By Jim Hague
The route that took Natascha Alves from her native land of Brazil to the campus of Rutgers-Newark didn’t exactly turn out as originally mapped out.
Alves came to R-N because her father had just received a contract to work for the United Nations for three years and she heard that R-N was a fine educational institution, so she transferred to R-N after attending Bergen County Community College.
When Alves arrived at R-N, she was convinced that she was going to be able to play volleyball at the school.
“I thought I could do it,” Alves said. “I played volleyball in Brazil, so I thought I could do it here in school. But I realized soon after that volleyball is not my thing. I’m not that good. I really had to learn the game all over again and it didn’t work for me.”
So Alves was going to be content being a student at R-N, studying biology in the school.
But there was another side to Alves’ athletic life.
“I liked running,” Alves said. “I had been running by myself since my days in Brazil. I was always a swimmer and a runner, but I did it just for fun in my leisure time.”
But a classmate, Avril Ano, a member of the Scarlet Raiders’ men’s cross country team, convinced Alves to give running a try at R-N.
“He told me that I should try,” Alves said. “Avril said that I could make the team, that I didn’t need a lot of experience. He said that it was a new program and all I needed was the desire to try.”
So Alves met with R-N cross country and track coach Juan Edney.
“I knew nothing of her,” Edney said. “She came in and asked if she could train with us. But this was last year, in the middle of the outdoor season, so I told her she couldn’t be on the team right away. But I told her that if she worked out with the team over the summer and did what was expected, she could be on the cross country team in the fall.”
However, in that first meeting, Alves told Edney that she was not competitive -- which were dirty words in Edney’s mind.
“She said she was more of a leisure runner and never ran competitively before,” Edney said. “At least she was honest and I knew what I was dealing with. If you have kids that ran before, you can put them on a certain level. With kids that were never competitive before, you have to bring them along real slowly. That’s what we did with Natascha, to see what she could really do.”
Alves said that she had to be honest with Edney.
“I had to tell him the truth, that this was the first time I was ever running competitively,” Alves said. “I told him that I had no experience, but that I was willing to try. I was glad that he accepted me.”
As it turned out, Edney’s acceptance of the former leisure runner was a blessing for the Scarlet Raider program.
“She has been our No. 1 runner all year,” Edney said of Alves. “She’s evolved into that. She’s developed into a fine runner. She’s like the Energizer Bunny. She keeps going and going and going. Natascha really has no pace. She just keeps going. That’s why I call her the `Energizer Bunny.’ But she’s a true distance runner.”
Alves recently ran a 29:28 over the 6K course at the NJAIAW Championship at Richard Stockton College. It was the second straight week that Alves paced the Scarlet Raider women runners.
It was the first official meet ever for Edney’s fledgling cross country program, because five runners completed the race.
Alves still doesn’t believe that she’s become a good runner.
“I don’t know if I’m good at it,” Alves said. “I’m just starting to realize that I can get better gradually. I have a shin splint problem and that’s set me back. But as long as my legs don’t bother me, I can get better.”
Edney agrees.
“She definitely has potential,” Edney said of Alves. “I really believe that. She definitely has endurance in her and she’s much better than I expected. We’re getting more out of Natascha than I thought. I think being part of a team has motivated her. She’s been a real pleasant surprise and I’m happy with what she’s done. But, yes, she can become a whole lot better.
Added Edney, “Natascha is also a great person. She’s well liked and a lot of fun. I told her that it took her a while to come to her senses and realize that she wasn’t a volleyball player, that she was a runner all along.”
Alves said that she has been inspired by being a member of the team.
“I’m actually very surprised,” Alves said. “I thought I would be the last one out there and be the worst one on the team. It ended up that I’m not and that’s good. I just want to do my best all the time, get the best time, improve my time.”
Which means one thing: Alves is a competitor.
“Yes, I am competing,” Alves said. “I know I can’t be the best, but I can try to do my best. I do compete.”
Alves has declared biology as a major at R-N, but she knows one thing.
“I don’t want to be a doctor,” Alves said. “I have some time to decide what I’m going to do. I might do research or go back to Brazil and get my master’s degree. I might go into pharmacy work. We’ll have to see.”
But Alves is sure that she made the right decision becoming a runner at R-N.
“I really am enjoying myself,” Alves said. “I like running so much more now. It’s better for me. I like running with the team. It makes it so much fun. I just hope I keep doing well. I’m going to continue to work to get better and better.”
“I always say that the recruits that fall into your lap happen to turn out to be the best ones,” Edney said. “We got very lucky with Natascha.”
Alves said that she has another goal in the future.
“I’d really love to do a triathlon,” Alves said. “I already like to swim and I like to run. I’ve never ridden a bicycle before. I’d have to train for that. I’d like to do just one.”
As long as she stays away from the volleyball net, then anything is possible for Natascha Alves.
