For the past year, Christina Nicholas has tried to overcome the severe pain that shoots from her hip and feet. Sometimes, the talented McNair Academic junior distance runner is able to deal with the pain. Others, the pain is almost crippling.
“It’s been extremely frustrating,” Nicholas said. “I try so hard to just feel good. Sometimes, my running times are as good as last year and then others, they just totally drop. It’s all because I’m in so much pain.”
An athletic trainer told Nicholas that she’s more than likely suffering from a hip flexor injury. But Nicholas has yet to see an orthopedic doctor regarding the injury.
“For now, I’m trying to run through the pain,” Nicholas said. “But sometimes, it’s extremely hard to do that.”
Veteran McNair Academic coach Matt Hogan understands Nicholas’ plight.
“She can run a race, then she misses a race,” Hogan said. “Christina comes to practice every day, but sometimes, she just can’t go, so it’s limited what she’s been able to do. And she’s been dealing with it for quite a while now. It’s pretty frustrating, because I’d like to see what she could do if she was healthy.”
Nicholas had solid cross country season as a sophomore, winning the HCIAA title while finishing second in the Hudson County Track Coaches Association championships.
But the injury started to slow Nicholas’ progress.
“I always thought she had good potential,” Hogan said. “She has a lot of talent. I was just waiting for her to see what she could do.”
Last Saturday, the Cougars headed to the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group I championships in Warinaco Park in Elizabeth. Hogan had no idea what he was going to get from Nicholas. He was already going to be without current HCTCA champion Hira Mahmood, who had to miss the event in order to take the SAT. The Cougars’ hopes rested on the shoulders of Nicholas.
“I felt like I could do it,” Nicholas said. “I have a motivation for every race that I can do it. I just try to put everything else out of my mind. I have seen others who can run through the pain and if they could do it, then so could I. I felt good. I think it helped that it was a little cold out. I had faith in myself.”
“We figured that Christina could run with the top pack and if she could hang in there, maybe she could win it,” Hogan said.
So for the first two-plus miles of the 3.1-mile race, Nicholas was right with the leaders, going stride for stride. The pain had subsided for the time being. There was a race to be won.
“She waited to make her move and then she broke it open and kept the distance,” Hogan said.
Nicholas came home in 21:17, eight seconds ahead of closest competitor Kiera Keller of Whippany Park.
She had overcome the odds, overcome the pain and anguish and earned a state sectional championship, becoming the first McNair Academic girl cross country competitor to win a sectional crown since Quianna Smith in 2005.
For her efforts, Nicholas has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week. She is the first female recipient of the weekly honor in the 2009-2010 scholastic sports season.
“I know it had to be frustrating for her to never be able to finish a race,” Hogan said. “Hopefully, this will propel her and she’ll be able to make it a priority. She was very happy. I’ve been telling her for a while that if she dedicated herself enough, she could really have a good college career. She just needs to get healthy and stay healthy.”
Nicholas also runs the mile and two-mile events during the indoor and outdoor seasons. She’s had some success there as well, but never won a state sectional title before.
“I have always just wanted to do something, to prove that I can be a good runner,” Nicholas said. “Last year, I won the [Jersey] City, won the HCIAA and was second in the county, but this year, I was doing nothing. It was really getting to me. I felt that the sectional was my chance to get back up there and prove that I am a good runner.”
Nicholas was asked if it had hit her that she was the school’s first state sectional cross country champ in four years.
“It kind of didn’t click in until now,” Nicholas said. “Now, it feels really good. It is a great accomplishment. The season was pretty rough, but now, it’s turned out to be alright.”
And what does the future hold?
“My intentions were always to run in college,” Nicholas said. “I just have to get healthy.”
So perhaps the visit to the doctor to permanently treat the injury is in order?
“I guess that would be the best thing to do,” Nicholas said. “For now, I have this state sectional championship and that’s great. I just have to pull through it. A lot of it is mental. I just have to put all the bad times behind me and just run.”
Those words just might be music to the ears of her coach. — Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.