In eighth grade, Nicole Feest had never run a school-sponsored race.
Feest was a student assistant to the track coach. It was her job to sign the members of the track team up for the events they would be competing in at each meet.
Each event needed a certain number of people to participate. Sometimes she had to just sign people up because they needed someone to run a certain event. Feest says the mile was the event no one wanted to run.
So she figured she’d give it a try. After all, how hard could it be?
In her first race, she finished sixth in the conference for the mile and received a ribbon.
“I remember I hated it, but I just wanted a ribbon,” Feest said.
These days, Feest is a runner by nature.
“It’s a passion,” Feest said.

Feest has made a name for herself in her freshman season at Oregon. At the first meet of her collegiate career, she earned a spot on the Ducks’ traveling squad and ran in the Sept. 28 Roy Griak Invitational. Feest placed 83rd overall and fifth for the Ducks, scoring in her first college meet.
“She has a ways to go to be a major contributor, but making our traveling group was the first step,” women’s cross country head coach Tom Heinonen said.
Feest has run four meets for Oregon this season, including the Griak. She traveled to Salem on Oct. 5 for the Willamette Invitational, where she scored as the third-place runner for the Ducks and was 26th overall.
Feest joined six upperclassmen in Terre Haute, Ind., for the Oct. 19 Pre-National meet. Feest placed 219th overall and seventh for the Ducks in a challenging meet.
In one more warm-up before Saturday’s Pacific-10 Conference Championship, Feest led a “B” team to victory at the Oregon State-hosted Beaver Classic in Corvallis. Feest won the individual title in the 4,000-meter race.
“Nicole is one of the hardest working people and the most focused,” said Jack Brady, Feest’s track coach at Glenbard East High School in Lombard, Ill.
Feest prides herself on being independent, and says she has a definite competitive nature.

“She’s eager and aggressive and wants to be really good,” Heinonen said.
The 19-year-old participated in cross country and track throughout her four years of high school. She received a letter in the mail from Glenbard’s cross country coach, Marty Donnelly, which said he had heard about her prior running results and that she should think about going out for Glenbard’s cross country team.
Donnelly and Brady were Feest’s two running coaches at Glenbard, and her first running coaches ever.
“They were very, very different. I took what I learned from both of them and I grasped a lot of concepts,” Feest said.
Feest finished fourth in her senior year at the Illinois 2A cross country meet, and her team took fifth.
Feest said her best cross country memory was when her team made the state championships her sophomore year. The team had never gone to state in the school’s history.
Brady recalled a specific event that showed Feest’s determination.
Her senior year, Feest was hurt for the state meet and Brady thought she shouldn’t run. She wasn’t going to stop, though, and even ran in the fast heat of the race.
“She is probably the most talented female through here,” Brady said.
Not only is Feest talented, but she also thinks things through.
“I took a big risk to come here because I knew, even though I’m walking on the team, that I was going to be good, I was going to be coached by an amazing coach and I was going to get a good education,” Feest said. “A lot of female athletes, particularly, when they pick their school, they tend to pick the school that has the better offer or better deal. It’s sad to know that they don’t necessarily look at what you will become in the long run.
“It’s tempting, when people are offering you money to go to their school, but what if you can’t run anymore? What if you get hurt? You’re stuck at this school you don’t like.”
When Feest looked at colleges, she made running a priority on her list, but also wanted a “well-rounded” school.
“I don’t have time to be homesick; I have a lot going on,” Feest said.
She has many goals for herself and her running future, “but some of them are on hold.
“I’d like to be an All-American. For now, I’m enjoying Tom’s last year, and having the opportunity to be coached by him,” Feest said.
She says the team has very diverse personalities, and everyone is supportive of each other. Feest is excited about the team and about traveling. When the Ducks travel to the Midwest for meets, her family comes out and supports her and the team.
Feest says college running is harder but more fun. She is determined to make a place for herself in the Oregon program.
“A lot of people think I’m dumb for coming down here,” Feest said.
“I have to prove people wrong.”