There were a lot of known quantities that gave good reason to think the Huskies would have a strong women's team this fall. Four returning NCAA Outdoor track qualifiers plus two more West Regional competitors and Pac-12 scorers had all the makings of a great core group. But a big part in Washington's three straight wins, including the Wisconsin Invitational victory that propelled the team to No. 2 in the national polls, has been the steady running from the freshmen duo Kaitlyn Neal and Nikki Zielinski. The two both scored in the top-five at Wisconsin in their first big collegiate field, with Neal finishing 34th and Zielinski 45th, after they both ran in the top-10 at the Sundodger and Washington Invitationals. Neal came from New York's powerhouse Fayetteville-Manlius program, where she helped her squad to a Nike Cross Nationals victory last year, while Zielinski moved up the coast from Orange County, where she was a Foot Locker National XC finalist as a senior. The two are roommates this fall, and both thought they'd likely be redshirting this fall, but instead find themselves looking to help the Huskies race for a Pac-12 title this Friday in Tucson.
GoHuskies.com: The two of you have both had a big role in the team's success so far this season. The team is three-for-three in races so far this year, so how would you sum up the whole experience thus far? Is it more or less what you expected or catching you by surprise at all? Kaitlyn Neal: It's been really great. Coming into college I came off an injury, so I didn't really have a lot of high expectations for myself. I just wanted to really see what I could do, and if I could contribute to the team then I wanted to run in uniform, and if I couldn't then I was going to save it. But I'm just happy that Coach Metcalf and Anita really worked with me through that and they and the team were a great support system and I never felt excluded at all when I was coming back into it. I just feel like it's a great team environment and that really pushed me to get better. Running in uniform has worked out and I think our team just benefits from the support that each of us has for one another. Nikki Zielinski: I would say the experience so far is something I could never have dreamed of. You come to college as a freshman, and especially me, I felt like I'd be back of the pack, and hoping to maybe not get dropped in practice every day. Then all of a sudden I'm racing with these girls that I've looked up to for years, and I'm next to them, and I'm dying, but I'm doing it. It's just really cool to see how much you can grow just with some training and support like Kaitlyn said.
GH: Kaitlyn, your high school team won a national championship so being part of a team with a lot of talent and depth might be something you're accustomed to. But Nikki, is the team environment a lot different for you? NZ: My team, yeah we weren't awful by any means, but nothing compared to this. It's so nice to be on a team that is going to qualify hopefully for nationals and do great things. Because as fun as it is to be at the top of your team, it can get lonely. Running every run by yourself is not that enjoyable, but having a pack of girls around you is amazing.
GH: Kaitlyn, even with your high school team's success, the team this fall has looked like one of the deepest teams in the NCAA, so it still must be a pretty big change for you. KN: Definitely, even in tempos, I run paces now that I would have raced at last year. It's just pretty crazy, I didn't go to Manlius all four years of high school, so when I first came into the program last year my mind was blown by how much better each of us was just by the fact that all of us worked together, and it made us so much better than we could be alone. And the same thing is true here. I thought I knew what it was like to be on a good team, and I didn't. I mean I knew how hard you had to work, and that it just took working every day, and keeping your head down, but I guess I just didn't know how much higher of a level there could be. Our team is so talented, and it's so cool to be on a team where you admire every single person around you, and you're kind of star struck (laughs).
GH: There is a lot of potential leaders on this squad and women that have some impressive credentials, but is there anyone specific that you've looked to or has had some valuable advice for you guys this fall? NZ: Maddie (Meyers) is always a good leader. She was eighth at Nationals last year. She's the nicest person ever. She can really do no wrong. I just try and do what she does. Amy(-Eloise Neale) has been through a lot of injuries, and you're always scared of getting hurt and coming back and she's coming back better than ever. So they in particular for me stand out as role models and leaders, but the team as a whole is definitely great. KN: I would agree with that! Nikki Zielinski
GH: You two just came out of a weight training session. Is that a new experience for you or did you do weights much in high school? NZ: For me it's completely new. I didn't really do weights at all in high school. We did a few push-ups a week or something (laughs). This is definitely going to help me. It gets me sore but stronger as well so it's fun. KN: I did weights in high school but this is definitely different. I did more like dead lifting and heavier weight stuff in high school. This is more body-weight stuff and really helping keep your hips strong, and prevent repetitive injuries.
GH: Going back to the Wisconsin Invitational, running in such a huge field for the first time, what was the race plan for you guys and how did it play out for you? KN: For me, going into that large of a race, I was just worried about getting consumed in the beginning. There's so many people and it's so talented, so I just kind of stuck behind Anna, Katie, Amy-Eloise, and Charlotte. They just got out and I just made sure to stay by them, and Nikki was right beside me, and I just stuck by them and they just plowed through people, and they really got our team out. If it wasn't for them I would have just gotten swallowed whole. So that was great teamwork. I just tried to stay near the front as long as I possibly could, and then the last 2k just give it everything. NZ: I would say I kind of did the same thing. I didn't really go in with any kind of expectation for myself. I just didn't want to embarrass myself was the main goal. So I tried to stay with the pack and try not to trip and fall, which a girl in front of me did, it was pretty scary for her. But yeah I just tried to give it my all. It wasn't my best race, but it was so fun to experience that many fast girls, it just opens your eyes to the level of competition there. It's really cool.
