Pittsburg State’s Venessa Lee has always had a love-hate relationship with running. Despite being the indoor and outdoor DII National Champion in the 800m, and qualifying for U.S. Outdoor Nationals, Venessa has not always loved running. About her first experience with the sport in junior high, she recalls, “I absolutely hated it. I was terrible. I competed in a few meets and decided I had had enough. I begged my parents to let me quit. I wrote, ‘I hate track’ over and over again and tacked it to their bedroom door. I finally convinced them [to let me quit] after they watched me run the mile and finish last. Then, my coach wouldn't let me quit. I told her I was too embarrassed to run in front of people. She allowed me to not compete anymore and just run with the team at practice. Needless to say, I didn't go out for track in 8th grade.” Once in high school, the track coach convinced Venessa to come out for the team. During her first season, she requested to run the 300m hurdles. She explains, “I just wanted to find an event that no one else did so I could go to all the meets with the team.” The following summer, Venessa had a growth spurt, shooting up from five to almost six feet! With her new found height and power, and her growing dedication to the sport, she qualified for the Missouri state meet in the 800m. Her junior year, a new assistant coach further fueled her success. Coach Brown brought new knowledge about the sport and instilled in Vanessa the belief that she could win the state meet. That year, she went on to win the mile and 100m hurdles. Her senior year, she successfully defended her title in the mile and also won the 800m. After high school, Venessa initially set her sights on the University of Missouri, but her times were not fast enough for an athletic scholarship. She explains, “I wanted to go somewhere that I felt like they wanted me to come. Coach Jewett called me and told me about Pitt State, but at that point I was set on MU. I told him thanks for calling but not really interested. He told me about a program here, Honors College. I applied and was accepted, resulting in a full ride academic scholarship.” Venessa continues, “Also the coach I mentioned before, Coach Brown, was a graduate and former athlete at Pitt State and spoke very highly of the school and track program. I didn't know it at the time, but he also ended up coming back to Pitt to get his master’s [degree] and helped coach me here for a couple years too.” During her first year of college, Venessa continued to come to terms with her love-hate relationship with running. “My college running career started out very rough. The first day of practice I was not in as good of shape as the other girls and ran way behind the rest of the team. I was terrible. I had been running 10 minute miles all summer while they were running closer to 8 minute pace. I had a lot of catching up to do. I went back to my room and cried after that first practice. I wanted to give up during that season but stuck it out just hoping that track would be better. Even throughout this season, Coach Brown told me I would be a National Champion someday, I laughed at him. But his belief in me and the fact that Coach Jewett didn't give up on me kept me going through that long, miserable season,” she explains. Luckily, Venessa stuck it with track, ending her collegiate career on a high note. For Venessa, “My proudest achievement was probably winning Nationals outdoor. I got second the year before and came back wanting the title more than ever. Also, I was very happy to qualify [for] the USA outdoor nationals. It was a goal of mine throughout the season and took a lot to qualify.” She will not be back this year to defend her outdoor title, opting instead to redshirt this year. As she explains, “My goals for this season are to qualify for the Olympic Trials this June in Eugene, Oregon. My coach and I think it will take 2:04 to do this, so I want to run 2:03 just to be safe. I have rearranged a lot for this goal. I am redshirting this entire year to focus on the trials. I will come back next year to use my last year of eligibility.” Depending on how this year goes, Venessa has quite a few options for the future. She explains, “I would love to get sponsored and run professionally for a few years. I plan to go to medical school and become a surgeon, maybe [a] cardiac [surgeon], not sure yet. I also want to use my Spanish major in medicine. I want to be a missionary someday and volunteer in international health…I've always been a serious student, even before I was a runner. So I've never known anything different.” In her pursuit to achieve such goals, Venessa applies the motto, “Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think is possible." She explains, “I think this attitude is necessary for the success I hope to have in the future” Track Meets of the weekend of Jan 25 Bison Open and Multi- Bucknell University In the women’s mile it was a close race between Indiana (PA)’s Maureen Newell and Millersville’s Priscilla Jennings. Newell ran a 5:14.58 and Jennings finished second with a 5:14.60. In the men’s 200m, Shippenburg’s Jamal James hit the preliminary qualifying mark by running a 22.20. In the women’s high jump Slippery Rock’s Whitney Hendershothit also hit the preliminary qualifying mark by jumping 1.70m. In the men’s shot put Kutztown’s Jim Dart hit the preliminary mark by throwing a 16.51m. Central Missouri Invitational Lincoln’s Shanna-Kay Wright hit the preliminary qualifying mark in the women’s 60 meters and 200 meters by running a 7.69 and 25.99, respectively. Central Missouri’s Chelsea Luck also ran the preliminary qualifying mark in the 60m hurdles, running 8.90 sec. Bob Eubanks Open- Grand Valley State University Grand Valley’s Catherine McCarthy ran away from the field in the mile and with a solid 5:07, a preliminary qualifying mark (second place ran 5:22). In the men’s 800m, Grand Valley’s Todd Schuster hit the qualifying mark by running a 1:54. picture from Pitt State website