Struyk: Best is Yet to Come
October 27, 2003 02:15 PM | General
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October 22, 2003
Tara Struyk lives 2,200 miles away from the town she once called home. The path the Edmonton, Alberta, native has taken to Morgantown, however, makes that 42-hour drive seem like a short ride down the West Virginia Turnpike.
As a senior at Jasper Place High, Struyk was labeled as one of the most decorated long-distance prep athletes in all of Canada. She represented Canada in the Pan-American Games and ranked among the country's best juniors in the 1,500 and 5,000 meters while competing in the prestigious World Junior Cross Country Championships in 1998 and 1999.
Following high school, she signed a letter of intent to run track and cross country at Oregon, but her career in Eugene didn't exactly go according to plan.
"I didn't really have a career there," she says. "My first cross country season was average and after that I was injured for two straight years."
Don't let Struyk's definition of average fool you. As a freshman in 1999, she ranked among the Ducks' top three finishers in every race and finished 14th at the West Regional meet.
Struyk's injuries, conversely, began to mount following her freshman campaign when she suffered a stress fracture to her left tibia. The rest of her athletic career there was hampered by repeated instances of chronic tendinitis in her ankle.
One injury seemed to lead into another, Struyk states with frustration. "After that first cross country season, I ran a total of two races in my final two years," she recalls.
After three sub-par seasons in the Northwest, Struyk felt it was time to take a step back to look at her options. Midway through her redshirt sophomore year, she decided to return home to Edmonton for a fresh start.
"I felt a great deal of pressure being injured on such a high profile team," Struyk recollects. "After each injury, I would end up doing too much and getting weaker each time, which makes it even harder to come back. In the end, I just felt it was better to go home and start all over at my own pace."
She spent six months at home before WVU distance coach Sean Cleary, who attempted to recruit Struyk out of high school, contacted her about coming to WVU.
"I told her that we would be very patient, allow for her injuries to heal and sooner or later her natural ability would surface," Cleary says.
"I felt like Tara had a unique maturity that would balance a national caliber team. More than anything, I wanted Tara to have another opportunity to run in the NCAA and be rewarded for her hard work. I wanted to see her graduate from WVU."
Despite some initial concerns from her mother, Susan, Struyk felt the opportunity to run at West Virginia was one she couldn't afford to pass up.
"Mom was a little skeptical at first because I didn't have a good experience at Oregon," she says. "But now she seems to be pretty happy with the way everything has worked out."
Saying ‘everything has worked out' doesn't do justice to the success Struyk has enjoyed since putting on a Mountaineer uniform. After being away from the sport for three years, she finished in the top 30 of every race as a sophomore. Her 2002 campaign included an eighth-place finish at the Paul Short Classic, ninth at the Penn State Invitational, 13th at Mid-Atlantic Regionals and 15th at BIG EAST Championships. She also earned all-BIG EAST and all-Region honors.
Struyk's accomplishments have not come easy. The junior news-editorial major has had to put forth a great deal of effort, focus and determination on a daily basis to get back into the same shape she was in before her injuries.
"Everyday I get up between 7:30-8:00 a.m. and run four miles, go to school, run nine or 10 miles in the afternoon or have practice and go to bed," she says without hesitation.
Struyk has been stellar in 2003, finishing second at the Lock Haven Invitational and third at the Paul Short Classic. With her help, the Mountaineers are ranked 26th in the latest FinishLynx Top 30 national cross country poll; interestingly enough, Oregon is not ranked.
A great deal of Struyk's success can be attributed to former high school and current WVU teammate Megan Metcalfe.
"I think it's been really good for me to live with Megan," she says enthusiastically. "She's a little more balanced than I am as far as doing stuff aside from running and that influence has really helped me a lot."
Struyk's contributions are paying dividends as the Mountaineers continue to be a strong contender in the Mid-Atlantic region and a legitimate national qualifier.
"I expect that we have only scratched the surface with Tara's ability," Cleary says. " She has high goals for herself and nothing short of All-America status will leave her satisfied."
As Tara Struyk's journey progresses closer to its climax, the best still lies ahead for what will be a career full of promise, hope and triumph.
Jarrod Sudduth is a student assistant in the West Virginia University sports communications office.
