It has been a busy semester for Northwest Nazarene’s Ashley Puga; she won the DII Indoor title in the 800m, qualified for the DII Outdoor Championships, ran a 2:05.23 at the Mt. Sac Relays, which is the B standard for the USATF Outdoor Championships, and finished her senior project. “The senior project I was working on ended up taking over my life for the last three weeks until its completion this past Monday. The group I was a part of did quite well, so the hard work hopefully paid off,” she says.

Puga is no stranger to hard work. Describing one of her hardest workouts, she explains, “I would have to say 800m repeats. They are uncomfortable because they are in between all out and a maintainable pace. It challenges me mentally because I have to stay engaged while hitting my times and also fight to stay on pace physically. Sometimes my coach will have one of the guys on the team run them with me. This helps me practice staying up with someone when I get tired and want to slow down in addition to maintaining the correct pace. It is also more fun getting to run with someone. If I have to run them alone, I learn to push myself and better understand my limits as a runner.”

All this work has been worth it, “The highlight of my college career has been when dreams came true. At certain points in my college career, I set really high goals that had a high possibility of never materializing into a reality. For example, if someone ever told me I would make it to nationals in cross country, I probably would have laughed. My passion has always been track because of the head to head competition that occurs more frequently. I did not have near as much confidence in cross country either. During my junior year, the girls' cross country team grew really close through the goals we set up at the beginning of the season and the Bible study we held. Running was fun, and the team started improving a lot. I started to have confidence in myself with the help of my coaches and team. I went from placing in the 30th place or so at regionals to fourth. It was something I look back on and am very thankful. The same thing happened this year with indoor track. I had set winning a national championship as a goal before graduating. Having never accomplished that, at times it seemed impossible” she recounts.

Puga continues to set high goals, as she explains, “I hope to continue to enjoy competing and work towards qualifying at a 4x400m team and hopefully get the chance to run a faster 800m to hit the A standard. I was looking forward to cheering on my teammates at the conference meet (The GNAC meet was canceled due to swine flu), but I'm still so proud to be on a team with quality people and athletes. Other than that, to continue to grow as a runner and person and help others on my team do the same. I have noticed that oftentimes, people don't realize the talent they have and how much of a difference a little encouragement can make. It is fun for me to see people believe in themselves.”

Along with her encouraging others, she has received plenty of encouragement in return. “I have many close friends on the team that I will continue to stay in contact with after this year. There have been numerous people in the GNAC conference that I have enjoyed competing with but also been able to talk to outside of running. I have many memories of talking with fellow competitors after races at nationals, and we all ended up laughing and sharing stories from our lives. Last year, I had the privilege to meet some of the athletes from Div. II that went on to compete after college for the Olympic Trials. I have enjoyed the opportunity to build friendships and cheer on fellow athletes as they compete. Each of these people have helped change my life for the better; coaches, competitors, teammates, family, friends. The list goes on. I am deeply grateful for each of them because of the impact they have had on my life,” she says.

One person that is on that list is her sister, who runs with her at Northwestern Nazarene. “Having Jaci on the team has been wonderful. This season, she has decided to redshirt due to some injuries, so it has been a hard adjustment not seeing her at practice each day. She is always smiling and outgoing. She is someone who knows me better than anyone else on the team, [who] lets me be who I am and interact with everyone, but is always there if I ever need her. I would describe it like having an anchor with me all the time. She doesn't hold me down rather she encourages me and stands by me when things in life get busy or difficult,” she explains.

The busy semester is almost over for Puga. While she is still trying to figure out what her plans will be after graduation, but her future looks bright: “I hope to work in Idaho doing something in accounting and continue to pursue running. With regards to running, enjoying the journey and leaving the results in God's hands is my plan. I will also stay in touch with the friends I have made both on and off the track.”