Kalispell senior Zoe Nelson proved why she is the best female cross country runner Montana has ever produced this past fall.
The 2002 national champion won her fourth consecutive state championship and led the Bravettes to their fourth straight team title in Helena in October.
Nelson never lost a race in her four years on Kalispell's cross country team, unless you count the Kalispell B meet on Oct. 15, when she ditched the girls' competition and finished 13th in the boys race.
In November, Nelson chose to follow family tradition when she signed on to run for the University of Oregon in Eugene. Her parents, Bill and Brooke, met there while students in the early 1970s.
December saw Nelson become only the third girl to qualify for the Foot Locker National Championships all four high school years.
After finishing second in the regional race, Nelson took eighth at nationals in San Diego on Dec. 11.
She has set and sometimes reset nearly every course record in the western Montana, while her average margin of victory was over a minute.
Take it from her long time coach Paul Jorgensen: "We won't find another Zoe Nelson. That is once in a lifetime, once in two lifetimes."
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