Siblings Share Common Goal

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

In a sport where self-motivation and discipline are traits vital to success, Ariel and Jakob Pollack don’t have to leave their house to look for running mates–or a clean t-shirt to wear.

As twins, they can relate to one another in a symbiotic way most teammates cannot. They’ve shared all of each other’s ups and downs, wins and losses and successes and failures the last four years, but through it all they’ve never lost the passion for running.

“They’re both senior captains and they’ve meant so much to our program,” Palisades High cross country coach Bob Macias says. “They’re very dedicated and we hope they go out on top.”

Like most brothers and sisters, they are competitive and while attending middle school at Paul Revere, it was all about who could bring home the most shirts.

“At Revere, you race to win superhero shirts,” Jakob says. “If you make a certain time you win a shirt and there are different shirts for different distances, like The Flash, Wonder Woman, Superman and Ironman.”

“Our dad Jon ran cross country in high school and college and that was part of where our interest  came from but definitely the shirts   were important to us,” added Ariel, who is older by a few minutes.

Lifelong Palisadians, Jakob and Ariel live just a short jog from campus in the El Medio Bluffs and they’ve inspired their brother Joey (a freshman on the Pali High team) to follow in their footsteps.

“It definitely helps having Jakob on the team with me and we talk about our experiences all the time,” Ariel admits. “If we have practice or a meet in the morning and he’s sleeping in, I’ll go to his room and tell him it’s time to get up and vice versa.”   

Although both siblings prefer cross country, they also run track in the spring, competing in the the 1,600 and 3,200 meters.   

“I like cross country more because I like running up hills and no one can see where you are like they can on the track,” says Jakob, whose favorite class is AP Statistics. “I love to watch Ariel run and we get excited for each other.”

Ariel, whose favorite class is AP Government, agrees: “That’s actually one of the best things about cross country–watching Jakob and the boys run and being at the finish line to cheer him on.”

Ariel, whose name is spelled like the mermaid in Disney’s 1989 animated feature film “The Little Mermaid,” is considering majoring in psychology or neuroscience and has applied to several colleges in the midwest.

Jakob, on the other hand, is contemplating the medical field and would prefer to stay on one of the coasts, having applied to several Ivy League and UC schools.

“It’s sad in one sense but we’re focusing on different things,” Ariel says. “We’re ready to go our separate ways.”

Both enjoy running the Palisades-Will Rogers 5/10K on the Fourth of July.    

When asked to name his fondest memories at Pali High, Jakob cites two: finishing second  in the City Section frosh/soph finals as a freshman and his personal-best 15:16.5 last October at the Bell Gardens Invitational, which calls a “transformative moment.”

Palisades swept the City boys and girls cross country titles for the first time last fall and going to the state meet with her brother is Ariel’s most cherished memory.

“The most exciting for me was last year at state because both teams went,” she says. “I had fun and we did some team bonding.”

Jakob ran 15:39.3 for three miles to finish fifth in the City finals last year at Pierce College. He clocked 15:56 as a sophomore.

On the track, his best 1,600 time is a 4:30.9 effort at the Monrovia Wildcat Relays in March and his best 3,200 is 9:41.1, which landed him fifth at the City finals in May. His goal this cross country season is to break 15 minutes.

Ariel won the junior varsity race in 21:04 at the City finals in November although, like Jakob, her fastest time was at Bell Gardens where she ran a personal-best  19:32.1. Her ultimate goal is sub-19 minutes.    

Her two best track times both came last spring when she ran the 1,600 in 5:41.5 at City finals and 12:39.0 in the 3,200 at the Western League finals 10 days earlier.

While both siblings are proud of their individual achievements, the primary objective as captains is to lead their respective teams to City championships.

“We’re like the Dream Team,” Jakob says of the boys squad. “We have 10 guys who can run varsity and we’ve stepped up our training, so I’m confident we can repeat.”

“We’re young,” Ariel says of the girls. “Three of our top five are underclassmen, but we’re all really close so I think we can do it.”