"I didn’t think it was possible this time last year.” -- UF cross country runner Jessica Pascoe
Pascoe Leading Gators' Remarkable Turnaround
Friday, November 9, 2018 | Cross Country
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By: Ethan Hughes, FloridaGators.com Intern
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In 2017, Gators cross country runner Jessica Pascoe finished 74th at the SEC Championship. On Oct. 26, she lined up in Auburn for SECs once again. This time, however, felt different for her.
"I was definitely more confident this time around, just in all the work I'd put in, everyone that's in the background supporting me and just had fun with it," she said.
Going into the race, Pascoe's strategy was to hang with Arkansas' Katrina Robinson through the first five kilometers, then make a move to see how she responded. She executed the plan to perfection.
"I just stayed pretty relaxed and controlled," she said. "Just kind of sat with the leaders, tucked away, letting them do the work. Then, the Arkansas girl, Katrina Robinson, made a move at about four kilometers into the race, and we split up from the lead pack. I could just sense it going up the hill at around that mark – she just felt like she was going to crumble a little bit.
"I knew I had that extra gear in me to pick up." Jessica Pascoe
She crossed the finish line in 18 minutes, 54.98 seconds—nearly six seconds ahead of Robinson.
"Honestly, I couldn't hear a thing, so I had no idea where she was," said Pascoe, a junior. "I was trying to get to that line as quickly as I could.
"It's such an awesome feeling to cross that line and just realize I did it. I didn't think it was possible this time last year."
Indeed it was possible, and she became the first Gator to win an SEC individual title since 2009.
"I think your first one's always going to be your hardest one," said assistant coach Chris Solinsky, who oversees Florida's cross country and distance corps. "If you get long enough away from it, people think it's this unaccomplishable task. There's going to be great runners that come from a lot of different schools, but, luckily for us, Jess kind of paved the way, and we've got her for another year."
Pascoe also set a new school record with her performance.
"It was a little short of a course," she said. "But, I mean, that's pretty cool. It was a huge [personal record] regardless. That's pretty awesome to think about, especially with the people that have gone through the program."
She was named the USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week for her performance, followed by SEC Women's Runner of the Year honors earlier this week.
Pascoe and the No. 21 Gators continued their postseason run Friday morning, as they finished second in the team standings to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2012. Pascoe led the Gators once again, finishing second individually, the highest finish by UF runner since Cory McGee was the 2014 runner-up.
Pascoe said winning the SEC title was a goal at the beginning of the season, but she tried not to think or talk about it too much while she focused on her training.
Over the summer, she went back to her native Australia to train, and she put in "a lot of mileage." Chris Solinsky
"She's cleaned up her diet a little bit," said Solinsky, in his second season at UF. "She's done a lot better with the prehab, being ahead of any injury, not letting them pop up and just taking care of all the little things, getting to bed on time. She's definitely 100 percent bought in. That's honestly the biggest ingredient that leads to success in any program is that buy-in."
Solinsky also noted her improvement was as much mental as physical. Pascoe's always been talented and ran well in practice, but she made the meets bigger in her head than she needed to.
"This year, she's kind of letting the races come to her," he said. "She's being smart and allowing herself to gain confidence throughout the race. One thing I always tell in kids is 'Give yourself a chance to surprise yourself.' A year ago, she'd go into it from the start trying to force the race to happen, force a great day to happen."
Solinsky said Pascoe's new mental approach was built through conversations with him throughout the offseason, as well as the way Florida built its schedule this year. The Gators started the year with smaller meets, which allowed her to build confidence and comfort heading into the larger, pressure-filled races.
Her new mentality has been effective, as she has been Florida's highest finisher all season, including a trio of victories.
The key to her consistency on race days is being consistent in her training, she said.
"Staying consistent in workouts, just constantly going out and getting the work done on the days you don't want to do it, taking care of my body in the training room, doing all the prehab, rehab treatment and recovery stuff," she said.
While winning the SEC Championship was a goal, it wasn't until after she won the Mountain Dew Invitational on Sept. 22 that she started to view it as being attainable.
"With how comfortable and easy that race felt, I was like, 'I know I can like really be a top competitor this year,'" Pascoe said.
Pascoe's improvement is part of a larger turnaround by the team. Last year, the Gators finished 13th at the SEC Championships and 22nd at regionals. This year, Florida finished second at the SECs and is headed to Madison, Wis., next week for the NCAA Championships.
The biggest key will be adjusting to running in larger crowds, Solinsky said. In a regular season meet, running in 80th place is not where you want to be. The NCAA Championships has more competitors, so Gators could be running well and still be in 80th place.
When the season began, Pascoe's goal was to just make it to the national championship meet. As the season went on, her goals grew. But like her goal of winning SECs, she prefers not to talk about winning a national championship.
"I'm going to definitely give it everything I have and compete to the best of my ability and just see what happens on the day."