GH: What did you think when you found out that you guys had got the win? Were you surprised at all? NZ: I definitely thought Providence beat us (Kaitlin: "Yeah, me too") because there were a couple Providence girls ahead of me the whole race and I was thinking "You've got to pass them" and I literally couldn't, I was so mad at myself. Then at the finish they said we won and I was like "Wait, how? They were right in front of me and I didn't pass them." It was unbelievable. KN: I only saw one Providence girl ahead of me for most of the race and then (Providence junior) Katie Lembo passed me probably in the last 2k and I was like "Noooo!" just watching her go away. But that was really exciting. I knew we'd be close but I didn't know if we'd win, so that was such a fulfilling feeling, mostly because it's nice to win Wisconsin but at the end of the day November is what matters. So if anything it was just a way to help reassure what we're doing as a team; we just need to keep working towards that goal.
GH: Coming into this season you probably knew the team could be pretty strong, and the team was ranked 11th to start the year, but now being up at No. 2 and heading into the championship meets, how excited are you for what's coming? NZ: When you're a senior in high school and you're deciding where to go to college, and you really don't know what the right school is. There's so many schools that sound great and have all these things that seem to check your boxes. But choosing Washington I see was the right choice for me. I feel really blessed. I've been given this chance to run with the greatest girls in the nation. KN: I would definitely agree with that. It's nice to lay your head on your pillow at night and know that you've made the right decision for yourself. And to be able to be a part of something every day that you feel like is a little bigger than yourself. It's really fulfilling, and yeah it's hard work, but at the end of the day I know there are other women on the team that are doing the same thing and it's a great experience.
GH: During the recruiting process, what ultimately were the biggest factors in you deciding that Washington was the right home? KN: For me, in my senior year of high school I had a really close team, and I just remember that being the best thing ever. After (Nike Cross Nationals) I just remember walking around the hallways just almost feeling like I was going to cry because I was so proud of our team and what we accomplished together. It was just so fulfilling, you know? And so I really wanted a team that I could look around and think "okay, when I'm in that point of a race where I can't push any harder for myself, am I going to love these girls enough to push for them?" And I definitely think I chose a program that has that. NZ: I would say the team aspect was the biggest part for me because I was the only senior on varsity in my high school team, so I just kind of felt lonely a lot, and I wanted a pack of girls around me at all times to keep me running hard and accountable. The Pacific Northwest was a prime location for training. I've always wanted to be surrounded by trails and rain, and now I have that (laughs). It's stupendous. So yeah, location and the team and the school itself is great.
GH: Are you guys surprising yourselves with your individual performances so far? NZ: I mean, yeah. I thought I was going to redshirt for sure. PRs in high school aren't that great, so I've just made a lot of improvement in a very short amount of time that I'm really happy about. I think because I was training alone a lot in high school I pushed too hard every single day, and I think I was just chronically overtrained my senior year. Even if I would have tried to take an easy day it wouldn't have been like we do them here. I feel like here we have really easy days and really hard days and in high school I had more like medium days every day and that's just going to tire you out eventually, so I think just the more structured training has definitely had an impact on me. KN: I got a stress reaction during outdoor track my senior year so I thought for sure I was going to redshirt. I didn't run a step until two weeks before practice started. I would definitely agree with Nikki and say sometimes I definitely overtrained a little bit. I guess it's easy, especially when you're trying to get into college, you just feel this pressure to go hard every single day, and now that you're here it's a huge relief and you can just kind of listen to your body, and understand the science.
GH: You guys had to phase the start of school into your season a few weeks ago, so how has class gone so far and any ideas of what you might want to focus on? KN: Pretty good, I don't have any complaints. I want to major in finance because I love math.
NZ: Yeah, it was nice just to train and then hang out and recover at night during summer, but school's fun too. I have English as my major right now. Perhaps a career in writing, an author or columnist, something like that, but still a little early to say. Kaitlyn Neal (photo by Michael Scott)
GH: Both coming a long way from home for the first time, are there any specific things you miss about your hometowns? KN: There's this one place I used to run every day called Green Lake State Park and I love that. That will definitely be really nice to come back to. But other than that, just people, I wouldn't mind getting lunch with my mom every once in a while (laughs), that would be really nice. NZ: I miss having my own kitchen at home. Cooking in the dorms is kind of challenging because there's no counter space, so you end up microwaving everything. But I miss my mom and my dad and my sister and my dog, just family and friends.
GH: When did you two first get into running? KN: I was twelve. My family relocated from South Carolina to New York. It was devastating to me, because I was leaving everything I'd ever known behind. And my mom had started running to kind of relieve stress, I guess, and I just started going with her, and I was hooked. NZ: I started seriously running my sophomore year of high school. I did like middle school cross country for one year but that was like twice a week. But yeah sophomore year was when I joined cross country and I was in Kansas at the time, and things were different there in terms of training and stuff, but that was when I first started running daily and counting mileage and timing. I was doing soccer and cross country and just decided to quit soccer because it seemed like I was better at just running.
GH: Any other sports for you, Kaitlyn? KN: No, I'm so uncoordinated I can only run in a straight line (laughs).
GH: Who was most important in your careers to get to this point? NZ: I would say my mom for me, because we would sit down every weekend and surf the web and see what college is right for me, reach out to all these coaches, form all these emails that made me sound as good as possible. She was tireless in her support for me, so definitely my mom had the biggest hand in getting me to Washington. KN: I would say my parents because they supported me in everything I did. And I would definitely say Coach Aris (at Fayetteville-Manlius). He really believed in me, even when I didn't believe in myself. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be here.
GH: Three big races to go now, are you just taking it one day at a time right now? NZ: It's the only thing you really can do at this point. KN: It's the countdown to Terre Haute!
