Oklahoma State University Athletics
The Making Of A Champion
April 09, 2013 | Cowgirl Cross Country & Track
April 9, 2013
By: Blake Zimmerman
Six All-America honors.
Five combined indoor and outdoor Big 12 championships in the 800 meters.
Two NCAA runner-up finishes, multiple school records and now the 2013 Oklahoma State Student-Athlete of the Year.
It almost never happened.
Stillwater, Okla., is 5,132 miles from Klaipeda, Lithuania, and that's if you fly in a straight line. That was almost too far for 2013 OSU Student Athlete of the Year Natalja Piliusina when deciding whether to attend college in the U.S.
"I got cold feet," Piliusina said. "I realized the distance involved, and I wasn't sure about being so far away. I didn't really know anything about it. So, when I graduated, I told everyone I wasn't coming."
Piliusina, a highly-recruited distance runner since she was in tenth grade, always knew she wanted to come to Oklahoma State--she just needed some extra convincing.
"Zivile Pukstine, our jumps coach, emailed me and said I should just come for a visit and see if I like it," Piliusina said. "I visited for two days and fell in love with everything about the team and the school. I canceled all my other visits. I knew OSU was where I wanted to be."
The Cowgirl track and field record books haven't been the same since.
Not only has she racked up the accolades mentioned above, Piliusina has been the unquestioned leader of the Cowgirl squad, and helped the team produce a historical finish at the indoor Big 12 meet. The OSU women took fifth place as a team, which tied their highest finish since they began competing at indoor conference meets.
All of the success has come from long hours of preparation, and that's how Piliusina wants to be remembered at OSU.
"I just want people to see how hard you have to work to be one of the best runners in the NCAAs," Piliusina said. "I not only want to rewrite the record books here at OSU, but also make sure they don't get rewritten for a while after I'm gone. Of course I want the program to grow and get better, but I want getting a school record to be a huge deal as well. I want to change the program."
Piliusina's success hasn't been limited to the track. She has been great in the classroom as well, pursuing her bachelor's degree in economics. In order to be considered for OSU student-athlete of the year, a student-athlete must have maintained a 3.0 GPA or better, while having completed 100 credit hours.
"I think being a student isn't as much about the actual knowledge you gain, but training yourself to learn," Piliusina said. "Learning to learn, I guess. It's preparation for the real world. It's about keeping yourself on schedule and getting work done on time. It's more than just class."
OSU Coach Dave Smith said Piliusina is more than just a great individual athlete--she has made the team better as a whole.
"Obviously she is very gifted athletically," Smith said. "She is really competitive and has a great work ethic. When you put those three things together, you get great results. She has put our program on the map, helped us elevate our visibility and she has brought some of the other girls along with her. They have had the opportunity to train with her and it's made everyone better."
Although she will go down as one of the greatest female athletes in OSU history, Piliusina takes the "student" part of "student-athlete" seriously, and she may not be done with school yet.
"I want to get a degree," Piliusina said. "That's why I came here. I didn't choose to become a pro runner right away, because I want a degree. School is so important. I'm actually thinking about going after my master's degree, too. School and running come together in a nice way for me. Both are a huge part of my life and they balance out well."
