Adan Jett receives the baton from Julianna Schultz during the 4x800m relay. USJ would win the event by 20 seconds running at TN #20 time of 10:10.
Crossing Over
Earlier this preseason, MileSplit Tennessee posted an article that ranked teams according to their three year 4x800m Relay average. Topping the list of that report are the perennial distance powerhouses you would expect; Brentwood, Farragut, Webb, Baylor... etc. The typical rule of thumb is teams that succeed in cross country in the fall will more than likely be able to produce a 4x800m relay team that will succeed in the spring. The University School Of Jackson was an exception to that last season. In the fall of 2021, the Bruins qualified exactly ZERO girls to the State Cross Country Championship but in the spring of 2022 won their Division in the 4x800m relay. It was the third time they won the event and first time since 2009. So what were all of their runners doing in the fall? Mostly playing soccer.
The University School of Jackson is known for its excellence in its girls' soccer program. The team's success is undeniable, with back-to-back state titles and an overall record of 38-7 in the past two years.
When high school soccer is out of season, many players search for another sport to stay in shape. Club soccer and track and field are popular options for soccer players wishing to improve their skills and keep up their endurance and fortunately for USJ, four, Adan Jett, Elizabeth Pucek, Caroline Conder, and Julianna Schultz chose track last spring. I interviewed all four of these girls based on this connection with one main topic in mind: soccer's influence on the track.
Balancing Act
While the team unanimously agreed that their original reason for running track was to stay in shape for soccer, they recognized that track became much more than just conditioning and exercise after their victory.
"It was more individual recognition. We felt more proud of ourselves because it really was just us," Caroline Conder said when asked about her team's victory.
With little to no cross-country influence, the talent of this team is shocking. After a short attempt at balancing cross country and soccer, both fall sports, in previous years, 3 of the runners, Adan, Elizabeth, and Caroline, finally decided it was too much.
"That's one of the reasons we ran track," Conder said.
Julianna Shultz explained, "It's a whole year. Once we finish soccer, we jump right into track."
The girls rotate from soccer in the summer and fall to club soccer and track in their off-seasons. Sometimes, they added, they are forced to choose which practice to attend. They clarified, however, that most of the time, club soccer games are on the weekend, while track meets are during the week.
Betha Pucek explained that sometimes they "had to pick and choose which days they go to what."
While the girls naturally found success in the 4x800m relay in 2022 winning all but one race.
"We won the 800 relays every time," explained Adan Jett.
The only race of the seven they lost was at regionals where one of the runners was tripped, the girls made an unbelievable comeback to qualify. This sent them to the state race, where they won without much problem but that wasn't the only time a soccer player driven relay crossed the finish line in first. Three of the runners, Julianna, Caroline, and Adan with the addition of Haynes Haltom returned to the track for the 4x400m relay and closed the meet exactly how the opened it; with a relay victory.
In the team scoring, USJ would finish tied for 5th in a very competitive field of teams and in 2023 will return all but one of their point scoring contributors.
School | 2022 State Points | Projected 2023 Points |
| USN | 83 | 75 |
| Harding | 64 | 32 |
| SGIS | 57 | 57 |
| Webb - Bell Buckle | 51 | 51 |
| USJ | 47 | 39 |
| GCA - Franklin | 47 | 47 |
While these projections may appear to show the Bruins somewhat slipping in the overall standings this year, their point total last season was amassed with the five girls previously mentioned racing zero open events, something they look to branch into more this season.
Expanding Events
There was very little to look back on in the open 800 amongst these runners. Schultz was the only one who in 2022 logged an open 800 which she only raced twice. Conder ran one 400m, Jett ran the one lap race four times, and Pucek ran 0 open races. Haltom was the most active with multiple documented times in both the 200m and 400m. This year will be different according to Julianna Schultz who was open about their plans saying,
"This coming season, we are going to start doing the opens more, and then we're waiting until state to come back all together again."
While it's hard to project how each will fare in the events they will ultimately attempt on an individual basis, their 2022 success really illustrates one thing to me, cross country is not the narrow path to success in track. From the 100 to the 3200 and even jumping and throwing, it is easy to see how soccer players could be competitive each discipline on the track with the endurance to play a full 80 minutes, speed chase down breakaways, and agility to dodge would be defenders. The question is now, how much can the USJ Bruin girls track team build on their success of 2022? Only time will tell but I can say for certain they shouldn't surprise anyone this spring, themselves included.
