Shiner girl shines when running
Shiner St. Paul cross country team gathers steam for state
Sunday, September 28, 2014
by Julie Garcia, Advocate Assistant Sports Editor
VictoriaAdvocate.com | St. Paul Cardinal Cross Country
SHINER - Natalie Jackson likes to run.
St. Paul junior Natalie Jackson finished in first place last week in the small schools division and second place overall at the Shiner Cross Country meet. As well as running, Jackson is a physical education aide for 7th and 8th graders. "I just like giving them someone to look up to," she said.
[ NOTE: click on photo to enlarge ]all photos by Alisha Jucevic, Victoria Advocate
Ever since she could join the cross country team as a fifth-grader, the junior at Shiner St. Paul has forgone the opportunity to sleep late and eat greasy junk food so she can be the best runner she can be.
Jackson, who helped the St. Paul cross country team win the Moulton cross country meet earlier this month and who came in first at the Shiner meet in the 3,200 with a time of 12 minutes, 52 seconds, said she likes the miles and a chance to zone out when she's on the run.
"I like that all I have to do is walk out my front door and run," Jackson said. "I don't have to worry about anything else -- I just have to run."
Since the cross country program begins at St. Paul before students reach junior high, by the time they are in high school, many are well-versed in area meets.
This is the first year that St. Paul cross country coach Dana Beal Sestak hasn't been the head volleyball coach and can take the time to dedicate to the school's best runners.
The team starts at 5 a.m. every weekday and runs through Shiner. For a few years, they were able to navigate through downtown and other city streets before finding their way back to the school.
Because of oil field construction in town, the team has started running three or four miles every morning at Green-Dickson Municipal Park.
The switch has been beneficial, Beal said, because it has exposed the girls to different terrains that they will experience during meets.
This year, there are 20 girls on the Lady Cardinals cross country team. If they continue gathering steam up until the TAPPS state meet on Oct. 25 at Baylor University in Waco, only seven will be able to participate.
Beal said she pushes the girls to give it their all 100 percent of the time.
"It's sad when they're all in the top 20 at meets but only the top seven on the team can go to state," Beal said. "I always tell them that it's possible to make a spot, and to really commit to the training."
Jackson, who also plays basketball, doesn't need to be told to train. Sometimes she has to be told to back off when attempting to do too much.
For instance, last season she wanted to lift heavier weights than coach Beal advised and paid the price during long-distance meets with slower times.
Over the summer, Jackson participated in a cross country camp at Baylor where she had the opportunity to train with college athletes, learn about proper nutrition and, of course, run.
Jackson spent this past summer training for the cross country season, even when she was on a mission trip to Haiti with a local church where she ran on the beach and up a hill for more than a week.
Two days before the team's third meet of the season in Weimar, the all-girl team took a dip in an ice bath.
Beal recommends alternating heat and cold to help loosen the hamstrings, thighs and calves for her runners.
Jackson and teammates Victoria Kusak and Elise Patek all partook in the frigid whirlpool bath in the St. Paul locker room and sat until there until they were numb from the waist down.
Kusak and Patek, both seniors, had just finished up afternoon volleyball practice before the ice bath.
Both girls have been running competitively since fifth grade like Jackson, and are also cheerleaders for the football team.
Though cross country can be seen by many schools as an individual sport, St. Paul has a different approach.
"Though you're an individual, it's still about your team," Patek said. "Everything you do is for your team."
"If you're out on the course, and you see one of your teammates, you always cheer them on and keep them going," Kusak said.
Senior Elise Patek, grits her teeth as she gets into an ice bath in the locker rooms at St. Paul. Victoria Kusak sits in the bath as well, and Natalie Jackson and coach Dana Beal Sestak give them support as the two girls in the tub try to stay in the cold water. The cold water helps regenerate muscles after an intense practice. |
Natalie Jackson’s toes poke out of an ice bath in the locker rooms at St. Paul. Her coach’s sister is a physical therapist, and donated this whirlpool bath to the school. The cold water helps with muscle regeneration. |
Cross country senior runners Elise Patek, left, and Victoria Kusak sit in an ice bath in the locker room at St. Paul High School. |
Natalie Jackson, junior at St. Paul High School in Shiner, checks the thermometer in the ice bath. Her coach, Dana Beal Sestak, asks the runners to take ice baths every evening to help regenerate their muscles. |
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