High School Standout Turned Collegiate Rising Star By Alexis Mercer Close to eight million students currently compete in high school athletics. Of those, less than 2% will become NCAA Division 1 athletes. Specifically in the sport of cross country, 1.8% of high school athletes become a team member for a D1 school (ncaa.org). Nathan Walker, a Fremont High School 2021 graduate, is one of them. After finishing his high school career a State Champion in individual cross country, the 1600 meters and 3200 meters, Nathan Walker had a big choice facing him: where to continue his running career in college? Purdue University was the lucky winner. “I decided to go to Purdue predominantly because of the guys of the team. I just felt that they were a great group of guys, and that has proven true over the past months. I also felt that I would mesh well with Coach Oliver. We share similar values in the running world,” said Walker. This past weekend at the Gene Edmonds Memorial Invitational, hosted by his home University, Walker set his mark as an asset to the team by winning the mile in 4:11.64. His first official race as a Boilermaker, Walker earned the win on the indoor track. Earlier in the year the team ran a time trial that Nathan said had a similar feel to it. “Admittedly I was nervous leading up to both races, but I’m sure that will always happen,” he said. “At the end of the day, running is running. I try not to add any more pressure to races than I would practice.” Words that show his maturity well beyond his years. But that wisdom and maturity does not equal cockiness or an inability to understand how exciting a feat this was. “After the race was pretty exciting. It was great to see the guys getting results. We had a really solid team effort, and I’m excited that everyone was putting themselves out there.” Walker red-shirted his freshman year on the cross country team this past fall, but was given the chance to run unattached at one meet late in the season. “It was pretty tough,” he admits. “Most of my season was just getting adjusted to the training/college in general. I was able to put in consistent training and learn quite a bit about myself.”
Making the leap from high school to college is a huge endeavor for any athlete regardless of sport. The pace, living in new circumstances, meeting people, getting along with new teammates, a new system of training, and last but not least the rigorous classes. Nathan took the changes all in stride and used his freshman fall to adjust. “So far the biggest difference between running in high school and college has been the focus on recovery,” says Walker. “In high school I felt like I was doing enough, but when I came here I realized that I could do so much more. So much of success in running stems from the recovery process.” His weekly total mileage during cross country season was around 60 miles. And as Walker explained, it has not gone up much during the indoor track season. Next weekend, Walker and his teammates will travel to Chicago for the Wisconsin Midwest Invitational. Purdue’s 2022 schedule can be found at its website: https://purduesports.com/sports/track-and-field/schedule/2021-22
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