Former Xavier runner already elite competitor for ISU

AMES - Her grit, speed burst and stamina have propelled her to elite status.

The mind's had some catching up to do.

For former Xavier runner Meaghan Nelson, a fine finish among some of the NCAA's top competitors looms as a distinct possibility in Saturday's Midwest Regional at DeKalb, Ill.

But confidence has lagged behind split times for the rising running star.

“Maybe it helps to keep me a little more humble and maybe never thinking I'm good enough,” said Nelson, who finished second at the Big 12 Championships, helping ISU to its first team title. “Striving to get to that next step.”

The Cyclone women claimed eighth in last season's NCAA Championships, their best finish in 25 years.

Nelson couldn't compete in the last national cross-country meet because of injuries, but is primed for another breakthrough.

“I think she's to a point now where she's so fit and she's at a level now where it's going to be kind of hard for her to screw it up and not run well,” said ISU track and cross-country coach Corey Ihmels, the Big 12 coach of the year. “But I think it's just understanding that she is one of the best in the country and, for somebody out of high school - she had success, but by no stretch of the imagination did she think she was going to come in and be the next Lisa Koll.

“It didn't even enter her mind and up until this last year, I don't think she felt she belonged in the front. It's kind of good in a sense that she's kind of up there and not really thinking about it too much, just running. ... I think she's got to pinch herself a little bit every day that she's up there doing what she's doing.”

Nelson, who deemed her last 3K effort as a senior in high school at the Drake Relays “terrible,” is still processing how she's climbed so high so quickly.

“They joked about why they even recruited me after that race, but I'm glad they did,” Nelson said.

There's little joking now.

Nelson, a junior, has become a fixture at the front of the pack.

At any meet.

Without a doubt.

“I think she's starting to believe that she's capable of being in the thick of things up front,” Ihmels said.

Personally, and as a team.

Saturday's goal, a collective win.

The ultimate aim?

A top-five team finish in the Nov. 21 NCAA Championships at Terre Haute, Ind.

“If everything can fall into place I think we can achieve that goal,” Nelson said. “We're in a good spot right now.”

So is she, as long as pre-race trepidation continues to fall prey to real race performance.

“Hopefully I can keep improving and if I can keep improving at the rate I am right now, the possibilities are endless, I suppose,” Nelson said.