No time outs, no half times, no substitutions. Cross country is a tough sport, but there’s one student who takes it to the next level. Jackie Coscia, a senior at Scituate High School, has been a member of the cross country team at SHS for three years, and she has been passionate about it from the very beginning.

As a freshman, Coscia decided to play soccer in the fall and swim the winter. Surprisingly, she didn’t participate in track until the spring of her freshman year. Coscia felt rather lost because she didn’t have a sport to dedicate herself to, so Coach McCarthy suggested she turn to spring track. Coscia went for it, and during her first meet, her talent shone through as she beat one of the best girls in the league, Gina Catitori from Whitman-Hanson. The fall of her sophomore year, Coscia joined the cross country team as a promising new member.

Although Coscia has been a part of the team for three years, tough competition in the Patriot League has pushed her throughout the season. Yet there was one race Coscia refused to lose.

“Two girls passed me, one from Hingham, the other from Duxbury. Coach McCarthy said my face went serious, and I beat them in the last two hundred meters,” said Coscia.

Beating the Scituate cross country record has been a goal of Coscia’s for two years. “It’s the reason I push myself and train harder,” said Coscia.

She wants to be known as someone who is passionate about what she does. She said, “That’s what motivates me to break the record.” As a testament to her dedication and passion for running, Coscia successfully broke the Pembroke record on October 7, 2014. However, Coscia still has her heart set on beating the Scituate record.

To prepare for a run, Coscia reveals that she usually listens to her pre-race playlist consisting of artists like Eminem and songs like Mediocre. One unique routine she goes through is her high skips.

Coscia said the unique thing about cross country is that everyone can do it. Good or bad, she said, “You don’t have to have talent to run.”