Words by Kate Roxburgh

The rain was relentless, the winds were howling, the temperature was bitterly cold and at times, that driving precipitation turned into hail. 

Amidst it all, Trinity Western University's Jen Kits crossed the finish line at the 2018 U SPORTS Cross Country Championships in Kingston, Ont. with equal parts joy, exhaustion and core-shaking frigidity. Alongside her smiling teammates, moments like these have made being a Spartan so memorable.

Two years on and Kits (née Shannon) is now in her second year as a team captain Spartans, as she trains and competes in her fifth and potentially final year at TWU. 

It is now, with this year's competitive season all but wiped out due to COVID-19 restrictions – Kits was the Spartans leading runner on the women's side in TWU's two cross country races in the fall, but the formal Canada West and U SPORTS competitions for both cross country and track and field were cancelled for 2020-21– Kits has started to flip back the pages and take a look at how far she has come from those first few days as a runner.
 
Kits grew up not far from the TWU campus in Burnaby, B.C., where she attended Burnaby South Secondary and it was here, in Grade 11, where she began running competitively. She had early success regionally, but having finished 56th overall at the B.C. provincial championships in her Grade 12 year, competing beyond high school seemed an unlikely option.

Then, one day, she achieved a personal goal. She had set out to run under 5:00 in the 1500m and that's exactly what she did. 

In that moment, the trajectory of her running career changed.

"I realized I can actually do this," recalls Kits. "I was never amazing and I wasn't good enough to be scouted by schools, but I had the capabilities to work hard."

Kits took matters into her own hands and started reaching out to schools herself, including TWU, where the Spartans track and field team accepted her as a walk-on for the fall of 2016.

She had heard great things about the culture at TWU, and having grown up in a faith-oriented family, she was excited to see how her faith would be integrated into academics and athletics.

"It was cool to be surrounded with people who had the same beliefs as me," Kits says. 

"My high school coach kind of told me not to expect anything and to just go in and enjoy it."

Kits did just that. 

Determined to work hard and improve without putting big expectations on herself, she went from a shy walk-on to an encouraging third-year to a team captain in her fourth and fifth years as a student-athlete.
 
Even before she was named captain, Kits was part of a group of student-athletes who was invited to be part of the process of hiring a number of new coaches in the summer of 2018, including current head coach Shane Wiebe and cross country coaches Kathy Andrews and David Jackson.

A year later, she was a natural choice to be named a captain.

"A captain is someone who loves their teammates, shares wisdom, is caring, supportive, encouraging and positive and is someone who stands up for the team," Wiebe says. 

As both Wiebe and Andrews can attest, Kits is all of these.   

"Jen she is one of kindest people I know and she brings a mature and practical approach to the way we shape our team and our community," Wiebe says. 

Andrews adds: "She leads by example and she is always consistent in the weight room and at training. It's just in her nature."

As her fourth year was on the horizon, Kits was set for a breakout season.

However, her health took an unfortunate turn, as she was diagnosed with mononucleosis just prior to the start of the year, forcing her to the sidelines for the entirety of the cross country season. 

In true Kits fashion, she viewed the time away from competing as an opportunity to improve.

"It was a good time to learn to rest and listen to the body," Kits says. "Looking back on it, in the long run, it made me a much stronger athlete. I had to take a break physically and mentally so I was able to put running into a better perspective. By the end, I wasn't as tired and before getting mono I was on the verge of burning out."

Words by Kate Roxburgh

Her coaches were in awe of how determined Kits was.

"She did everything she needed to do to get back and she came back stronger, fitter and more determined then she was before," Andrews says. 

The following spring, Kits worked herself into fine form in a hurry, earning a fifth-place finish in the 1000m and a sixth-place result in the 1500m at the 2020 Canada West Championships. 

"Considering she had just come back from mono, her performance at the conference championships was truly monumental," Wiebe says. 
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With the cancellation of the 2020 cross country conference and national championships, the 2018 championships remain Kits' last cross country championship event. She still holds the memory of that cold rainy trip race in Kingston as her favourite.

Yet, while racing has been put on pause for the moment, Andrews is confident that 2018 race won't be her last championship effort.

"I think Jen's best accomplishments are still coming," Andrews says. 

Majoring in human kinetics at TWU, Kits is motivated to keep pushing herself as a runner, but it comes down to so much more. She hopes to be an inspiration for women. 

Kits plans on going into the health and fitness industry, to work with females as a personal trainer or coach. She wants to help women enjoy physical activity and make fitness fun.

"Sports are not worth stressing over," Kits says. "It's about having fun and enjoying the experience and really embracing it. Don't wreck it by worrying about the little things, because it goes fast. And, most importantly, rely on God."

Jen's story is special.

It's one of determination, strength and hard work. She demonstrates that it doesn't matter where you are in your journey, as long as you work hard and put in the effort and commitment you can accomplish what you desire.