Alter grad Nichols making history with Colorado track team

“Our 4x800 team made it to state and ended up winning,” Nichols said, “and it just kind of escalated from there. I just kept getting better every year. I had amazing coaches at Alter. They really emphasized being healthy and having fun and helped me get to the college level in a good place, where I had a lot of room to develop and grow.”

Nichols developed her talent by running many miles on the Iron Horse Trail in Kettering or on Ackerman Boulevard, near Alter and her home. These days, she has more scenic views of the Rocky Mountains. She’s entering the final weeks of her college career at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where she has spent the past two years after four years at Ohio State.

“I had a good experience at Ohio State,” Nichols said, “and then COVID hit, and I had two more years. I wanted a challenge, so I transferred out here because this program has a lot of history, and I knew a lot about the coaches and their track record. I wanted to be a part of this.”

Nichols has made history for the program. She won the Pac-!2 Women’s Track Athlete of the Year award on May 19 after winning the 5,000-meter run in 15 minutes, 47.92 seconds and the 10,000 in a conference and Colorado school record time of 32:27.25 at the Pac-12 championships.

Nichols became the first Colorado athlete to win an an individual Pac-12 Athlete of the Year award in track and helped lead her team to a second-place finish, the best in program history. She also became the third woman in conference history to win the 5,000 and 10,000.

“It’s what I wanted,” Nichols said. “Last year, I got second in both. So this year, I knew I had a good chance to do well. It’s one thing knowing that you can do it, but you have to get on the line and actually do it. A lot of is having a little bit of confidence.”

Nichols qualified for the NCAA West Preliminaries in both events but will focus on the 5,000, which she’ll race Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark. The top-12 finishers advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championship, which will take place June 8-11 in Eugene.

Deciding to focus on one race was a hard decision.

“I have the leading time in the 10k,” Nichols said, “but my heart’s in the 5k. I wanted to do the 5K, but I didn’t know if it was smarter to leave the 10k behind. My coaches and I talked, and we just decided that 5K’s where my heart’s at. I have a good shot at that, too.”

Credit: MARC PENDLETON / STAFF

Credit: MARC PENDLETON / STAFF

Credit: Greg Billing / STAFF

Credit: Greg Billing / STAFF

Those are only the most recent accolades for Nichols. Here’s a more complete list of what she’s accomplished in her running career:

• Nichols won the Division II state championship in cross country as a senior at Alter in 2015 and won the 1,600 and 3,200 at the state track and field championships the following spring.

• Nichols became the first Ohio State runner to win a Big Ten championship in the 5,000 (15:56.52) as a junior in the spring of 2019.

• After being unable to compete in the spring of 2020 when the season was cancelled because of the pandemic, Nichols left Ohio State as a grad transfer and enrolled at Colorado. In the fall of 2020, she finished eighth at the Pac-12 championships in cross country and 18th at the NCAA championships, earning an All-America honor.

• In the 2021 outdoor season, she set personal bests in the 5,000 (15:44.47) and 10,000 (32:49.87) at the Pac-12 championships, finishing second in both events. She qualified for the NCAA championships in both races, too, and finished 17th at the national meet in the 5,000, earning an All-America honorable mention.

• Last fall, Nichols became the second Colorado runner to win a Pac-12 cross country championship, helping lead the team to a championship as well. She earned her second All-America honor by placing eighth at the NCAA championships, and Colorado placed fourth as a team.

In Boulder, Nichols had to grow used to training at a high elevation (5,318 feet compared to 902 feet in Columbus). When the Colorado runners aren’t on the track, they have access to the numerous trails in the foothills. They also run on nearby dirt roads. There are many bike path options as well.

Nichols has trimmed 41 seconds off her best 5K time since moving to Colorado. She’s not sure how much running at the higher altitude has helped.

“I don’t know how much better I would have gotten at Ohio State, so it’s hard to say because just getting older helps, too,” she said. “But I think this program has prepared me so well. To be performing the way I am, I owe a lot to my teammates and my coaches. My teammates pushing me has helped me become a better runner, and the workouts my coaches have given me have prepared me.”

Nichols has the second-best 5,000 time in the country this year. She ran a personal best (15:15.46) at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 13. Kately Tuohy, of N.C. State, owns the nation’s best time (15:14.61). Elly Henes, of N.C. State, won the national championship in the event last year (15:28.05).

Winning a national championship is a goal for Nichols.

“I think that’s a lot of people’s goal,” she said. “I know I’m going to be lining up against girls who have the same goal in mind, and I think my goal is more to show up and have a good time and do my best on that day, which in an ideal world would be to win.”

Nichols will pursue a professional running career when her college career ends. She said college athletes can’t sign a pro contract or hire an agent until after their final race. She wants to keep chasing big goals.

“I think every pro runner’s dream is making it to the Olympics,” she said, ‘but I don’t know, it’s kind of scary to say.”

The lost season of 2020 gave Nichols and many college athletes an extra year of eligibility. Now that long road is coming to an end for Nichols.

“It’s take taken me a long time in college to get to this place where I’m really competitive,” she said, “and now that I’m here, it’s sad that it’s ending, but I can look back and really appreciate how far I’ve come. I’ve had to really develop as a runner. I haven’t been the best from the very beginning. I have like a lot of people to thank for that, like, my Ohio State coach and my coaches here and all the teammates I’ve had.”