive nature. You're always competing with them no matter what it's about. From age five or six, you're always just trying to be better at something."

"Growing up with that many siblings was interesting, especially with us being number seven and eight of the group," Susanna said. "When we were six or seven years old, our parents would have us race around the house. There was one time when we were racing and I had beat them already, but I wanted to do another lap and I ran so hard I threw up. I was crying while I was running, but I couldn't let my other siblings beat me."

For Susanna and Nate, that search to be better was found in athletics.

"With so many kids in our family, our parents weren't able to keep up with all of us, which forced us to have our own little things that we enjoyed doing," Susanna said. "For Nate and myself, that turned out to be sports. He started running at a really young age, while I swam all through high school and kind of just ran on the side."

However, while the brother and sister duo didn't initially have the same passion for the same sport, the bond between the two eventually tied them back together athletically.

"I started swimming when I was around the age of six; that was always my number one sport," Susanna said. "I had planned on swimming in college and even went and visited schools planning on swimming there. In ninth or 10th grade, I started doing track just for fun on the side because Nate was involved and I had gone to the meets and it looked like fun. We worked so hard in swimming that I didn't have to train too much for the high school level to jump in and be pretty good. I really enjoyed having something I could do the same time as Nate. I would go to track practice right after school and then go straight to swimming practice.

"Seeing Nate at meets and how much fun he was having also helped me get a feel for the team atmosphere even though I wasn't on it. I'm the one that likes to spend time with the other twin, whereas Nate sometimes likes to be left alone. If I ran track and cross country, he'd be forced to hang out with me. It was also something else for us to bond over. That sparked my interest in the sport, but it didn't take me long to discover that I really had a passion for it."

While Susanna was led back to running more by the personal bond with her brother, Nate believes the competitive nature within the two also played a part.

"Running worked out well for the both of us because it's really a measurable thing and you can see who's better at what," Nate stated. "There's not anything left up to judgment, and that kind of just went along with our competitive nature. We started doing swimming together, but I wasn't good at that, so I switched to running. Eventually we both got back involved in track."

The time though away from competing in the same sport also altered the dynamic of their relationship. As the two grew older, the competitive nature didn't go away but rather morphed into a supportive relationship as well.

"As we got older, he was running and I was swimming and we developed more of a supportive relationship," Susanna said. "We are very fortunate now that one of us is a boy and the other is girl because I don't know how I would handle having a twin sister. You can't really compare us.

"It's more of a supportive relationship now compared to when we were younger and it was more competitive."

Having each other there to be supportive for the other has been important to both twins, even that the plan to attend the same university wasn't initially the idea for the two of them.

"Growing up, I had always joked that I would follow Nate and go to the same college," Susanna said. "He would always say that he'd go somewhere that I couldn't get in. We both ended up getting recruited to come here and compete at South, and it's worked out well for us."

While it may not have been the trek both started on, competing and living with each other at South Alabama has proven beneficial.

"Having Susanna here with me has helped provide a little more structure," Nate said. "You always have your teammates, but having her here with me is different. We live together, so having one of your teammates living with you helps with the responsibilities. You're practicing at the same time, you're waking up to go to practice at the same time. Having someone around you who's constantly doing the same things is nice. We can also talk to each other if one of us is struggling with something running wise."

"It's just a little different when you have a twin brother out there on the starting line with your team," Susanna said. "It brings you comfort since we are going through the same thing. It also helps you not be so honed in and focused on yourself. Whether I'm racing or not, I have someone else that I'm focusing on and cheering on. Even if I have a bad race and he has a good race, that's going to motivate me and get me excited. The bond that we have together and being able to be together has provided us stability, which is nice. I think that it has provided comfort both during times of injury and times of success when we are both running well and the team is doing well. It's nice to always have someone to celebrate it with."

It shouldn't be surprising that a set of twins with such a competitive nature and close bond have similar — if not identical — goals for their final competitive cross country season in Mobile.

"The big emphasis for me heading into this season was for the men to win the Sun Belt Conference title," Nate said. "We are one of the teams that I believe should contend. The main goal in cross country is helping the team achieve its goal, which is winning the championship.

"My individual goal goes along with helping the team achieve its goal; I want to finish inside the top 15 and earn all-conference honors."

"I have the same goals as Nate," Susanna stated. "We have a very strong team on the women's side and we are focused on winning conference. Despite being injured during the early part of the fall, I want to finish in the top 15 as well.

"In cross country, it's just about passing and beating as many people as you can so that you can score as many points as possible in order to help your team win."

The Pudner twins hope a competitive bond from birth will help the Jaguars celebrate a pair of titles next weekend when South plays host to the 2020 Sun Belt Cross Country Championships at the Old Brookley Gulf Pines Golf Course on Sat., Oct. 31.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the Finish Line Club, the track and field and cross country specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund.  All donations to the Finish Line Club go directly to support the South Alabama track and field/cross country programs.  For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/finishlineclub

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