Hickman junior Nicole Mello continued the recently string of Missouri qualifiers for the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.
Mello captured seventh place in a PR time of 17:43 at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional in Kenosha, Wis., over the weekend.
“I really didn’t know what to expect,” Mello said. “I just wanted to go and have fun. The first mile felt good so I went with it, and before I knew it I had placed in the top 10.”
Missouri has sent a girl to the national meet each of the last four years. Parkway Central’s Emily Sisson and Diane Robison both qualified in 2008, and Sisson made a return trip in 2009. Nerinx Hall’s Colleen Quigley represented the state last year. Mello will make her trip on Dec. 10 to compete on the Balboa Park course in San Diego, Calif.
Mello said she didn’t have a strategy in place, but she knew she wanted to get to the front of the large pack early. There were 263 runners from 13 states competing.
There was a little extra urgency in Mello’s desire to avoid the crush of runners at the starting line. At the Class 4 state meet, Mello was tripped near the start and fell. She gathered herself and resumed her race to finish ninth (19:41).
“I’ve tried my best to completely forget about it,” Mello said. “This time the start was really wide, so I didn’t really think about it much.
“There were no expectations. I just go out and do my best and take every race as a new one. It will always be a little motivation to get up and prove I can, but mostly for myself not anyone else.”
Mello was near 15th after the first mile, and she continued to move up throughout the race. She got as high as sixth, but she was edged out at the finish. Sixth through ninth places all finished with identical times of 17:43.
After the high school season ended, Mello said she began training with her father, Cesar Mello. The pair focused on maintaining an aerobic base and working on her form. Mello said her form got a little sloppy at Foot Locker when she crossed over a bit, and she will work to correct it before the national race.
Of the 14 other Missouri runners, Eureka freshman Hannah Long just missed qualifying for the national race with an 11th-place finish (17:47).
Mello also recently took part in the Cross Country Coaches National Youth Championships in Ona, W.Va., where she won the Intermediate Girls division. She held the course record of 18:04 for about an hour until Blue Springs South’s Samantha Nightingale dropped the mark even lower to 17:32 to win the Young Women’s division.
“That is the West Virginia state course,” Mello said. “I heard the announcer over the intercom reading off times, so the last mile I just went for it. It was exciting.
“I got to be part of the Brocaw Blazers. That’s why I went there – to take part of the team experience, and I just happened to have a good race, too.”