Westfield State University junior Jessie Cardin heads to Louisville, Kentucky, this weekend to compete in the NCAA Division III women’s cross country championships for the second time, hoping to improve on her 20th place finish from a year ago, a result that brought her All-America honors.
Cardin qualified for the national championship race by virtue of her performance this past weekend, where she placed fourth in the New England regional meet, which Westfield State hosted at Stanley Park, the Owls’ home course. Cardin ran a time of 21:25 for the relatively flat and fast 6-kilometer course.
The top two teams from the region qualify for the national meet, along with the seven fastest individual runners who were not part of a qualifying team.
While Cardin qualified as an individual, she’ll hardly be alone in Louisville, as Westfield State head coach Bill Devine will travel to the meet along with Cardin, and her whole family plans to drive down to Louisville for the weekend.
It is unsurprising that the Cardins would travel to support her, as running together is a bit of a family tradition.
Westfield State’s Jessie Cardin strides towards the finish line at the NCAA Division III New England Regional at Stanley Park on Saturday, November 12, 2016.
“I started running competitively in the seventh grade, after doing some youth races since about the fifth grade,” said Cardin. “My sister kind of pulled me into it, she was a captain of her high school team. I didn’t really feel like I was going to be a good runner at the time or enjoy doing it every single day, which is funny to think back on now, but I am happy that she pulled me into it.”
Jessie’s older sister Rachel was an all-conference cross country runner and track and field athlete at Westfield State, graduating in 2013.
“My mom was a distance runner in high school, and ran for a couple years in college,” said Jessie. “We kind of bond together through this.”
“My sister coming here was definitely part of it,” said Cardin on why she chose Westfield State. “Watching what a good experience she had here, that was something that I really wanted.”
“Coach Devine impressed me before I came. He would come and see me race in high school and he wasn’t at all pushy or shoving brochures in my face like some other programs did, and of course the education major is phenomenal. Stanley Park is beautiful and has so many trails to run, even in high school I would drive out on Sundays to go on long runs in the park with my sister.”
Long runs are part of the routine for Cardin. During the school year she runs 40-45 miles a week on average, depending on the training cycle, and even more in the summer.
“She’s a hard-working, dedicated student athlete,” said Devine, Westfield State’s ninth-year head coach. “Cardin excels at both. She’s a great student and individual, and she’s very humble for someone that does so many things well.”
Cardin maintains a 3.94 grade point average in elementary education with a concentration in math.
JESSIE CARDIN
“This semester I am enjoying finally getting into the classroom for a long period of time for my practicum,” she said. “All of my education classes are super interesting. I love learning in general, but especially about being a teacher. I’d like to go on to graduate school in either continuing with math or reading and I hope to teach for a long time.”
Cardin maintains a broad smile, but speaks in measured tones with a maturity that seems beyond her 20 years, but also is an indicator of the discipline required to be a standout athlete.
“Her best attribute is her mental toughness and her work ethic,” said Devine, “No one is doing more work than she is. In fact, she’s doing drills that I’d like to get the rest of the team doing.”
“It’s hard to point out your best qualities as an athlete when you are tirelessly trying to perfect your worst/weakest qualities,” said Cardin. “I guess I would have to say my drive. Running is my passion. I can never give enough reasons as to why I do it, why I love it, or how it has shaped me into the person that I am today.”
Cardin got a chance to prep for the national championship meet by traveling to Louisville to compete in the preview race in October, run over the same course.
“I found that by running the course earlier in October, I was able to prepare myself throughout the entire rest of the season up until this point by knowing what it looked like,” she said. “It really helps me when I get to see what I will be running on terrain wise, hill-wise, how the start is, how long the finish is – it all aids my visualization. I wasn’t able to do that last year; it was such an advantage this year because I have already started envisioning myself running on that course a second time, imagining the turns, mile markers, etc.”
Cardin will head into nationals in good form off a strong fourth-place finish at the New England Regional meet, traditionally one of the strongest regions.
“Everything seemed to click at regionals,” said Cardin. “Strategically it went exactly as I had planned. I realized the whole season I had been leading or very close to the lead in almost every race this year, and at regionals I knew I would be better off holding my position if I let someone else lead and do most of the work. It’s a big step to lead a race, especially one as tough as the regionals.”
“It was one of those races that I think I will never forget because it was at Stanley Park, I had a pretty good kick which is something I try to work on. I was consistent -I really appreciated my training and saw a lot of that put into effect on Saturday, and it was awesome,” she added with a smile.
The NCAA Championship field will be even tougher yet, but Cardin’s past big race experience should serve her well.
Jessie Cardin, third from left in white singlet and sunglasses, races to the finish at the 2015 NCAA Championship meet.
Race winner Abrah Masterson of Cornell (Iowa) College is at front right. (Photo courtesy of Westfield State University Sports)
“You have to react to the situation,” said Devine. “She has to get out and can’t get stuck in the soup. It takes a lot of energy to get around the pack. At nationals it’s like a moving swarm with so many good runners stuck together in a group. Ideally she will be in the top 20 early on.”
“Coach always calls it ‘the soup,'” said Cardin, “when you aren’t in the first flight or start slowly. Last year (at nationals) the start was really a mess with people falling all over the place, running into each other — my thing is to focus on getting out quickly and keep my own space.”
“Having been to nationals twice (for cross country in fall of 2015 and the 3,000 meter steeplechase during the 2016 outdoor track season) both times I have gone in open-minded and ready for anything,” said Cardin. “If a bunch of people fall, or someone goes out really fast – I just need to worry about me. Stay on my toes. I don’t want to worry about what I can’t control.”
“In my mind there are three kinds of people at nationals,” said Devine. “Those that are happy to be there, those that want to be All-Americans, and those that want to win. Jessie is the last two.”
This week in preparation, Cardin will “Trust my training. Big mindset right now has been tapering this week, which is hard. I’m trying to stay healthy, and go through my mental checklist for the race, and remember those keys.”
The Owls’ cross country program has had its share of success. Kerry Arouca was an All-American cross country runner in 2009, and if you wind the clock back to 1981, Cindy (Sturm) Menard won the NCAA Division III title.
“Nationals is really anybody’s race on Saturday,” said Cardin. “The top 20-30 runners have a legitimate chance. Last year I was 20th and I was only 10 seconds behind the winner. Coach said not to lose sight of the fact that I could be top five this year.”
“I am always striving for new PRs, new improvements, and new heights as a runner,” said Cardin. “I believe that my drive, dedication, and passion for the sport that God has blessed me to be gifted with will get me to those goals I’m always reminded to ‘respect the process.’ While the end result is so satisfying, knowing that you put in all of the work, the sweat, the tired muscles, the ice baths, the long meets – it’s all worth it. The process makes the success ten times more awesome.” – Story by Dave Caspole, WSU Associate AD
