Nukuri's like a broken record
Jeff Pawola - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 4/22/08 Section: Sports
Another race, another record. It's like clockwork for Hawkeye senior distance runner Diane Nukuri, who over the weekend broke her seventh school record.
She tackled the 3,000 meters by finishing more than 44 seconds ahead of the entire field at the Iowa Invitational, with a time of 9:18.82.
Nukuri beat the previous mark set by Penny O'Brien in 1985 by 1.79 seconds.
"Obviously, this year is the only chance I have," said Nukuri, who will graduate in May. "But honestly, I was just trying to go out and compete."
The 3,000 meters was her second-consecutive race in which she broke a school record - the first came at the Stanford Invitational on April 4 in the 10,000 meters. Nukuri considers the 10,000 to be the most meaningful record that she owns, even considering the four records she holds in cross-country - the 3,000- , 4,000-, 5,000- and 6,000-meter marks.
"I like them both but the 10K was my first race," said Nukuri. "That one is more meaningful because I wasn't even at 100 percent and because I tried to get it last year."
Nukuri's time of 33:17.01 in the 10,000 meters only cracks the surface of what she could potentially run at the NCAA championships in June. Both she and head coach Layne Anderson are confident that she'll be able to improve upon her record-setting times.
"Everything we've done to this point is geared to running the 10K at Des Moines [the site of the NCAA championships]," Anderson said. "She could challenge her own records, and she is capable of breaking the 10K again."
Nukuri has already automatically qualified for the 10,000-meter event at the NCAAs, where she will get another chance to break her own record.
Before that personal test, however, she wants to claim one more record - the 5,000-meter outdoor track record. The current record is 15:45.84, set by Nan Doak in 1985.
Her best opportunity will be at the Big Ten championships on May 17. If she does crack the 5,000 meter mark, she will own every cross-country and outdoor track record higher than 3,000 meters, excluding the steeplechase and marathon.
Despite all of her memorable performances, Anderson feels that her strongest showing remains the 2007 NCAA cross-country championships.
"They're all special, but I think that her greatest performance is her fourth-place finish at the NCAA cross-country meet," he said.
Nukuri's performance at that event is the highest individual performance under Anderson and helped the team finish 10th overall.
At this point in the stellar season, one thing is becoming increasingly clear for the Hawkeyes - records are meant to be broken, and Nukuri was meant to break all of Iowa's.
"She was born to be a distance runner," Anderson said.
E-mail DI reporter Jeff Pawola at:
jeffrey-pawola@uiowa.edu
She tackled the 3,000 meters by finishing more than 44 seconds ahead of the entire field at the Iowa Invitational, with a time of 9:18.82.
Nukuri beat the previous mark set by Penny O'Brien in 1985 by 1.79 seconds.
"Obviously, this year is the only chance I have," said Nukuri, who will graduate in May. "But honestly, I was just trying to go out and compete."
The 3,000 meters was her second-consecutive race in which she broke a school record - the first came at the Stanford Invitational on April 4 in the 10,000 meters. Nukuri considers the 10,000 to be the most meaningful record that she owns, even considering the four records she holds in cross-country - the 3,000- , 4,000-, 5,000- and 6,000-meter marks.
"I like them both but the 10K was my first race," said Nukuri. "That one is more meaningful because I wasn't even at 100 percent and because I tried to get it last year."
Nukuri's time of 33:17.01 in the 10,000 meters only cracks the surface of what she could potentially run at the NCAA championships in June. Both she and head coach Layne Anderson are confident that she'll be able to improve upon her record-setting times.
"Everything we've done to this point is geared to running the 10K at Des Moines [the site of the NCAA championships]," Anderson said. "She could challenge her own records, and she is capable of breaking the 10K again."
Nukuri has already automatically qualified for the 10,000-meter event at the NCAAs, where she will get another chance to break her own record.
Before that personal test, however, she wants to claim one more record - the 5,000-meter outdoor track record. The current record is 15:45.84, set by Nan Doak in 1985.
Her best opportunity will be at the Big Ten championships on May 17. If she does crack the 5,000 meter mark, she will own every cross-country and outdoor track record higher than 3,000 meters, excluding the steeplechase and marathon.
Despite all of her memorable performances, Anderson feels that her strongest showing remains the 2007 NCAA cross-country championships.
"They're all special, but I think that her greatest performance is her fourth-place finish at the NCAA cross-country meet," he said.
Nukuri's performance at that event is the highest individual performance under Anderson and helped the team finish 10th overall.
At this point in the stellar season, one thing is becoming increasingly clear for the Hawkeyes - records are meant to be broken, and Nukuri was meant to break all of Iowa's.
"She was born to be a distance runner," Anderson said.
E-mail DI reporter Jeff Pawola at:
jeffrey-pawola@uiowa.edu
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