Nekota Enjoys the Sweet Taste of Success : Cross-country: Runner makes only the necessary sacrifices to help lead Woodbridge High School to Saturday’s state meet.

After Kay Nekota of Woodbridge High School crosses the finish line at Saturday’s state cross-country meet at Woodward Park in Fresno, she will have a big chocolate bar waiting for her.

Nekota, a freshman, had sworn off sweets and desserts of all kinds since summer, and Susan Nekota has decided to reward her daughter for her efforts.

“Kay doesn’t have the Mary Decker Slaney real light, slim build,” Susan said. “She has to be careful and watch her weight, so she hasn’t had any desserts or chocolate bars. It’s kind of our private joke that I would stand at the finish line with a chocolate bar in my hands.”

Nekota is also skipping the traditional Thanksgiving feast Thursday, opting instead for pasta. Her grandmother will fix her a turkey dinner after the state meet.

To forgo sweets and Thanksgiving trimmings takes discipline, and this is something Nekota, 13, doesn’t lack. In one season of high school cross-country running, she won the seeded race at the Orange County Championships and the Sea View League title.

Last Saturday in the Southern Section Division II race at Mt. San Antonio College, Nekota placed fourth in 18 minutes 8 seconds over the hilly, three-mile course. She finished behind top runners Jeannie Rothman of Westlake, Edison’s Shelley Taylor and Katella’s Martha Pinto in helping Woodbridge qualify for the state meet. The time puts her fourth on the Southern Section Mt. SAC all-freshman list, which dates to 1981.

But this isn’t Nekota’s first season of competition. She started running two years ago with the Seattle Central Athletic Assn. age-group running club in Washington. She and her mother moved to Irvine shortly thereafter, and she competed with the Time Machine age-group club, which was based in Mission Viejo. Last fall, she ran for Time Machine in the TAC junior cross-country nationals, winning in the midget division (ages 11-12). And she has run 10:29 for 3,000 meters on the track for Time Machine.

Unlike some age-group runners who live and breathe running, Nekota doesn’t consider it an all-consuming passion, although she is disciplined. Running and practices do fill a lot of her time, but she also has time for other things. And Nekota said she’s having more fun running in high school than she did in age-group competition.

“She’s coachable, absolutely,” said George Varvas, Woodbridge coach. “For example, we mentioned that eating a healthy diet is important and that it is good to avoid junk food. She takes what we say very seriously and she follows through with every aspect. But, she’s talented in many areas.

“Somebody made the comment to me, after Kay came to run at Woodbridge this year, that, ‘Hey, you’ve got one age-grouper. Gosh, wouldn’t it be great if Carrie Garritson went to Woodbridge?’ ” said Varvas, referring to the Rim of the World freshman who made national headlines when she was 10 for outrunning national-class distance runners and whose father has devoted most of his time to her running.

“I said, ‘No, thank you.’ It’s the complete opposite with Kay. She’s having fun.”

Nekota wasn’t pushed into running. She heard about age-group clubs on her own and decided she wanted to give it a try.

Susan Nekota said she has left the choice of activities up to her children. Kay’s 16-year-old sister, Noni, is studying to be a classical ballet dancer at Walnut Hill High School, a performing arts school in Natick, Mass.

“She (Kay) came to me and said, ‘Mom, I’d really like to run and they have clubs that you can join and run on,’ ” Susan said. “I emphasize that I want my girls to choose for themselves what they want to do. And if there ever comes a time when she is not happy with running, then I told her it’s time to make a change.”

Nekota, who is an honor student, has played the saxophone for five years.

“My mom stresses that it is important to do things in other areas,” Nekota said.

“When people make a big deal out of what she’s accomplished and tell her, ‘you’re a good runner,’ she gets kind of embarrassed,” Varvas said. “She’s just a good, all-round high school student who is respected by her peers.”

Nekota doesn’t talk much or brag about her running.

“Kay is the kind of person who needs her space,” Susan said. “The way I deal with her running is that I let her be by herself and usually, if she has something to say about running, she tells me.

“I tell her she’s more than a pair of track shoes, and that things like her personal relationships, education and faith are important.”

And what would happen if Nekota couldn’t run anymore?

“I’ll be really sad if something terrible happened that stopped me from running,” she said. “But I wouldn’t commit suicide.”

It’s that healthy attitude Nekota will take into Saturday’s state meet.

“I’m just going to do the best I can do,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the excitement.”

And to the chocolate bar.