Following her All-American seventh-place half marathon finish at last Spring's NAIA outdoor track championships, Madison Nelson added her second such honor today at the NAIA Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida.
Held in perfect running conditions of sunny skies and temperatures in the 40's, Tallahassee's Apalachee Regional Park welcomed 326 competitors to the starting line of the 43rd running of the national championship. Following a recall of the start due to a runner falling in the first 50 meters, Nelson calmed her nerves and put herself into an All-American position early (Top 40) with a fast first mile of 5:35 which was, in fact, the fastest mile of her life. She found herself near the 40th position after two of the five kilometers had been completed. On the final of two loops of the course, Nelson had moved to 34th and was able to pass three more runners in the final mile to grab the 31st position. Her time of 18:01.7 was a 25-second personal best, averaging 5:48 per mile. The women's individual title was claimed by Lina May of William Carey, running 16:50.9. The team champion was Taylor of Indiana while the NSAA's representative Viterbo finished in 33rd.
Nelson is now just the second North Star Athletic Association female in history to earn an All-American honor in cross country following Waldorf's Marissa Kuik in 2018. She was the only runner from a Nebraska program to claim the honor among both the men and women competing today.
Head Coach Craig Christians: "Once again, Madison ran an absolutely flawless race. I was concerned about her getting trapped in the pack because she is not typically a fast starter. I think the false start was a blessing because she got a better feel for the kind of fast start it would be. I was a little surprised to see her so close to the front in the early going but I never question what she's doing. She's an extremely intelligent and emotionally controlled runner. This season has not been the easiest one for her so I'm so happy about the way it turned out for her. She's going to go in and have some surgery on her foot, and hopefully, that alleviates some issues she's had. Despite that, she continued to perform at an exceptional level all season which speaks volumes about the athlete she is."
"Madison has done so much for our program in her freshman and now at the beginning of her sophomore season. I'm hoping that high schoolers recognize that we are producing quality results and we can build on her individual success. It would be great to bring a whole team to nationals next year," added Christians.
With the conclusion of the cross country season, the Bruins will point toward the beginning of indoor track season, which will see the first competition in January.
