2003-2004

Last year, Zoe Nelson broke course records on every course she ran through her state meet. It was hard to evaluate her accomplishments since she didn't compete outside Montana. Then "the Zephyr" flew down to California and confirmed her merit by winning the Foot Locker cross country championship in San Diego in a breeze.

This year, a local newspaper said she "struggled" in some of her races, apparently based on the fact that she didn't break her own records all over again every race. But she did win every race again and set a personal best of 16:41 for 3 miles (Helena Preview 10/4).

Although Zoe the Zephyr breezes with big margins in most of her races, her gritty seesaw win in the Golden West 3200m last June (10:28.86) showed she can win a close race too.

Now, she is in the middle of a 7-week hiatus between the Montana state meet (Oct 18) and Foot Locker West regional (Mt. SAC Dec 6), a gap which helps or hurts Foot Locker chances depending on your point of view. Regardless, Zoe the Zephyr has a good chance of making it two in a row in San Diego Dec 13. Her 17:29 5k in the Montana Junior Olympics championship Nov 1 shows she is fit.

Zoe Nelson's past performances:

2003 cross country
Time Dist Pos/Meet
17:29 5k 1 @ Montana JO MT 11/1/2003
17:36 3m 1 @ AA State Meet MT 10/18/2003
16:41 3m 1 @ Helena Preview MT 10/4/2003
17:03 3m 1 @ Mountain West MT 9/27/2003
17:42 3m 1 @ Great Falls Inv MT 9/12/2003
18:12 3m 1 @ Flathead Inv MT 9/6/2003
17:21 3m 1 @ Libby Inv MT 8/29/2003

2003 outdoor
Event Mark Meet
G-2Mile 10:28.86 c 6/15/2003, Golden West Inv CA, # 1
G-Mile 4:59.79 c 5/24/2003, AA State Meet MT, # 1
B-2Mile 10:50.3 c 5/17/2003, Divisional MT, # 1
B-Mile 5:03.25 c 5/17/2003, Divisional MT, # 1
G-2Mile 10:43.9 c 4/19/2003, Great Falls Opt MT, # 1
G-Mile 4:58.29 c 4/19/2003, Great Falls Opt MT, # 1
G-2Mile 10:36.5 c 4/12/2003, Missoula Inv MT, # 1

2002 cross country
Time Dist Pos/Meet
17:30 5k 1 @ FootLocker nationals CA 12/14/2002
18:02 5k 1 @ FootLocker WE seeded CA 12/7/2002
16:50 3.0m 1 @ State AA MT 10/19/2002
16:46 3.0m 1 @ Helena Preview MT 10/5/2002
17:02 3.0m 1 @ Mountain West MT 9/28/2002
16:43 3.0m 1 @ Flathead Inv MT 9/7/2002

Ben True was a bit of an unknown on the national scene when he finished fifth in the Foot Locker Northeast region to qualify for the national finals. He followed that up with an impressive ninth at San Diego to become the 4th fastest returnee for this year's Foot Locker.

He rested his regular season case Nov 1 by winning the Maine state meet in 15:50 5k, smashing the old course record by 44 seconds.

Ben is also a national ranking cross country skier, and he gives the nod to that sport as his favorite. He has decided to stay in ski country by attending Dartmouth College next year.

Ben True's past performances:

2003 cross country
Time Dist Pos/Meet
15:50 5k 1 @ State Meet ME 11/1/2003
15:17 3.1m 1 @ Manchester Classic NH 9/27/2003
15:55 5k 1 @ Mt. Wash-Great Glen NH 9/6/2003

2003 outdoor
Event Mark Meet
B-Mile 4:15.24 MR 7/5/2003, Maine Distance Fest ME, # 1
B-Mile 4:13.78 c 6/14/2003, New England Ch. CT, # 1

2002 cross country
Time Dist Pos/Meet
15:16 5k 9 @ FootLocker nationals CA 12/14/2002
15:37 5k 5 @ FootLocker NE seeded NY 11/30/2002
15:31 5k 2 @ New England Ch. ME 11/9/2002
15:16 5k 1 @ Brown Inv Ch RI 10/19/2002
15:48 5k 1 @ Manchester Inv-Large NH 9/28/2002

Q and A with Zoe Nelson

1. Compare your season to date with last year.

I think that my season is going very well. I feel stronger than I did last year. Some of my times have shown that I have improved over last year, and that gives me confidence. I think that by December I will be ready to do well at nationals.

