Courtney Quirin left little doubt about her running talent the moment she starting competing for the Wesleyan women's cross-country team in the fall of 2001.  During her first collegiate event at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational, Quirin finished third of 226 runners in a stellar time of 17:50.25 for 5,000 meters to lead Wesleyan to a fourth-place finish among 27 teams.  Other top performance by Quirin that first year included second of 89 at the Bantam Invitational at Trinity and ninth of 128 runners at the NESCAC Championship, making her a second-team all-NESCAC choice.  At the New England Division III Championship, Quirin's 13th-place effort in a field of 276 runners qualified her for a spot in the NCAA Division III Championship and she took advantage of that by finishing 28th to earn All-America honors.

In the fall of 2002, Quirin again came through as one of the cross-country team's top two runners and helped Wesleyan qualify for the NCAA Division III Championship as a team for the first time. Quirin was 14th at the NESCAC Championship to be named second-team all-NESCAC and 24th at the New England Division III Championship to receive all-New England accolades.  At Nationals, Quirin placed 65th of 215 competitors while the team finished 23rd of 24.

Hitting the course for a third time in 2003, Quirin led the team to the finish line in all six races she ran including a second-place finish at the N.Y.U. Invitational won by Wesleyan, a second-place finish in the NESCAC Meet for first-team all-NESCAC honors and a 14th-place showing in the New England Division III Championship, giving her all-New England laurels for the third consecutive season as well as a third straight trip to Nationals. Succumbing to the illness that had been creeping up on her all season, Quirin dipped to 128th of 213 there.

Back to the course with a vengeance in 2004, Quirin helped the team to another trip to the NCAA Championship.  This time Wesleyan improved to 14th place among 24 teams while Quirin was 29th of 215 runners to become an All-American for the second time.  Her sixth-place finish at NESCACs made her a four-time all-NESCAC performer while her seventh-place effort at the New England Division III Meet made her a four-time all-New England honoree as well.

Not limiting her athletic talents to the cross-country course, Quirin was a two-time letterwinner in women's lacrosse, seeing action during both the 2002 and 2003 seasons.  She was a starting midfielder as a freshman and played in half the team's games as a sophomore.  In 20 career games, she scored 12 goals and had nine assists for 21 points.  She also was a top distance runner for the indoor track squad during the 2002-03 season and also competed this past winter.  She was part of the outdoor track team for the first time in spring, 2005, and was named Wesleyan's Maynard Award winner as the top female student-athlete at the University.