Gia Venuto was not a cross country runner growing up.

She was a recreational golfer.

She didnt plan on playing either sport in high school.

She ended up excelling in both, capped by a senior season in which she took third in the Portage Trail Conference County Division in cross country and ninth in the PTC in golf.

It turned out, whether she planned on playing or not, the UH Portage Medical Center Athlete of the Week simply had the heart of a competitor.

If Im going to start something, Im not going to just half do it or quit, Venuto said.When I start something, Im going to finish.

That was what Cindy Fesemyer was thinking when she convinced Venuto to come out for golf as a sophomore.

She had a nice swing, but she had that mindset, Fesemyer said.She has that focus, and so you cant teach a lot of that stuff. You cant teach that focus, that want-to. She has just that strong desire to be good.

She needed that desire every ounce of it.

After all, she had less experience than many of her competitors. While others ran cross country in middle school and golfed as freshmen, Venuto was riding her horse. (She competes in eventing an equestrian competition featuring dressage, cross-country and show jumping.)Second, she was rapidly racking up additional activities.

It wasnt supposed to be that way.

When she entered high school, the only sport Venuto thought about doing was track, but former cross country coach Becky Dunn convinced her to take up cross country her freshman year.

It wasnt exactly a match made in heaven.

When I started cross country, I hated it, Venuto said.Im not even going to lie. I hated it. I remember going to practice and just counting every step I took. Im like,Oh my gosh, I cant wait for this to be done.

By the end of her freshman season, she was seventh in the County (20:58.7).

They just kept pushing me, kept that positive attitude and atmosphere around me and really convinced me that if I worked at this, I could be good, Venuto said.Thanks to them I was able to see that with my own eyes then after a few years and say maybe this is where I belong.

As her freshman year came to a close, she was a runner cross country and track with a relatively benign schedule.

Then, she gotfesed.Thats a term unique to the Southeast Local School District but not unique to Venuto.Its how so many Pirates athletes have ended up in Dynamic Dribblers or golf or track and field over the years.Fesemyer is no tough-talking drill sergeant but somehow, in her very sweet way, she is impossible to say no to.

And Fesemyer wanted Venuto to come out for golf.

Honestly, when you get around a kid that you just really love their work ethic, love everything about them, you want to be around them, Fesemyer said.So it was like, Gia, why dont you come to golf, because shes just that kind of kid. Shes the kind of kid that you want to keep around.

Fesemyer cornered Venuto at an ice cream shop in Lake Milton after track and field practice and when the then-freshman confessed she missed playing golf with her dad, it was over.

That idea (of golfing) just slipped into my mind, Venuto said. I didnt do much about it. Well, when an idea like that slips into Coach Fesemyers mind, she doesnt just take it and forget about it. She takes it and runs with it, so after that day, I was getting calendars for golf practices and she was setting me up with private lessons with the golf pro at Olde Dutch (Mill Golf Course), all kinds of stuff, and I was like, Whoa, what have I gotten myself into.

But Fesemyer was right.The wily coach saw something in the freshman that Venuto herself didnt realize yet.

Every time you go out to Olde Dutch Mill, chances are youre going to see Gia, Fesemyer said. Even if we had a match that she didnt play well, shed go right back to the course. Thats what she did.

That work ethic and attitude lifted her from a 52 average as a sophomore to a 49.8 as a junior to a 48.1 as a senior.

That same fight carried into cross country, especially this season, as she rose from 25th (22:34.07) at last years Super Duals to 10th (22:00.32) at this years event. She also recorded her highest finish in the County snagging third.

Shes not a natural runner, Southeast coach Julia Dillon said.She isnt, but what she has above a lot of other people is she has heart and self-motivation and, I think in the sport of cross country, thats exactly what you have to have in order to be good.

In addition to cross country and golf, Venuto also is a water girl for the football team on Friday nights and takes photos for the yearbook. In the early fall, when cross country and golf are in season, she found herself driving to school with two sets of clothes one for cross, one for golf.

Honestly, I love staying busy, Venuto said. You can ask anybody. Im just such a busy person and I just love it. I love being involved in anything I can. All my teachers and coaches, they always say, I dont know how you do it, but like honestly, I dont know how I couldnt do it.

There are downsides.

She frequently had to get her mileage after golf, long after her cross country teammates had gone home.

Cross country is a hard sport, period. Its especially tricky training alone, but she kept taking those sunset runs, sometimes accompanied by Dillon or Fesemyer.

But Venuto is not one to quit.That was apparent before Dillon took over the team when Venuto was a freshman at the district meet slip-sliding her way out of regional contention.

I remember I was in my second mile, I was jogging, Im in like 26th and Im jogging, Venuto said.Im just dropping places and Im like, Oh my gosh, what am I doing? Youre going to be done. You have to move now, and in my mind, I just remember thinking, You cant be done. Youve come too far to just be done now.

And that was apparent at Saturdays district meet, when she started slow but ended up qualifying by a wide margin.

Gia, at this point, is such a seasoned runner and she has such heart and determination that I just know shes going to give it everything she has and she can kick it in when she needs to, Dillon said. Thats exactly what she did (Saturday) to make sure she was coming in not even close to being 20th.

In a sport where runners rise and fall for any number of reasons mental and physical Venuto has been steady in the saddle.

When you get out there, its just you and yourself against everyone else, Dillon said. You have to be able to push through, even when youre hurting, even when youre sick, even when you want to quit, that you dont (quit), and she has that. She has that quality that sets her apart from other runners.

Read more from the original source:
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK | With dogged determination, Gia Venuto rises toward the top of two sports - Record-Courier