There are three certainties in life: death, taxes and Tenley Nelson making it to the state tournament in cross country.
Nelson has been competing at the varsity level in cross country since she was in seventh grade. She has made an appearance at the state meet each year.
Now as a junior, Nelson is off to an impressive start as she looks to make it five straight trips to the state meet. In all three of Luverne’s meets thus far this season, Nelson has crossed the finish line first.
“This is most definitely what I expected of her,” said Luverne cross country coach Pete Janiszeski.
“She is a three-time state medalist finishing fifth in 2017, seventh in 2018, and third in 2019. She is a special talent and thrives on improving and being the best she can be.”
In the team’s first meet of the season, Nelson finished with a time of 22:06. In the second meet she crossed the finish line with a time of 20:56.
During the team’s last meet in Marshall, Nelson finished with a time of 19:16. She was able to cut nearly three minutes off her time from the first meet of the season.
Janiszeski said that speaks to Nelson’s work ethic and her motivation to be the best.
“It has maybe been a little slower time-wise than she was hoping for due to heat and finding her groove, but she is finding her racing legs and ran an outstanding early season time last week,” he said.
“Tenley has a relentless drive to get better and become the best she can be.”
In order to be a success in long distances, runners have to be mentally strong. Janiszeski said that Nelson is a gifted athlete and also has all the intangibles that help make her a good long-distance competitor.
“She is obviously talented and gifted at running,” he said.
“However, Tenley also possesses all of the intangibles as well. She is hard-working, driven, dedicated, determined, tenacious, and most importantly, she cares about being her best and helping her teammates achieve at a high level. She perseveres and prepares from a mental standpoint as well. She is a student of the sport.”
Nelson has had individual success to start the young season, and so has the team.
In the team’s first meet of the season in Pipestone, the first five runners to cross the finish line were Cardinals. All nine varsity runners finished inside the Top 10.
During the team’s first home meet of the season, four runners finished inside the Top 10. In the team’s last meet in Marshall, five Cardinal runners finished in the Top 10.
Janiszeski said that one thing that makes Nelson special is her leadership.
“Tenley is a born leader,” he said. “She is tremendously driven and cares as much or more about the team’s success as she does her personal success. The team drives her to want to be the best she can be so that she can help them achieve their goals. She is always willing to help out her teammates and they are a very close-knit group of girls.”
Running first caught Nelson’s eyes as a child when she used to watch her aunt, Chrissy Strassburg, compete as a runner.
“I used to watch my aunt run at events,” Nelson said. “I kind of just fell in love with it from there.”
Any avid runner will tell you that running is an addiction. The runner’s high that people get after completing an event is euphoric.
One thing that Nelson loves about running is the positive environment.
“It’s just such a positive atmosphere that surrounds running,” Nelson said. “The environment is just amazing and everybody is just supportive and cheering each other on.”
In a year that’s been marked by chaos and unpredictability, Nelson’s start to the season has been anything but those two things.
Nelson is set on a path toward her fifth straight trip to the state tournament. Will anything be able to slow her down? It doesn’t appear likely.