Nick Wilson '18 Recruiting Profile

    Under the close guidance of my late coach, Marathon legend Tom Fleming, I learned what it takes to become the best athlete I can possibly be. Waking up every Sunday morning before church to go for a long run with other athletes Tom coached was a weekly tradition that opened my eyes to the commitment required of the few who wish to achieve greatness. As I pounded away at the pavement, Tom would always ask me how many other high school runners were going out early every Sunday morning to run ten to twelve miles at the pace we were doing, only accepting one answer: none. Tom liked to get in my head like that, to get me to believe in myself, because Tom believed in me. I run because Tom gave me the gift of running and showed me what it was to love something and to dedicate yourself to it. To borrow the words of one of his most respected competitors from his career, Steve Prefontaine, Tom taught me that to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.

    After losing him in April, adjusting to running without Tom took a tool on my mentality during the championship season and I struggled to find the same belief in my abilities that I had relied on Tom having. After continued disappointment with my results through sectionals, I made sure that my next races would live up to the potential that Tom always saw in me, I owed it to him just as much as I owed it to myself. In the 1600, putting my past disappointments behind me, I didn't look at the clock until my last steps across the line where I saw a 4:25. It was a 5-second personal best, and I got second place. The following day of Groups I had the 800 and the motivation to run a race that reflected my potential from the day before was still there. I started my kick with 300 meters to go while in 7th place, and leaned across the line to edge out the runner in first by .06 seconds. It was a 3-second personal best of 1:57. I chose to run the 1600 at Meet of Champs, knowing I would be in the second of the two heats, and entered the race with the same motivation as the week before, and as history repeated itself, I started my kick in 7th place with 300 to go (closing in a 60-second lap) to edge out first place by .05 seconds with a lean on the line. It was another 5-second best, with a time of 4:20.

Below is link to videos on Mile Split ( unfortunately they do not allow downloading but are accessible for subscribers)

http://nj.milesplit.com/athletes/4662593-nick-wilson/videos#.WWajjzPMxE4

    In my search for colleges, I look for a running program with likeminded student-athletes who want nothing more than to be the best they can inside the classroom and on the track. One of my coach Tom's many famous sayings was that "it's so easy to be a good student athlete. Be a good student, and be a good athlete." I've adopted the statement as a motto for who I strive to be as a high-school student-athlete. Coming from a small  but a challenging preparatory school in New Jersey, college is the clear next step in my education, but it also presents itself to me as an opportunity to take my running career to new heights.