Jill Scully dashed across the finish line to win her eighth consecutive individual Mid-American Conference championship in May, sporting a fake cardinal tattoo that took her five years to find. Scully, a recent Ball State University graduate was named Ball State's Female Athlete of the Year. Her coaches say she is the female athlete of the past four years, but Scully is satisfied with winning such a respectable award.
"That award is one of the biggest honors I could have gotten," Scully said. "To have all of my fellow athletes recognize my accomplishments is very humbling."-á
BECOMING A RUNNER
"I started running in sixth grade because they wouldn't let me play volleyball," Scully said. "Only seventh graders were allowed to play."
She ran cross country and track and impressed her coaches so much that the following year she was coaxed out of trying out for volleyball.
"I don't know exactly what transpired," she said, "but I got the impression I would be running cross country."
Scully was successful, even from the beginning, because her determination kept her focused on her goals.
"I've always worked really hard at it," she said. "I've always pushed myself to reach my goals."
During Scully's sophomore year of high school, she and her teammates decided they wanted to win the state championship. "Some people laughed," she said. "But we wanted it."
Scully said she worked hard, as did her teammates and coaches, to prepare for the state meet, and they won state her junior and senior years.
Ball State coach Sue Parks said she recruited Scully from Valparaiso High School because the young runner would be successful at Ball State.
"She was a good runner in high school, and she came from a good program," Parks said. "And I knew she was interested in teaching, so academically it was a good fit for her."
Scully said she believes that of all the schools that tried to recruit her, Ball State was the right place for her.
"You're always nervous when you pick a school, but I feel like I picked the best school I could have," Scully said. "People asked me about going to bigger schools. My answer was always no."
Scully said she was oblivious about competitive college running while she was in high school. She would talk to recruiters that were nice to her on the phone, she said. A number of schools attempted to recruit Scully, including Grand Valley State University, the University of Southern Indiana, the University of North Carolina, Kansas University, the University of Kentucky and Stanford University.
"I didn't realize what it meant back then realize how big of a deal it was," she said. "I guess you could say I'm not the typical runner."
She currently holds three records at Ball State in long distance events. She's had eight individual MAC championships and helped the team to one first place finish. She also went to the NCAA championships four times.
Collegiate success didn't always come easy for Scully. During her first year at Ball State, she forced herself to train hard despite the pain she was feeling from a high school injury. Her knee problems became overwhelming, and she decided to have surgery.
"It was a relief to have the surgery because I was running through a lot of pain," Scully said. "It was a solution to the problem, but it was frustrating. I'd do hours of rehab each day and not see results for over a year."
Parks said Scully improved steadily after her surgery and was able to reach her full potential after undergoing the procedure. Scully worked her way back up to an even level with the rest of the team.
During the hard practices, Parks would set times for the runners and push them to improve.
"We focus on hitting those times and running hard," Scully said. "It's a hard workout for your body on those days."-á
PREPARING FOR RACES
Scully prayed before every race. In preparation for meets, she listened to a playlist of songs to get her hyped up.
"Once I'm at the track, I'm mentally getting into the zone," Scully said.
During races, Scully said a million things go through her head. Being a math major, Scully used the times her coach yelled at her to calculate how fast she was running.
"I use the splits to figure out my pace whether I need to pick it up," she said.
Scully believes her most valuable asset as a runner is her mental game.
"Long distance running is all mental," Scully said. "If you can push yourself while you're working hard and training hard, that's the most important aspect."
Parks has enjoyed coaching Scully not only because of her athleticism, but also for her ability to stay focused.
"Jill is the kind of person who, when she was mentally ready for something, was very tough to beat," Parks said. "She was very mentally tough on race day."
Scully is proud of her strong drive and determination.
"I've always wanted to succeed and please people," Scully said. "I've never wanted to give up on anything. I'm somewhat a perfectionist."
Two nights before every race, Scully would eat pasta to load up on carbohydrates, she said. The following night, she would enjoy her favorite food as a source of protein.
"Jill always eats steak the night before a race," teammate Nicole Hartford said.
Scully has done research about the best way to eat in order to enhance athletic performance. However, she doesn't know whether eating steak actually does increase her abilities or whether it is just part of her mental routine.
"I think it is an excuse to eat steak sometimes," she said. "It's what I've done since high school, and it has become an important part of my preparation for a race."
Hartford agrees that the comfort of Scully's routine might be the reason for the feast before her races.
"I think it's just kind of a superstition," Hartford said. "With a lot of runners, if you have a certain routine before every race, it makes you feel relaxed and helps to not get so nervous."-á
TEAMMATES
Hartford and Scully attended rival high schools, so they knew of one another before becoming teammates. The rivalry didn't stop the two distance runners from becoming close friends.
"When I came to visit Ball State, Coach Parks asked Jill if I could stay with her and she said no," Hartford said. "Now we look back and laugh on it."
Hartford said Scully is a reliable friend and athlete and a down-to-earth person. Her other teammates agree that Scully is fun to be around.
"My fondest memory of Jill would probably be when a group of us went to watch the Columbus [Ohio] marathon a year and a half ago," teammate Rose Lehe said. "We spent the night at a friend's house, and Jill was laughing so hard. It was so fun. I've never seen anyone laugh that hard."
Throughout her career as a runner at Ball State, Scully has learned to appreciate and love her teammates.
"We are a goofy group of girls," she said. "My whole team loves to pull pranks."
Scully said she and her teammates always have fun and get along well. A few of them even went on a canoe trip together two weeks ago. Teammate Rose Lehe said Scully's canoeing skills are at a level far below her running abilities. It was difficult for her to keep her canoe straight, and kept steering it sideways. She would frequently end up crashing into the bay or the trees.
"She's adventurous," Lehe said. "She likes to travel and try new things. She's just a very bad steerer."
The team has had many adventures together, and Scully remembers having to run outside during the winter in the cold weather while icicles formed on her clothes and eyelashes.
"During some of the bad winter weather we couldn't even run a mile without a spill or a slip," she said. "There was one year when we were ice skating more than running, but we were still out there to finish up whatever workout we needed to."
Scully took her workouts very seriously and continued to improve throughout her five years at Ball State. Lehe said her hard work has made her a role model for younger athletes.
"Jill is someone to look up to because she loves her sport and she works hard at it," she said. "She never slacks off, and she's always very consistent. She's also a great moral figure, and she has good ethics. She knows exactly who she is."
All of her teammates and coaches describe Scully as determined to succeed. But despite her determination, Scully never dreamed she would ever be as successful in college as she was. She attributes much of her success to her coaches for pushing her to achieve greatness.
"My coaches made me realize that I could run at an elite level," Scully said. "I never knew I could do that."
Her coaches saw in her what she didn't even see - an all-star collegiate athlete. When Parks recruited her, she could see qualities in her that made her an important part of the team.
"The thing that was nice about Jill is that she was a dependable runner," Parks said. "You always know what you are going to get out of her. She's consistent and rarely had bad races. You can always count on her to be ready on meet day. She was one of a kind," Parks said. "It was great to see her blossom as a runner."
Even though Scully will be missed by her teammates and coaches, they are proud of her for pursuing her dreams beyond college athletics.
Scully accepted a teaching position at Cooper City High School near Ft. Lauderdale. Fla. She also is the head track and field and cross country coach. Despite her new job, she said running will always be an important part of her life.
"God has blessed me with the ability to run," she said. "I thought I could just give it up, but I realized I'm addicted."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
