The latest local news, weather and high school sports from the Heartland

KIRKSVILLE, MO -- For twin sisters Cindy and Karen Grauel of Macon, Mo. running has always been part of their lives. They were standout distance runners on the track team in high school, but when it was time to go to college they wanted more of a challenge.

They took up cross county for the first time ever, and now as senior's on the Truman State cross county team they enter their final year of being teammates and most likely roommates.

"Yeah no matter what it was kind of a package deal. If you wanted one runner, you'd get both,” said Karen Grauel.

Both sisters have benefited from having each by their side, as they picked up the grueling sport.

“If I’m not in the mood to run or Cindy’s not in the mood to run we'll just be like 'oh this needs to be at a faster workout or at this pace or faster pace.' It's great to push ourselves," said Karen.

"We're just excellent running partners. We just like to push each other and see how far we can go. I don't think I could ever do this without Karen by my side,” said Cindy Grauel.

There work ethic isn't questioned in cross county, but when it comes to roommate duties you may find some disagreement from the two.

"She's really lazy when it comes to doing household stuff. I wish she would do more laundry and help out with the dishes more. That would definitely help,” said Karen.

"She’s messier than me, so that will probably be one thing,” said Cindy.

The two have hardly been separated in their 21 years together, and now as seniors it's hard for them to think about life apart from each other after college.

“Our dream is probably be able to work at the same place, but who knows if that will happen we'll just see,” said Cindy.

“Maybe working together is probably unrealistic, so at least if we're close, pretty close. I know it would be hard to live very far way from too long because we're best friends,” said Karen.