BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — It was a meeting that suggested a single-item agenda, but nothing could have been further from the truth.
Jill Miller, the Wisconsin women's cross country coach, had set aside an hour that Tuesday in early October to talk with junior Alicia Monson, who was fresh off the most dramatic moment of her distance running career.
Four days earlier, Monson startled a powerhouse-laden field to win the women's side of the prestigious Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational.
Racing against the likes of defending NCAA cross country champion Ednah Kurgat of New Mexico, national steeplechase titlist Allie Ostrander of Boise State and NCAA mile runner-up Dani Jones of Colorado, Monson not only prevailed, she set a Thomas Zimmer Championship Course record for 6000 meters at 19 minutes, 33.3 seconds.
This is the same Monson who had finished 96th in the NCAA cross country meet as a freshman in 2016 and 139th as a sophomore last year.
In other words, few envisioned Monson standing atop the awards podium.
So it would have been reasonable to assume that Monson would want to revisit her breakout moment with her coach. She did, but not the way you'd expect.
Miller said she discussed the Nuttycombe triumph with Monson for "maybe 10 minutes" before Monson nudged the discussion toward a topic that dominated the remainder of the meeting.
"She wanted to know how she could make the team better," Miller said.
When Miller was recruiting Monson out of Amery (Wisconsin) High School she said she believed Monson — a WIAA state champion in cross country as well as the 1600 and 3200 in track — had great potential despite suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee playing basketball.
But that's not what sold Miller on Monson, who also had offers from Minnesota and Iowa State.
"Impressive intangibles," Miller said.
According to Miller, Monson doesn't walk around the cross country offices at Kellner Hall, the locker room area or training runs as she happily bounces around.
"She makes it easy," Miller said. "She has a great head on her shoulders."
Monson smiled and gave a verbal shrug when asked about the tone of the meeting.
"Personally I like to direct conversation away from myself just because of the way I am," she said.
"I think it's important to recognize that it's not just how one individual performs. Each member of the team is building each other up."
Monson said she draws as much strength from teammates laboring outside the top seven as those in it.
"Every workout, you're not just doing by yourself, you're pulling through other team members and they're pulling you through, so it's really important to have good chemistry," she said. "At the end of the day, you're competing with each other and for each other.
"Supporting each other just brings about an entirely different aspect of recovery just knowing you've got people behind you."
Monson may be reluctant to seek out the spotlight, but she's not running away from it, either.
Thanks to subsequent individual titles in the Big Ten Conference meet and the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, coupled with the fact the Badgers are hosting the national meet, Monson knows she'll have a lot of eyes following her every move.
"It's definitely different," she said of the pre-meet attention, "seeing what people say about me — expectations that they have of me — but knowing what they say is not necessarily what I feel of myself. Knowing that I can perform is really what matters. I know that's true of me and true of our team."
Monson is vying to become the fourth Wisconsin runner to win a NCAA women's cross country title, joining Cathy Branta-Easker (1984), Kathy Butler (1995) and Erica Palmer (1999). Like Monson, Branta-Easker is a state product (Slinger).
"Ultimately that's what I'm going for," Monson said of victory. "It would be amazing to get a national title in Wisconsin — where I'm from — for our team."
Monson's emergence had come in gradual phases. She had to get her fitness and confidence back after her knee injury, which required surgery. Doing so gave her incentive.
"It made me appreciate running," she said.
Monson proceeded to build a solid training foundation only to have it interrupted last cross country season by nagging injuries and a low iron reading — since corrected — that depleted her stamina.
Monson, a nutritional sciences major, enjoyed more consistent training during the indoor and outdoor track seasons and qualified for the NCAA meets in the 5000 meters. She finished 13th and 18th, respectively.
That gave way to a summer of robust training during which Monson, challenged by Miller to up her game, really began to feel good about herself.
"Last year was a big growing year for me," she said, noting that that the quality of her summer mileage "boosted my confidence that I was at a different level, that I could compete with girls at a different level."
Confirmation of that came at the Nuttycombe Invitational, which featured 15 ranked teams.
"Jill told me to go for it," Monson said. "I didn't know what I could do. I just stuck myself in there and it turned out well."
Is any of this a surprise?
"It is in that, seeing myself two years ago, I was definitely not in the same place," Monson said. "I wouldn't have thought that I could compete against top girls in the country."
Monson said her greatest strength is her ambition.
"My ambition for myself and my team is to do greater things," she said. "I expect a lot of myself, but I also expect a lot from my team."
