Nelson Named USTFCCCA Athlete Of The Week

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State All-American cross country runner Crystal Nelson was named national athlete of the week by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Nelson receives the honor after her title-winning performance at Friday's Wisconsin Adidas Invitational.

Nelson posted the third-fastest 6-kilometer time ever run at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course, breaking the tape in 19 minutes, 35 seconds. The Winchester, Virginia, native ran among the leaders for the first 4 km of the race before opening up and taking the win by over four seconds. Nelson clocked the final 2 km of the race in 6:07, running a 4:55 mile pace over that span to seal the victory.

Entering the race ranked No. 8 nationally, the Cyclone junior was one of seven top-10 runners in the field. She earned victories over the other six, avenging a loss at Griak to Arizona State's Shelby Houlihan. Among the FloRankings' top-10, Nelson defeated No. 1 Houlihan, No. 2 Emma Bates (Boise State), No. 3 Dominique Scott (Arkansas), No. 5 Colleen Quigley (Florida State), No. 7 Elise Cranny (Stanford) and No. 10 Rachele Schulist (Michigan State).

Nelson's performance moved her up five places to No. 3 in the most recent Saucony FloRankings.

At 19:35, Nelson's time was just 4 seconds off of the course record set last season by Abbey D'Agostino. The time is a 27-second improvement over the time she ran on the course a year ago, equaling former Cyclone-great Betsy Saina's best time at the meet.

The time is Nelson's fastest 6K cross country clocking of her career, bettering her previous mark of 19:49, which she posted at the 2013 Big 12 Championship.

Nelson and the Cyclones return to the course Nov. 1 at the 2014 Big 12 Championship in Lawrence, Kansas.