STORY BY BLAKE ZIMMERMAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRUCE WATERFIELD
GOING THE DISTANCE During her time as a Cowgirl,
NATALJA PILIUSINA
has collected an NCAA title, seven All-America honors, six combined indoor and outdoor Big 12 championships in the 800 meters, multiple school records and has been named 2013 Oklahoma State female student-athlete of the Year.
AND TO THINK SHE ALMOST DECIDED NOT TO COME TO OSU. Stillwater, Okla., is 5,132 miles from
KLAIPEDA, LITHUANIA, and that’s if you
fly in a straight line. That distance was almost too far for Piliusina as she was deciding whether to attend college in the United States.
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“I GOT COLD FEET,” PILIUSINA
SAID. “I REALIZED THE DISTANCE INVOLVED, AND I WASN’T SURE ABOUT BEING SO FAR AWAY. I DIDN’T REALLY KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT. SO, WHEN I GRADUATED, I TOLD EVERYONE I WASN’T COMING.”
AUGUST 2013
Piliusina, a highly-recruited distance runner since she was in the tenth grade, always knew she wanted to come to Oklahoma State — she just needed some extra convincing. “Zivile Pukstiene, our jumps coach, emailed me and said I should just come for a visit and see if I liked it,” Piliusina said. “I visited for two days and fell in love with everything about the team and the school. I canceled all my other visits. I knew OSU was where I wanted to be.”
The Cowgirl track and field record books haven’t been the same since.
STILLWATER
All of the success has come from long hours of preparation, and that’s how Piliusina wants to be remembered at OSU. “I just want people to see how hard you have to work to be one of the best runners in the NCAAs,” Piliusina said. “I not only want to rewrite the record books here at OSU, but also make sure they don’t get rewritten for a while after I’m gone. Of course I want the program to grow and get better, but I want getting a school record to be a huge deal as well. I WANT TO CHANGE THE PROGRAM.”
Piliusina has spent her entire college career changing the OSU women’s program, and on June 8, it culminated with a dramatic victory in the 1,500 meter final at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championships, in Eugene, Ore. The 12 runners stayed in a jumbled pack for most of the 1,500 meters. Piliusina was boxed in on the inside part of the track with 300 meters to go, in sixth place. “With 300 meters to go, I was having flashbacks to last year,” OSU Coach Dave Smith said. “It looked exactly the same to me. I thought ‘Oh my gosh. It’s happening again.’” The race he’s referring to was the 2012 NCAA Outdoor women’s 1,500 meter final. Piliusina entered the race with the top time in the country. She started the race strong, and led for most of the way. With a lap to go, she thought she was going to win.
She finished tenth.
“Last year, all the pressure of entering as the favorite got to me,” Piliusina said. “I put pressure on myself. I kept telling myself ‘I have to win. I have the fastest time.’ Things just didn’t go right
LITHUANIA
for me. Even the weeks leading up to the race were a disaster. My workouts weren’t good. I was getting way too nervous, and that did me in.” Cut to 2013. Entering the final turn, Piliusina made her move. She moved into fourth place on the inside of the track, and things were looking better, but she was cut off With less than 200 meters to go, she had to back off and let people pass her, so she wouldn’t be boxed in.
With 100 meters to go, she was in seventh.
“At that point, I wouldn’t say I gave up, but I knew I wasn’t going to win,” Piliusina said. “I felt fine, but there was no way out. Something changed. I just wanted it so bad. Coming close so many times, and all the work I had put in entered my m i nd . I wanted it so bad.”
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The 10th-place finish the year before, the runner-up finishes in the 2011 NCAA Outdoor 800 meters and the 2012 NCAA Indoor 800 meters and the workouts like the ones OSU Assistant Coach Bobby Lockhart witnessed became fuel.
