 She ran on the boys' cross country team, as there was no girls' team at the time.Her years as a high school state champion in cross country are reminiscent of an early scene in the film "Without Limits", about Steve Prefontaine, in which Prefontaine shoots out to a determined lead very early in a high school race and is good enough to keep the lead to the finish.Jennings won the U.S. National Cross Country Championship nine times.