If you ask Geneseret Joseph how she earned the nickname of Nessie - a name that has stuck with her for ages and a name that she prefers to be known by - the Rutgers-Newark sophomore sprinter really doesn’t know.
“I think my family gave me that nickname,” Joseph said. “It just went from Naz to Nassie, but Nessie is easier to say. That’s how it happened.”
If you ask Joseph how she ended up at Rutgers-Newark, she might not know the real reason either.
“I actually planned on going to the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore to run track there,” Joseph said. “But then I didn’t hear from the head coach for a while.”
At the same time, Rutgers-Newark assistant track and field coach Chris Happel just happened to be on a recruiting trip to south Jersey and Williamstown High School, where Joseph attended.
“We actually were recruiting one of her teammates, but that girl ended up going to Lincoln (University),” said R-N head coach Juan Edney, an alumnus of Lincoln who got his coaching start at his alma mater.
Happel expressed interest in Joseph, so she turned her college attentions northward to Rutgers-Newark.
“I came for a visit in July,” Joseph said. “And it felt like home. It felt like family right away.”
“Nessie came to us and it all just worked out well,” Edney said.
Joseph said that she quickly developed a special kinship with Edney.
“Coach Edney was like a father figure to me,” Joseph said. “I honestly wouldn’t be able to do anything without him. He’s harder on me than my own Dad. Since my parents are two hours away, it was important to have someone like Coach Edney. I actually can hear him when I’m running. No matter where I am, I hear him. I can hear him across the track. I even hear him in my head. I’d be more upset if he wasn’t yelling at me. I need that constant criticism.”
But soon after Joseph arrived in Newark, disaster struck.
“It was a real scary time for me,” Joseph said. “I started having bad abdominal pains. They were so bad that I couldn’t even stand up. I couldn’t pinpoint where it was.”
Doctors prescribed emergency surgery to repair the abdominal issues.
“The first person I called for was Coach Edney,” Joseph said. “I knew my Mom was rushing up here, but she was two hours away.”
Joseph still doesn’t know the root of her discomfort.
“I still have no idea,” Joseph said. “They thought it might be my appendix. They put me on antibiotics and continued to test my white cell counts. I really don’t know what happened, but I knew that I couldn’t run.”
“Her whole freshman year, the doctors wouldn’t clear her to run,” Edney said. “She got a little better at the end of the year, but she basically lost the whole year.”
Joseph was able to run the last handful of outdoor meets last year, but it was basically a lost cause.
“Seeing everyone else run and I couldn’t was very frustrating,” Joseph said. “I got out of shape. I trusted Coach Edney that he could bring me back. I had to trust myself as well. Last year was the worst for me. I really didn’t have a good year at all.”
When Joseph returned to Newark to begin her sophomore year, she was determined to be a better athlete.
“I realized how much I missed it,” Joseph said. “I got up at 7 a.m. just to watch my teammates run. Thank God, I was able to pass all my classes and got ready for this year. I always worked hard, but this time, I had to work 10 times harder than anyone. I had to get stronger.”
One of Edney’s requirements to be a member of the R-N indoor and outdoor track program is to run cross country during the fall. Joseph was all set to do that tough regimen, but what was believed to be a stress fracture of her foot kept her on the sidelines.
“I was in a boot for most of the cross country season,” Joseph said. “I knew that I had to get it now or never get it at all. I knew that this was going to be my year.”
“She practices hard and works hard,” Edney said. “We just have to keep her healthy. I joke with her and tell her that she has a black cloud hovering over her.”
Edney believes that Joseph has the makeup of being a fine sprinter for the Scarlet Raiders.
“She’s not a real tall girl,” Edney said. “She has a smooth stride. If we put some muscle on her, she can turn out to become something great. We just need to see some consistency in her practices. She’s been going to the weight room. She’s doing all the things she didn’t do last year. I think she’s maturing as well.”
Joseph put up some impressive times during her first few indoor meets, getting clocked at 27.9 in the 200-meter dash and 61.20 in the 400-meter.
“She’s getting better each time out,” Edney said. “She just needs to get a lot better. She also needs to stay healthy. She keeps having setbacks. But she has potential. She’s just a little behind right now because of circumstances. But she’s taking better care of herself. She’s lifting, stretching, taking ice baths. She knows she can’t do it every other week. It has to be constant.”
Edney believes that Joseph could eventually get under a minute in the 400-meter dash before the indoor season is completed.
“I really think she can run 58 (seconds) indoors,” Edney said. “We’re putting her on track to qualify for the (NCAA Division III) Nationals. I think she can do it. If she stays injury-free, she can do it. But a lot of that depends on her.”
Joseph has qualifying for the Nationals within her sights.
“I keep telling myself it’s one of my goals,” Joseph said. “If I can do it, it would be a huge accomplishment.”
Joseph also has a busy class schedule. She’s a criminal justice major, taking pre-law classes. She is also a community service officer on campus and has an internship with Jersey Cares, working in the Newark Municipal Court.
“It is a lot, but I’m used to having a strict routine,” Joseph said. “It’s not as hard as it seems.”