ON THE HOME STRETCH, WITH LESS THAN 100 METERS TO GO, PILIUSINA SAW A WINDOW, AND WENT FOR IT. “I kept f lashing back to last year,” Piliusina said. “There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about that race. I don’t remember all that happened, but I found a way.” Piliusina split six opponents and f lew down the inside lane into second place. Then, she jumped back outside with about 50 meters to go. She only had one runner left to pass, and she wasn’t going to finish in second again. By the time Piliusina crossed the finish line, she had a cushion of more than 10 meters. She was finally No. 1. “With 20 meters to go, I knew I had it, but I didn’t want to celebrate,” Piliusina said. “I wanted to make sure. But when I did cross, it was excitement. It was relief. It was everything. When I watched the races before mine, and saw other people crossing the finish line and celebrating, I wanted that. I wanted that happiness that you get when you accomplish something you dream about.” After Piliusina finished her post-race interview, she saw Smith outside the fence bordering the track. She ran over to give him a hug. “Honestly, I was relieved,” Smith said. “I KNEW HOW HARD SHE HAD WORKED. I KNEW HOW BADLY SHE
She had done everything we could think of to keep her healthy and ready to go. She sacrificed a lot. If she didn’t win, it was going to be so hard on her. It was tough on her last year, but she doubled down this year. She was more ready for it, and understood the pressure.” WANTED IT.
4 AUGUST 2013
Later that day, Piliusina found a link to her race online and watched it. Even she couldn’t believe what she saw. “If I had been a spectator watching that race, there’s no way I would have guessed I would end up winning,” Piliusina said. “ I STILL CAN’T BELIE VE IT HAPPENED.”
She believes it now. The minute she got back from Oregon, she was out there again, trying to get better. When coach Lockhart arrived in Stillwater, his bags still packed from the trip to Eugene, he saw Piliusina jogging through the north parking lot of GallagherIba Arena. She was on a run. He couldn’t help but chuckle. “I wish I could tell you I was surprised,” Lockhart said. “I know it’s not the best answer, but I wasn’t surprised. I just knew she was on a run.” That’s because it’s no secret—Piliusina is as competitive as they come. “She’s already preparing for the next race,” OSU Coach Dave Smith said. “When we got back, she told me she needed to go on a run. I ASKED HER ‘YOU AREN’T GOING TO TAKE A DAY OFF?’ SHE
She went home, parked her car, changed and went running. I sat on the couch for an hour, and she went on a run. That’s who she is. She did tell me her first run as a national champion felt great.” Piliusina’s success hasn’t been limited to the track. She has been great in the classroom as well, pursuing her bachelor’s degree in economics. In order to be considered for OSU student-athlete of the year, a student-athlete must have maintained a 3.0 GPA or better, while having completed 100 credit hours. Although she will go down as one of the greatest female athletes in OSU history, Piliusina takes the “student” part of “student-athlete” seriously, and she may not be done with school yet. “I want to get a degree,” Piliusina said. “That’s why I came here. I didn’t choose to become a pro runner right away, because I want a degree. School is so important. SAID ‘NO.’
I’m actually thinking about going after my masters degree, too. School and running come together in a nice way for me. Both are a huge part of my life and they balance out well.” Even when it comes to class, Piliusina treats what she does as a training session— a chance to get better. “I think being a student isn’t as much about the actual knowledge you gain, but training yourself to learn,” Piliusina said. “Learning to learn, I guess. It’s preparation for the real world. It’s about keeping yourself on schedule and getting work done on time. It’s more than just class.” Smith said that mindset has carried over to the track, and not only made Piliusina better, but also made her an example for others in the program to follow. “Obviously, she is very gifted athletically,” Smith said. “She is really competitive and has a great work ethic. When you put those three things together, you get great results. She has put our program on the map, helped us elevate our visibility, and she has brought some of the other girls along with her. They have had the opportunity to train with her and it’s made everyone better.”
Piliusina has one year to go to get her degree, meaning she still has one more year to continue rewriting the OSU women’s track and field and cross country record books. She already holds more individual OSU track and field/cross country records than anyone else in school history, and is more than willing to try to add to her totals. “I want to go for doubles in everything,” Piliusina said. I want to be female student athlete of the year again next year — go back-to-back. It’s awesome to see my picture there with all the great athletes at OSU. I also want to win another national title, because I would be the first woman with two outdoor titles at OSU. I also want to try new events. I WANT TO HOLD EVERY RECORD BETWEEN
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THE 800 METERS AND THE 3,000
METERS. IT WOULD BE COOL TO SEE MY NAME EVERYWHERE.”
If Piliusina continues at current pace, her goals for next year don’t seem too far out of reach, especially considering she came more than 5,000 miles to accomplish them.