To win a high school state championship in a sport is a special moment for that student/athlete.
Since changing from Humboldt County High School to Lowry High School over 50 years ago, there have been many individual and team state champions that have graced the halls in the Winnemucca school.
However, the school has never seen a student win a state championship in each of the seasons in the same year until now.
Lowry graduate and salutatorian, Jovi Kuskie became the first to do that, as she won the 3A cross country championship in the fall, a basketball title in the winter and the 1,600 and 3,200 meters in the spring.
She was honored by the school at an end-of-the year assembly.
“I had no idea that it was possible until someone told me after we won the state championship for basketball,” Kuskie said. “They told me if you win at least one of your events in track, you would be the first person to do it. After that, I thought to myself, now I have to do it. It is crazy to think about it. When I crossed the finish line in the mile at state, I was like oh my gosh, I did it! It was pretty cool, actually it was really cool.”
After finishing second in the 2020 3A cross country state championships, Kuskie did not get a chance to race at state in 2021, as the Covid pandemic took away the season — until a shortened season was ran in 2021 — but without a state tournament.
The 2020-21 basketball season was wiped out, where Lowry had an experienced group of players with a shot at a state title. The 2020 and 2021 track postseason was also taken away as well.
“That time just sucked,” Kuskie said. “You had nothing to look forward to. I shocked myself when I finished second my sophomore year and I was like maybe I have a shot at this whole state championship thing. When this year started, I was like, I am going to do this thing.”
Kuskie first state title came in November 2021 when she outkicked Moapa Valley’s Emma Humes near the finish line to win at Reed High School.
Just a few months later, the senior was part of the Lowry girls basketball team that beat Spring Creek 52-29 in Las Vegas to win the school’s seventh girls basketball title and first since 2014.
That group featured four senior starters, where three others are going to college basketball.
“There was so much pressure on all the girls during basketball season,” Kuskie said. “It was from the start of the season and if we didn’t win, it was going to be a letdown. We never let it get to us. We used it as motivation. Everyone was counting on us and we knew we could do it. Everyone expected so much but we were doing the best we could.”
Kuskie accomplished her goal in late May, when she won the 1,600 meters at the NIAA State Track and Field Championships on the same spot she won the cross country title.
“I was so nervous at the start of the race,” she said. “I was about to throw up on the starting line. I was thinking to myself, everything that could go wrong. My sister (Alyssa) was giving me advice and telling me what to do. I was like you are a softball player, you don’t know track. My mom was telling me what to do, my dad was telling me what to do. I just had to leave and get away from everyone before I went crazy. Me and Sergio (Cabada, Lowry track coach) and a plan and it worked perfectly. The race started and I was like, I do this all the time, what was I so nervous about?”
She closed out her career by winning the 3,200 meters with a chip on her shoulder and a building anger within.
“Before the race, I could hear Emma’s dad saying this is your chance, you can do this, you can beat her,” Kuskie said. “I was running that race with a cause and a lot of anger. I was like nope, not this time, you have no chance. It was definitely an unforgettable senior year.”
Kuskie noted she surprised herself with the multiple state titles. She had a goal of winning a state championship in one sport. After winning the cross country title, she said ‘I am going to go do this thing.’
Kuskie will be headed to College of Idaho and will have the chance to race against her older sister, Becca for a season, as she will be a senior at Bushnell.
The two schools are in the same conference and they have been training together this summer.
“We really don’t bring it up a whole lot,” said the younger Kuskie. “We will probably race against each other a couple times during the conference season.”
After racing one year in the same conference, Becca noted that she will be Jovi’s biggest fan for the last three years.
