Like many high school runners, Nicole (Nikki) Kroon has dealt with her share of injuries to her legs. During the end of her freshman indoor track season, she suffered a stress fracture in her left femur, and the pain was so severe that it was difficult for her to even walk.
The injury kept coming back, forcing her to miss almost her entire cross country season as a sophomore.
After taking months off at different times, she had to go through extensive physical therapy and strength training to get completely healthy again. Now a year later with some training and competitive races under her belt — including a fantastic cross country season this past fall — she’s making the most of it.
On Saturday, the North Andover High junior broke an 11-year school record in the two-mile by taking 10th overall at the MSTCA Coaches Invitational Meet held at the Reggie Lewis Center. She came across the finish line with a time of 11:31.94, which was significantly better than Danielle Voke’s 2013 time of 11:33.63.
“Going into the race my goal was just to beat my previous personal record of 11:38, but I didn’t expect to beat the school record,” said Kroon. “Looking at the lineup, I saw it was a fast group of girls running so I knew I’d really have to push myself, and with the end of the season coming up soon I was really hoping to get a personal record. The two-mile has always been my favorite track race so it made me super excited to break the school record. I’ve been training really hard and the support from my coaches and teammates has really helped me to succeed.”
Head coach Rick DelleChiaie said that he knew all along that Kroon had the potential to break the record.
“Nicole has been coming on lately and it was just a matter of time before she got the record,” he said. “She has had a long road back from injury and began showing signs of her old self at the cross country league meet this fall. I am thrilled for Nicole. She is most deserving of this accomplishment.”
During the fall, Kroon started to feel healthy at the start of the cross country season and she flourished especially when it counted. She helped lead the Scarlet Knights to an undefeated season, league championship and league championship meet title, including finishing fourth with a time of 20:26 and then she was 23rd at the Division 1B Meet.
That success and health has carried over and she said looking back, all of that physical therapy and strength training she endured has been worth it.
“Having to work so hard just to get back to being able to compete has made me even more determined to succeed this year,” she said. “It has made me appreciate how hard the sport is, as well as how lucky I am to have been able to get to where I am now.”
Twitter: @JamiePote