One local sixth grader is faster than most eighth graders on the
track.
Jessica Rux finished in first place during the county middle
school cross country championship last Saturday at Los Gatos High
School. The young racer ran the 2-mile course in a time of 11:55.
The next finisher behind her came in with a 12.48.
One local sixth grader is faster than most eighth graders on the track.
Jessica Rux finished in first place during the county middle school cross country championship last Saturday at Los Gatos High School. The young racer ran the 2-mile course in a time of 11:55. The next finisher behind her came in with a 12.48.
“I didn’t think she would break 12 minutes,” said her dad Tom, who has helped train her. “The competition brings out the animal in her. There was another girl who stayed with her for the first 5 or 600 meters.”
“She fell off on the hills. I trained Jessica to hit the downhills hard when the opponents are tired. She was running that downhill fast. Her legs were flying.”
The 11-year-old Marguerite Maze student’s success has been no surprise to many. After all, she was ranked as high as seventh in the country after the 5K Junior Olympic National Championships in Nebraska in 2001.
Jessica also won the final regular season race in Aptos on Wednesday. In middle school races, the county final is before the league final. The league final will be Oct. 29 at Park Hill.
“The only way she is not going to win is if she falls down and breaks her leg,” Tom said. “Even if she falls down, she could still probably get back up and win. The other girls just can’t run with her. It is just how fast she will run.”
Because there is only about a week for middle school athletes to get ready before the season begins, Jessica has been training with new San Benito track coach and assistant cross country coach Iran White.
“She is great – a real warrior,” White said. “I have never seen a little kid as focused as she is. She does what she wants. In 10 or 15 years, just watch you will see her on TV.”
White has been working with her for about six months focusing on improving speed specially for short runs.
This Sunday, Jessica will be competing in the local Red Ribbon Run where it all began for the young racer when she was only six.
After seeing an advertisement for the run, Jessica knew that was something she wanted to do. Her dad told her that she would have to practice hard if she wanted to win the race.
She did just that and ended up not only winning the race with a time of 8:01 but also breaking the old course record in her age group by almost a minute.
Jessica just recently stopped racing for her NorCal team to concentrate on running at the middle school level.
“The workouts are brutal,” Tom said. “They are harder than the ones in high schools. Now the raining is like a warmup.”
The young racer used to get pumped up by watching “Without Limits” before each race.
“It is fun racing and winning and having everyone notice you” Jessica said. “I just think about finishing.”
Jessica has set her marks high. When she gets to high school, she hopes to win a Central Coast Section title. She eventually hopes to go into the Olympics.
Although Jessica plans to run track as well as cross country, she said she prefers cross country.
“You are not just running in a circle,” Jessica said. “You are running different places.”
But as of now she is content to hang out with friends, listen to music, watch TV and run, run, run wherever she can.
“It was a gift I was born with,” Jessica said. “Running was just something I was able to do.”
