(Photo courtesy of Arkansas Athletics)
Nikki Hiltz waited… and waited… and waited… and then she waited some more.
Running in the 1,500-meters for the University of Arkansas at the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the Aptos High alumna had to wait for the perfect moment to use her well-known kick, which led her to a California Interscholastic Federation State Championship in 2012.
Two hundred meters to go was much too early. One hundred and fifty might have been pushing it. But 100 meters, felt just right.
“I waited for the right time,” said Hiltz, who out-kicked the field to win the SEC 1,500 title on March 13. “I had to be patient.”
Being patient has been Hiltz’s motto over the last handful of years.
Since bursting onto the scene as a high school junior by winning the CIF title in the 1,600, Hiltz has hit bump after bump along the road. She broke her right foot during her senior year at Aptos, broke a bone in her left foot during her freshman season at Oregon and then went through a somewhat messy transfer before last season, leaving behind the Ducks to become a Razorback.
But now, at full health and with a renewed focus, Hiltz is back to normal. Err…check that. She’s actually never been better.
The redshirt junior will enter today’s NCAA West Preliminary Round at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas with the sixth fastest 1,500 time among Division I runners. The first round of the 1,500 is set for 3:30 p.m. and the quarterfinals, which will determine the regional qualifiers for June’s NCAA D-I Outdoor National Championships, will take place on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Hiltz is among the top runners in the nation once again heading into the final stretch of her season and, she said, it’s all because of her patience.
“Finally getting two or three years where I’ve been healthy, I think that’s been the difference because I haven’t made any big changes to my training,” Hiltz said. “I’ve just worked hard and the times have come from that.”
One of the most decorated runners to come from Santa Cruz County and the greater Central Coast Section, Hiltz had it all come together earlier this season when she ran the fastest 1,500 (4:12.71) of any Division I runner at the time at the Bryan Clay Invite in Azusa on April 13.
She’s trimmed a few tenths of a second from her personal best in the event since then, winning at the Payton Jordan Invitational in Stanford earlier this month with a time of 4:12.09.
Hiltz, who took sixth in the mile at the NCAA D-I Indoor Championships earlier this season, said her success has been somewhat surprising and it’s also been a huge boost of confidence after having an up-and-down season last year.
“I think I’ve always had these fast times in me but finally doing it was big for me,” Hiltz said.
It was that potential which landed Hiltz a scholarship from Oregon — she committed to the Ducks during her junior year. Her broken left foot forced her to redshirt during her first year in Eugene but she returned the following season and advanced to the 1,500 final at the NCAA D-I Outdoor National Championships.
But that, according to The Oregonian, was not enough for Oregon head coach Robert Johnson to increase the amount of her scholarship, which was reduced after she redshirted. She transferred soon after the end of the season.
She said she never got to showcase her full talent with the Ducks because of the injuries. She also said there’s no beef with Johnson or the Oregon program. She’s happy as a hog.
“It was frustrating,” Hiltz said. “It was definitely hard to have back-to-back years with injuries but it was all about patience… And I think that experience was ultimately good for me. I grew a lot as a runner and as a person. I found myself.”
Longtime Aptos head coach Dan Gruber said that this is what he expected out of Hiltz despite the injury problems. In fact, he said that there was no real doubt in his mind that his former star pupil would not only return to the track but be her old dominant self once she did.
“People forget what she did when she was a senior,” Gruber said, harkening back to 2013 when Hiltz returned from injury to finish top three at the CIF State Meet in the 1,600 and 800. “She was in a boot until December and somehow was still only a half second away from winning the state title in June. That was with no base. I still don’t know how she did it… She’s a stud. She looks like it. She races like it. She has that mentality to go out and be dominant. Now more than ever.”
Gruber said his conversations with Hiltz over text or the occasional phone call have changed in the past year. Hiltz — known for being goofy and lighthearted while running for the Mariners with her lucky mismatched socks — has been all business this season.
“It’s what I felt she could do,” the coach said. “It’s not so much the times but it’s her mentality and methods. She’s become a real student of the game. Before she would say, ‘I think I want to make nationals and see how I do.’ Now she’s going after it. She’s really focused and you can see it.”
OTHER LOCALS
• Brianna Cueva, Cal State Northridge (Watsonville) — Watsonville High alumna Brianna Cueva, now a senior for Cal State Northridge, will compete for a spot in the NCAA D-I Track and Field Championships at today’s West Regional in the discus and shot put.
Cueva, a CIF State Meet qualifier while at Watsonville, is the No. 8 seed in the discus and No. 17 seed in the shot put.
Last week, the former Wildcat won a Big West Conference title in both events. Her victories helped the Matadors win the team title.
