In her final season running for the Longhorns, senior Eva Jess is making strides to leave her footprints on Texas cross country. Not only has Jess set three personal bests this season, but they are huge marks of improvement. Her 72-second best at the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational in early October led Texas to a sixth-place finish. 

Jess is consistently one of the top Texas finishers and is a dedicated leader on the team. Her season is characterized by her commitment to being one of the defining athletes in Texas’ success through her placement in meets and setting personal bests week to week. 

“It’s really exciting,” Jess said. “It was a strong summer, and it’s a strong finish to my track season too. It’s really even suppressed my own expectations just PR after PR.”

Although Jess is in her fourth year with the program, her development throughout her time in Austin has proven most prevalent this season. Jess’ mentality and role on the team this year represents the athlete she has grown and shaped into as a Longhorn. 

Jess’ passion for running started at a young age, and there is no hesitation that her career will stop when she finishes running for the Longhorns thanks to her family ties with the sport. Her parents met during an ultra marathon and represent how running has always been an essential part of Jess’s life. 

“I don’t want to ever stop running after college,” Jess said. “I’m definitely going to do marathons and ultra marathons. I love running so much, and I can’t see it not being a part of my life.” 

On Nov. 1, the Texas women’s cross country team heads to College Station to compete in the SEC Cross Country Championships for the first time since joining the conference. Currently ranked top of the South Central Region, Jess hopes to redefine the expectations of the Longhorns by consistently being ranked and setting the tone when competing against other Southeastern Conference teams.  

“I really hope that our team starts to get more recognition,” Jess said.  “We kind of flew under the radar for several years, and now that we’re getting national rankings and regional rankings, I think people will definitely start to take notice of us.”

With the arrival of the postseason, Jess looks to finish out her time with the Longhorns the best she can. The way Jess’ personal bests and first few meets have played out so far, she is on track to finish her Longhorn career off with her most successful season yet.