North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Hess Leads at Her New Home
10/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 30, 2005
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH - It was pretty evident to Jemissa Hess that she needed some one to push her.
She just didn't expect that she would be shoved into a leadership position in her first year at NC State.
The junior from Manassas, Va., began her career at High Point University, where she was an All-America in track as a sophomore. But when her coach, Al Barnes, announced that he was leaving his position for family reasons, Hess decided she would be better off at a place she could get better competition from her teammates.
So she transferred to NC State, where Barnes is now a volunteer coach.
"I really didn't have anyone at High Point to push me, as far as my teammates," Hess said. "It was kind of me by myself."
And, even though NC State didn't have the interior design major that she wanted, Hess opted to trade spaces. She's complementing her design studies at NC State with interior design classes at Meredith.
She's also getting the training competition that has allowed her to improve her times in all events. She shaved nearly 50 seconds off her time last fall in the Great American Cross Country Championships at SAS Park in Cary.
At High Point, Hess said she frequently trained alone, which made it difficult to gauge where she fit in with other top-level runners. At State, she has been pushed by her teammates to get better and better.
"Everything is tougher and more intense, which has definitely allowed me to get better," Hess said. "I guess being in a better environment with better resources and better teammates has allowed me to fulfill my potential."
Monday morning, Hess will be one of the leaders in a deep pool of talent that will line up for the Wolfpack in the ACC Women's Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Fla. The 6,000-meter race begins at 9:30 at Miccosukee Greenway Park. The ACC Men's Cross Country race begins at 8:30 a.m. at the same location.
It's not exactly an easy accomplishment, stepping right into a take-charge position like that. But Hess' well-rounded, responsible personality is well suited for it, according to associate head coach Laurie Henes.
"But her personality and her training have made it easy for everybody to look up to her. "She does everything right. She is very conscientious about getting all her rest, her treatment. Some distance runners want to put all their runs in and don't want to go to the training room if their shin hurts or something.
"Jemissa is in there every day making sure that every little ache or pain she has gets taken care of and doesn't turn into something bigger. That is one thing distance runners are notorious for. "Eh, it just hurts a little bit. I'll go run my 12 miles and not worry about it.' Then it turns in to something bigger. Jemissa is very good with her sleeping habits, her eating habits, all the little things you need to do to run at a very high level."
That was evident last year at the District III Regional Championships, when Hess finished eighth, ahead off all but one of NC State's runners. She knew then that she was clearly capable of running with one of the top teams in the country.
The nationally ninth-ranked Wolfpack, which has won 20 ACC Cross Country titles in 27 years, will face stiff competition in a league that has six teams ranked in the Top 25, including unanimous No. 1 Duke.
But the Wolfpack will also be running with its full lineup for the first time this fall, with the return of junior All-America Julia Lucas, who has been out until now while recovering from burns she suffered on her legs and arms in an off-campus house fire in August.
Add in proven performers in sophomore Magin Kebert, sophomore Angelina Blackmon and senior Kristina Roth and the Wolfpack has a deep group of runners that can push the Blue Devils and anyone else who might challenge for the league title.
"It will be exciting to see everyone race together," Henes said. "This is one of the best teams we have had here in the last couple of years. But the conference is at a very high level, as well, and we realize that we could have a great race and not win the conference championship."
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
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