Sealy High School senior distance runner Madison Manak signed her National Letter of Intent to run for the Jacksonville Junior College Jaguars during a ceremony last Wednesday, May 26.

Head cross country coach and assistant track coach Anthony Branch, whose coaching career started in Jacksonville, always mentions how far Manak has come in her four years of high school.

“When she was a freshman – and she had never run any distance – she came out and she started doing summer running just seeing if she can run for 30 minutes but she couldn’t even run 10 minutes,” Branch said. “I say that because as the summer went on, she went from 10 to 20 to 30 minutes then we got going into some mileage. It eventually came to a point where she could go 40 to 50 minutes. She had a good freshman year, she had an outstanding sophomore year and qualified for regionals in a very tough district.”

In the spring of her junior year, however, Branch said she hit a wall and was close to walking away.

“I remember in track she was struggling, she had trouble really trying to catch her breath and really conquer the breathing part of the sport and I remember her saying she was ready to quit,” the coach said. “I said, ‘No you’re not going to quit, that’s not who you are, that’s not who your parents have taught you and I’m not going to let you quit.’ I don’t know what happened but as soon as the pandemic hit, she just starts running. Two miles, three four five miles, by the end of the summer – from March until the end of July – she had run over 500 to 600 miles and she was in the best shape she had ever been in her life as a runner.”

That led her to a successful senior season on the cross country course where the Lady Tigers claimed the district championship and Manak went all the way to regionals.

“She was very deserving (of advancing to state), she had put so much into it and I remember seeing her tears and it hurt me to know that she had given every single thing to be as best as she possibly could be and that’s what we always talk about in our athletic program, lay it on the line and at the end, she’ll realize even though it hurts right now she gave everything she had,” Branch said.

Manak certainly enjoyed the season but agreed she wished it lasted longer.

“It was a heck of a season, it meant a lot because it took a lot of work and I cut minutes off my times from the previous season so I was glad I got to do that before I graduated,” Manak said. “In cross country, surprisingly I got really close with the freshmen and they were really fast and were really motivating to me. I think they motivated the whole team to get better.”

That push put Manak on the map and Branch said the conversation soon started with JJC, who went to the National Championship last season.

“We go to track season, she had a great season had some huge milestones and she always wanted to run in college. All of a sudden, Jacksonville Junior College asked about two of our runners and I said one of them is still young but the other one’s a senior,” Branch said. “Next thing you know, they send some texts, start talking to each other and she gets offered an opportunity to run at Jacksonville. They went to the national meet, around the middle of the pack in the nation, and I think just to get to the national meet is a huge accomplishment.”

Now Manak gets the chance to help the Jaguars get back to nationals as only the second runner to sign a National Letter of Intent in Branch’s six years at Sealy. Colton Gajewski, a member of Sealy’s Class of 2017, went to run for the Southern Arkansas University Muleriders and just before Branch arrived, Charlette Janicek, a 2015 graduate of Sealy High, competed for the UTSA Roadrunners.

“In the end, Madison is the proof that if you put your heart and soul into something and give your very best, no matter what happens, success will follow and you will reap plenty of rewards,” Branch said. “Since I’ve been here, we’ve only had one other athlete go on to run, she’s number two. I hope that this is just the start of many more to come in the future.”