SHAPE’s Jarzabek turned rare setback into motivation

SHAPE's Cassandra Jarzabek crosses the finish line during the girls 1,600-meter run at the 2026 Department of Defense Education Activity Europe track and field championships in Kaiserslautern, Germany, on May 21, 2026. Jarzabek won the 1,600-meter event in addition to the 800-meter run. (Zade Vadnais/Stars and Stripes)

Cassandra Jarzabek’s body sent her message at the end of the 2025 cross country season: She needed rest.

On top of her usual practices at SHAPE, the junior transfer from Humphreys, South Korea, where she dominated the Far East scene with multiple theater-wide records, spent 2 hours at the gym with more mileage on a treadmill, weightlifting and some core work.

It ended up being too much, though. And it came to a head at the DODEA European cross country championships in Baumholder, Germany, where she exited the race 1.8 miles into it.

Not used to setbacks, Jarzabek sought to avoid that during this spring’s track season. To accomplish that, she needed to take it easy.

“Coming into winter and this track season, just remembering to keep my recovery days easy and to work with my coaches and I reduced my mileage, too,” Jarzabek said. “Prioritizing recovery definitely was the big thing for me and focusing on getting more sleep.”

That mentality paid dividends across tracks in Europe.

Jarzabek returned to her form and was better than ever. The daughter of Maribel and John Jarzabek set personal records in the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter races at 2 minutes, 17.52 seconds, 5:01.09 and 10:57.85, respectively.

The latter two came during the 2026 DODEA European track and field championships on May 21-22 at Kaiserslautern High School. There, Jarzabek won three European crowns and set the mile record. She earned girls track MVP at the meet.

For her efforts, Jarzabek has been named Stars and Stripes’ girls track and field Athlete of the Year.

Yet it took some time for Jarzabek to get back into rhythm. She admitted she was unmotivated following the disappointing end to her cross country season, but it drove her once she returned to the track during the Belgian indoor season.

“After talking to my coaches and spending time with my family, I realized that it was a bump in the road,” Jarzabek said. “It sucked in the moment, but it was necessary for me. I learned I can’t just cruise off of talent or let the pressure get to me. I really had to learn how to overcome that.

“This track season, I was really fueled and motivated. I just wanted to go after all there was to win. I was trying to avenge myself, to say the least.”

She earned those victories differently than she did in the Pacific because of the competition. Jarzabek pointed to the likes of Wiesbaden sophomore Linden Pickler, Lakenheath freshman Molly Smith and Ramstein senior Caroline Swinson pushing her in each race.

That result showed especially in the 1,600 where she shattered the former high mark set by Stuttgart’s McKinley Fielding in 2019 by 7 seconds. Pickler and Swinson also beat the former record.

“I remember whenever we’d be in event together, I would be like, ‘OK, I can’t slow down because I know Linden’s behind. She’s a fighter. I don’t want her to catch me,’” Jarzabek said. “That motivated me more the last 200 meters of every race just to try as hard as I can to open up a gap.”

Jarzabek also managed to sweep the distance events, a task that’s no easy feat.

She credited her new focus on recovery, as well as the fueling plan her nutritionist put together for her.

“I was just focused on recovering between races,” Jarzabek said. “I was pretty mentally exhausted, I will say, by the time the 3,200 rolled around, but I was just really motivated by the past.”

Looking to the future, Jarzabek has the 2026 Nike Outdoor Nationals at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore., on June 18-22.

She also has college in her sights, with numerous NCAA Division I and II coaches reaching out already. Her performance in Oregon could drive even more interest.

Outside of that, she said her focus is to keep improving – and perhaps put her name in the record books a couple of more times.

“My main goal is to just chase PRs and going into this senior year, hopefully better all my times and then break records,” Jarzabek said.