Oct. 4, 2006
Running the Trails with…Nicki Breves<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
Each week USCsports.com will feature a different runner on the cross country team as they continue through the 2006 season. This week’s featured harrier is senior Nicki Breves, an exercise science major from <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Ridgefield, Conn. Breves is one of three seniors on the team and has been named captain for the 2006 season.
After Nicki Breves earned her second high school All-American honor as a member of Ridgefield High School’s 4×800 relay team in Spring 2003, she knew one thing for certain – she was going to travel south in the fall and stop running in the snow.
“I really wanted to go somewhere warmer, where’s it’s sunny pretty much all year around,” Breves said. “The snow isn’t much fun so I looked at a lot of southern schools. When I came down to USC for my visit and met the team, the whole atmosphere seemed like a perfect fit for me.”
Now in the middle of her final season at South Carolina, Breves has certainly proven to be a valuable member of the cross country team. As a freshman in 2003, she ran in top four in almost all of USC’s meets, highlighted by a 16th place finish at the USC Invitational before setting a new personal record time of 19:28 at the Clemson Invitational. She then started the 2004 season strong before missing the second half of the season due to illness. In 2005, Breves returned to form and set a new PR of 19:14 at the Auburn Invitational.
As one of three seniors on the 2006 team, Breves has continued to improve in each race, doing her best to set an example for a team 16 freshmen and sophomores out of 21 members. She set a new PR at last weekend’s Auburn Invitational, running in 18:46 to place under 19 minutes for the first time this season.
“You feel like the younger girls look up to you the most because you’ve been there the longest,” Breves said. “You feel like you’re obligated to do well and have more expectations placed upon you. That’s a good thing though because it can get you to work harder and perform better.”
Coach Stan Rosenthal has noticed Breves’s increased commitment to the team, naming her a co-captain with other veterans Karen Wigal and Rebecca Chain. Rosenthal’s appointment came following track season when Breves had her best performances of her career, running 10:15 for 3K and 18:22 for 5K. Having tri-captains gives them a chance to reach out to the many members of the young but deep team.
“It’s good being a leader,” Breves said. “I like that we have all three of us – me, Karen and Rebecca – because we’re all on the same page of things, but we can bring different things to the table in terms of leading the team. We have a bunch of young girls so we can help them along and tell them what to expect in races. Everyone is focused this year and we have a really good group of hard working girls. Hopefully that comes because of leadership.”
As an exercise major preparing to graduate in May, Breves can also tell the others what to expect in the classroom. The team boasts five exercise science majors, a program that USC is ranked highly nationally. Breves plans to go into personal training after graduating before eventually making a decision on returning for graduate school. Despite studying in a time-consuming major, Breves has been able to appreciate her time at USC both socially and athletically.
“(The three years) have gone really fast,” Breves said. “It goes faster every year. That’s kind of sad because I don’t want to leave my teammates and the whole experience. There have been a lot of ups and downs. In the beginning I wasn’t running as well as I would have liked to coming out of high school, but I turned the corner last year and trained hard and worked hard.”
Her hard work last year was capped when she ran No. 3 at the SEC Championships, which was held in Columbia. Despite not winning the championship, the girls were proud of the rare occasion to be able to race in front of a home crowd, a reason that Breves named it her favorite race since coming to South Carolina.
“My mom was able to come down for it and it was here at USC,” Breves explained in naming her choice. “It was exciting that we hosted it. Our whole track team was there cheering for us and my mom came down, so I had a really good race there. That was kind of the peak of my season last year. That’s probably my favorite cross country memory.”
Only three races remain in the cross country season, but it’s not the racing that Breves will miss the most.
“What I’ll miss most is my friends and the friendships I’ve made on the team and outside the team,” Breves said. “But specifically on the team, we know each other so well and everyday we get together and work hard together. Outside of practice we talk together. It’s that bond that you have with your teammates that I think I’m going to miss the most about being at Carolina.”