2. Is your training any different this year than prior years?

I have been doing pretty much the same mileage and amount of speed work so far. One difference is that I have been taking one day off each week, so I have been putting the same mileage that I used to run in seven days into six days. I think that that small amount of rest has been pretty helpful in keeping me injury free and healthy.

3. How much bigger are you this year? Does this affect your perception of strength on the course?

I don't know whether I have grown much, perhaps an inch or two. I don't think that being bigger really has anything to do with speed. I have seen tall and short distance runners who are really great, so I feel that I won't be affected too much.

4. You have a long gap between your state meet and Foot Locker West. How do you handle that in terms of your training?

It is different from most people because we have to peak twice -- at the state meet and again at Foot Locker. It is a nice chunk of time because you can really focus on training how you want to train without having to rest for a race each week. I think that this gives me an advantage over people who may be a little worn out from all that racing.

5. Except for Foot Locker, you haven't competed in many national level meets (Arcadia, Nike Indoor Classic, adidas Outdoor Championships, USA Junior Nationals) Will you be going to any of these meets this year?

I did the Golden West Invitational. I think that I will probably do a few more competitions on the national scale now that I am a little older and more experienced than I was last year.

6. Do you like cross country better than track? Do you think you are better at cross country, or is it just that you haven't focussed as much on track?

I definitely enjoy cross country more than track. I seem to do better the longer the distance that I run, and I like the varied terrain that cross country has. It is not nearly as monotonous to me. I enjoy running up and down and on different surfaces. I also prefer the whole atmosphere of cross country better. I love that in cross country there is just one race. So people get more excited about the distance kids. Also, our cross country team is much tighter than our track team because we are all distance runners and can relate to each other better than in track when there are so many different events.

photo by Victah Sailer, PhotoRun

Q and A with Ben True

1. Describe your season in terms of your goals.

My goals for this cross season were two simple things, revenge our team championships, and make a stand for myself at nationals. My individual season has been tailored around the Foot Locker nationals, and my plan is to be in the best shape I can be, and give that race everything that I have. I want to continually improve over past years, and show that I have what it takes to run with the best.

2. How would you compare your fitness at this point to last year at this time?

I believe my fitness at this point in time is much better than previous years. This past summer was really the first that I laid down some good base training, and ran throughout the entire summer. I also am running a lot more miles than I did last year, I'm now running between 45 and 50 miles a week, which is a 15 mile a week raise. The raise feels good and I am responding very well to it.

3. How does your accomplishment in running compare to skiing? Which is your favorite sport?

Nordic Skiing is definitely what I love the most, all aspects of it thrills me, and I really enjoy the technical side as well as the racing. My accomplishments in skiing are not as well as I would like them to be, but being fairly new at the sport, I know I have a lot to improve upon. Last year at Nordic Jr. Nationals I placed 8th in the 10 K classic race, 11th in the Sprint, and my relay team placed 3rd.

4. How is the recruiting process going?

I have committed to Dartmouth College.

5. Do you have any running heroes?

Steve Prefontaine is someone who always inspires
me. Bill Rodgers and Sebastian Coe are some others
that have helped motivate me.

6. How do you rate your chances in the Foot Locker Northeast region? Whom do you consider your toughest opposition?

Foot Locker regionals is going to be a very difficult race, there are a lot of great runners who are going to be trying to qualify for nationals. My game plan going into the race is strictly to qualify. I'm going to use that race as a stepping stone to nationals, and not try to tire myself out too much at the regionals. Haji, Coombs, Gras, Hakon . . . I think all those guys are going to be fighting in the race, and I would rather sit back and attempt to secure a position to San Diego than try and battle for the win.

7. What kind of goals will you have for indoor and outdoor track?

Outdoor track I am looking to lower my mile time and 2 mile time. I would love to get in to close to 9 in the 2 mile and sub 4:10 in the mile, and we'll see how my season plays out to see if those are respectable goals or not.