The women's cross-country team knew at the beginning of the season that they were lacking veteran leadership. They were also aware of the possibility of their young team, comprised mostly of freshmen, leading them to victory.
Heading into the NCAA Championships, their last meet of the season, the women's team is in a good spot and quite a bit of that success can be attributed to true freshman Jessica Scalzo.
Scalzo graduated in 2001 from Mt. Si High School in Shoqualmie, Wash. Before coming to ASU, she attended the Art Institute of Washington for a year. While at the Art Institute she ran for a club team, and then began talking to college coaches about running for a university.
"I basically came to run and was interested in their Japanese program," said Scalzo, who is a Japanese major.
Scalzo has helped the team climb the rankings and go beyond the expectations of many. She ran in five races this season and was the top Lady Sun Devil finisher in all of those meets.
In both the first and second meets of the season, Scalzo finished in the fourth spot, an impressive start for a freshman. After some time off due to scheduling reasons, she still remained in top form at the NCAA Pre-Nationals where she finished 17th, taking the ASU women's team to an eighth-place finish.
Following that was the Pac-10 Championships where she finished in the sixth spot with the team coming in second. She claimed first-team all-conference honors at that meet as well.
But her success didn't stop there. At the NCAA West Region Championships, held last weekend, Scalzo once again led the women to a second-place finish, guaranteeing them a spot in the NCAA Championships. In addition, her individual finish of eighth garnered her all-region honors.
"I don't really ever expect anything. I just love to run and I'm really into hard work," Scalzo said. "I don't feel successful because I feel like it isn't over yet and I feel that I can always improve."
On Nov. 25, the NCAA Championships will be held in Terre Haute, Ind., and the ASU women's team will be in attendance due largely in part to Scalzo's strong performances and consistency. And once again, this freshman will have to help the program forget about the successful veterans that graduated last year.
"I think we will kick some major butt [at the championships] and will surprise a lot of people," Scalzo said. "Anything is possible."
Reach the reporter at katie.crane@asu.edu.
