BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — Dava Jack was searching for a way to contribute to the West Virginia Wesleyan women's track and field team.

The Freeport graduate and Bobcats' sophomore found it in an event she had never run before.

“The season at the beginning of the year was really, really rough,” Jack said. “I was really lost and trying to find a spot on the team.”

Then Wesleyan coach Jesse Skiles decided to unite Jack with her twin sister, Erica, in the 400-meter hurdles.

“I had never even run the 300 hurdles before,” Jack said. “But I was like, 'Yeah, bring it on.'

“I had no idea what I was doing,” Dava added. “Erica said, 'Just run it. Just go out and run it.'”

Dava Jack did and took to the event quickly. By the end of the season this weekend at the Mountain East Conference meet, Dava had become one of the best hurdlers in the conference, placing seventh with a time of 1:11.95.

Her preliminary time was even better — 1:11.13.

To top off the weekend, Erica placed seventh in the 100-meter hurdles and the Bobcats won the conference championship.

“It was an awesome feeling to contribute to our team and to help the team out,” Erica Jack said. “It's amazing we have this opportunity to run in college. Every time we run, we realize that.”

The Jacks were both standout track athletes as well as basketball players for the Yellowjackets.

When it came time to pick colleges, there was little doubt their destination would be the same.

The Jacks also share the same major: nursing.

“Two years ago we made the decision to follow each other to college,” Dava Jack said. “We don't regret it at all. We are literally with each other every single day.”

But they are not roommates. That was a directive from their father.

“We're both a little shy,” Erica Jack said. “Our dad thought it would make us be more social. We live right down the hall from each other, though.”

On the track, the Jacks are fierce competitors.

And when they run the 400 hurdles, they are often in lock step.

“We definitely push each other all the time,” Erica Jack said. “We're always in the lanes right next to each other. There's a picture of us running where we have the exact same form. It's crazy.”

Dava Jack is excited to see how much better she can get in the 400 hurdles with a full offseason to train for it.

She has heard the horror stories of former high school 300-meter hurdlers who struggled to make the transition to the 400 hurdles.

In her case, she didn't have that awkward transition.

“I think that benefitted me,” Dava Jack said. “I think the 400 hurdles is fun. I just like how at the end of it, when I can't breathe and my legs are giving out and you have to expend so much energy to finish that I accomplished something hard. I love the thrill of it.”

Erica Jack prefers the shorter 100-meter hurdles.

“I like it's over with quickly,” she said, laughing.

Both plan on training hard this summer.

“We already have a summer training schedule,” Dava Jack said. “Now we know how to train and how to take care of our bodies.”

Both know the road will become increasingly difficult because of their major.

Soon, time will be even more precious — on and off the track.

“We are both very worried,” Erica Jack said. “We've both heard the horror stories of junior year (in nursing). But we're both good at balancing it very well. We go to class every day. We know what we have to do.”