Natalie Cook Competes at 2021 Eastbay South Regional
Natalie Cook may not be the first in her family to qualify for Eastbay Nationals (formerly Foot Locker), but she is the first Texas girl to win the championship and in doing so, she is the first Texan to win two National Championships in the same season. With her 17:15 win at Balboa Park in San Diego, California she joins legends like Ruben Reina (San Antonio Jay - 1985) and Reed Brown (Southlake Carroll - 2016) that were the only two Texas athletes to have won the event prior to today.
If anyone thought they were keeping pace with Cook, those thoughts were quickly extinguished as she took control after the first mile. The Flower Mound senior ran to the front of the pack and opened up a sizeable lead as she has done all season long.
With two 5,000m races on her legs from the last two weeks, things became a little close when approaching 800m remaining in the race. However, she withstood the challenge and finished strong for the win.
Despite the unquestionable talent, Cook entered high school with an incredible level of dominance, but it took some time to nurture. Cook persevered through both a COIVD shutdown and a stress fracture in her foot before becoming a Texas State Champion and National Champion in cross country.
Now having cemented herself as one of Texas high school cross country's all-time best runners, Cook can now enjoy the fruits of her labor and reflect on her UIL State Championship, US No. 2 All-Time 16:03, and now her RunnnigLane and Eastbay National Championships.
