Maricela Nelson '25 Recruiting Profile

Hi! My name is Maricela Nelson and I am a track athlete (Sprinter) from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I have been very fortunate to be a 4-time USATF National Junior Olympic Qualifier, and a 1-time Virtual Nationals Qualifier. I am 17 years of age and started running track at 9 years old. I compete in outdoor track events but I do compete in Indoor Season as well. I am currently an incoming Senior at Coeur d’ Alene High School (5A school).  I run the indoor 60m & 200m, outdoors 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and 4x200m relay as well. I love to be very active in sports! I also love to help my community and have been a Girl Scout for 8 years. Education is one of my top priorities and getting good grades is key for athletes, too.  All throughout my 3 years of middle school,  I maintained a 4.0-4.3. Currently in high school, I am taking a nursing field class, and AP and Honors Classes. I am in pre-season conditioning for track and currently training 4-5 days a week in a variety of weight strengthening, CrossFit and Pilates style classes.  

I started out running with an extension track club called Spokane Mercury for my first year of track in 2016 after I played recreational soccer and basketball. After that first year, the track extension disbanded, so I started running as an unattached athlete for USATF JO's for 3 years, working with some of the local high school coaches all throughout the summers. When I made it to the National Junior Olympics in Sacramento, California for my first time back in 2019, I had a great experience but I really wanted to be able to share this with other teammates. With the help of my parents and coaches, I made a local club called North Idaho Blaze Track and Field Club for my Silver Award for Girl Scouts, so that I could share my passion for running with other athletes as well!! The club also became a full non-profit group, which was important so that we could give back to other deserving athletes!! I am so grateful now to be able to run with other club teammates and we I have learned so much from helping to make the track club and if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be where I am today. In 2022, I was able to run at the Nike Nationals meet in the Freshman division and tied for 8th place overall!!

I realize that if I put in the hard effort at practices, then hopefully that will show during my meet season. I know that I need a positive attitude and a growth mindset to get me where I want to be in life. I have definitely been through some great times in track, but some rough times, too. Unfortunately back in June of 2020, the same day after I ran and placed 7th for my 100m and 12th overall for my 200m in a Virtual National track meet, I tore my ACL (non-track related), had to have surgery and it certainly wasn’t easy to get back from all of this.  I was really doubting myself, wondering if I would ever get back on the track or whether I could even achieve better times. 4 years out from ACL surgery now, I realized that if I didn’t go through physical therapy to put in the hard work as much as I did, I wouldn’t be back on the track as I am today! 

This year was another test of my physical and mental abilities since I started experiencing knee pain in December, 2023 and come to find out, there was a plastic suture plug from my previous surgery from 4 years ago that had come loose and was floating in my knee, causing issue with my lateral meniscus.  I was able to have surgery to remove this in January 2024, but had to take all of my indoor season and half-way through my high school season to rehab and return back to the track in a safe way.  I've been working extremely hard to get back! :) I was so fortunate to be able to come back to running in competitions in April and worked my way back to qualifying for our state track meet in May!!  This past summer, I was invited to participate in an international track meet in Australia with a group called Coast2Coast International Athletics which was an amazing experience.  I was able to represent my state of Idaho there, taking 3rd for the 4x100m relay, 6th for the 60m and 9th for the 100m sprints!

If you put the actual effort into something, you will get that back, and you will come out stronger than before, both mentally and physically. My devotion, love and commitment to track has definitely helped me to realize these life lessons and there are plenty of life lessons to be learned (and still learning) both on and off the track. I love making new teammates and working with others so we can push each other with friendly competition. I have loved seeing my progression with my times throughout these years.  To me, strength and form are key components to running mechanics, and I have been working hard with my coaches on getting my good form back, especially after my surgery 4 years ago. I want to keep improving throughout next year of high school and have a goal to break at least one of my high school’s 25 year old track records for the 100m at 12.36s. I also want to work just as hard to try to break the 200m 30 year old record as well!   I am excited to see what my future holds for myself and my goals. I am certainly trying my best to live up to the phrase that my grandma used to say, “Hard Work, Done Well, Feels Good”!!  :)