Chickasaw trio runs to all-conference teams

Emily Jackson is just starting to get into the flow.
One can only imagine where the athletically gifted Chickasaw harrier might finish with a year of running under her belt.
Jackson, running in just her second varsity cross country race of her career, raced to a 14th-place finish at the Northeast Iowa Conference meet held at Crestwood this past Tuesday.
That meant a medal and an all-conference honor was bestowed upon Jackson – who has taken to running cross country courses like a duck takes to water.
“It kind of just shocked me. I never thought this would happen, I guess,” said Jackson.
Jackson – who is also an outside hitter for the New Hampton volleyball team – finally gave in to NH XC coach Jamie Ohrt’s pleas to give cross country a try. The two first became familiar with one another when Jackson competed on the middle-school Chickasaw track team.
“I received many texts from her saying like this sport was made for athletes like me and how she loves me running. She thinks I’m very natural at this and how not many people can just like have a little training and just come in and run what I ran,” said Jackson.
She was joined on the all-conference team by Dylan Usher, who took third in the boys race, and Ali Russler, who finished sixth in the girls race.
— For more on this story, see the Oct. 20 Tribune