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JUNE 2021 21 track coaches hoping for an opportunity to do both. One of those was Virginia. "I told them I wanted to do this nurs- ing program and I wasn't budging on it," Meyer said. "They were like, 'Yep, that is fine with us. We want to make your dreams come true.' Not every coach wanted me to do nursing, so it was very refreshing when I talked to them." After enrolling in UVA's clinical nurse leader program — ranked the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report — Meyer was ready to focus on running. She competed for UVA during last fall's cross country season and then sat out the indoor track campaign, for which she had no eligi- bility remaining. When the outdoor season started in March, she won both the 800 and 1,500 at the UVA Opener Meet. A week later at NC State's Raleigh Relays, she set her first school record in the 800 meters with a time of 2:02.20. That broke a Cavalier record that had stood for 35 years and met the standard to participate in the U.S. Olympic Trials. Meyer won the 1,500-meter title — the first for a UVA woman in that event since Claire Forbes in 1991 — with a school-re- cord time of 4:09.78 at the ACC Champion- ships. She also was third in the 800 meters, also setting a new UVA record (2:01.52) during the race. Meyer noted the relationships she has developed with Lananna and assistant coach Nicole Freitag, who ran for Lananna at Or- egon, have had a significant impact on her improvement. "Talking to [Lananna], with all of his knowledge, I just knew that he understood I wanted to run even faster and he could get me there," Meyer said. "As a graduate student, it is harder because sometimes it takes a little bit for the coach to understand what you're doing and there is going to be a transition. But Vin just knew how to make me fast and I trusted him." Trusting the process and her coaches is just part of her success. Meyer added that as an older runner she has to focus on the little things — sleep, stretching, nutrition — which have also con- tributed to her record-setting performances. "It's just being really intentional about every single thing I do and just having a championship mindset of always wanting to run fast," she said. Meyer has also worked to develop a clos- ing kick that allows her to pull away from her competitors at the end of races this year. Her goal is to race for a national title in mid-June in Eugene, Ore., at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2020, becoming the first Delaware women's run- ner to do so, but the pandemic shut down the meet the day before it was scheduled to start. "Because that opportunity was taken away from me so abruptly last year, I want nothing more than to toe up to the line at nationals and be able to hear the gun go off and contend for a national championship," Meyer said. "I'm excited and I want that opportunity. "Just as I've grown as a runner, and I've gained more skill and confidence, I just feel like this is the most fun thing to do. So I think that I was just born to run fast." And as it turns out, Virginia was the per- fect place for her to do it. "She's run fast times, but she did it at a mid-major school. All of a sudden, she's in the Power Five. There's a certain amount of excitement that goes along with that, and she's capitalized on it." UVA HEAD COACH VIN LANANNA ON MEYER Meyer is pursing her master's in nursing and is enrolled in UVA's clinical nurse leader program, which is ranked the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. PHOTO COURTESY UVA