Quite the run: Nell Graham leaving lasting impression with Bison track

Uncertainty turned to certainty. And then some.

She has her degree and is heading to graduate school at the University of Nebraska in speech language pathology. There’s an underlying reason: Both her mother and sister have hearing loss and she wants to help people like them.

“I’ve seen how it affects them,” she said. “Just seeing first hand how their communication is affected and communication is such a big thing for me. I love to talk and get to know people.”

Graham is not shy. As a guest on Dom Izzo’s “Hot Mic” TV show recently, she was one of the more personable guests Izzo had this year and it’s that kind of attitude that is part of this journey. On the track, she's always talking to competitors or meet officials.

She remembers as a freshman of having a goal of breaking 57 seconds in the 400 meters. This spring, she set the school record turning in a 52.57 at the Brian Clay Invitational in Azusa, California.

“Now to be running the times that I run, I never thought it was imaginable,” Graham said.

How does NDSU track and field keep taking athletes who perhaps aren’t the highest recruiting Division I runners and turn them into record setters? Graham said it starts from within.

“We focus on the human being that we are first,” she said. “My teammates are all my best friends and we hang out outside of track, which I think is really special. We genuinely go out there and compete with each other and for each other. There’s strength in the herd.”

Plus, there’s certainly the coaching element.

“I can only do so much, I go out there and work hard every day,” Graham said. “But the work they put into me and our trainers are awesome.”

What the coaches and trainers got in Graham was an all-around athlete who did it all at Triton High School in the small southeastern Minnesota town of Dodge Center. She played softball, basketball and volleyball in addition to track and field.

“When we look back, it wasn’t like, OK, she has to be a Division I athlete or anything like that,” said Kory Graham, her mother. “A couple schools reached out to her. I think we were kind of like deer in the headlights and after that it was like, wow, OK, she can do this. I never, by far, expected to see the success that she’s had.”

The Grahams moved from Dodge Center to Knoxville, Tennessee, not long after Nell committed to NDSU. They’ve been all over the map watching her, including seeing her record-breaking run in California.

On that note, Nell is all over the record book at NDSU. Besides the 400, she’s in the Top 10 on the school outdoor performance list in the 200 meters (seventh), 400 hurdles (seventh), 800 relay (third) and heptathlon (sixth).

“Nell came in as a development kid out of high school, small town Minnesota kid,” said Bison head coach Stevie Keller. “The type of kids we really like to get here at NDSU. I think she surprised herself a little bit, too.”

She followed the school record with a victory in the 400 two weeks ago at the prestigious Drake Relays. It came almost a year after winning the Summit League 400 title, which Kory said was emotional for her and her husband, David.

The 400 was the race she never won in high school, taking second in the Minnesota state meet.

“That was hard for her,” Kory said. “She always pushed herself. Now to see the legacy that NDSU has and she’s on those boards, it’s been so amazing — the coaching, the teammates, just all of that has been really special.”

Kory still has text messages from high school when Nell broke 1 minute in the 400 meters. She’ll end her career competing in five Summit Indoor Championships because of the COVID-19 pandemic and this weekend’s Summit Championships at the University of St. Thomas’ O’Shaughnessy Stadium in St. Paul will be her fourth league outdoor meet.

“It’s kind of bittersweet competing for the last time with the entire team,” Graham said.

NDSU will be shooting for its 15th title in 16 years. There are the usual “lasts” when it comes to the team this month, like the last weight training session last week. One of Graham’s teammates got emotional, which got her emotional.

After the Summit, it’s the West Regional and perhaps the Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Whenever that last race is, she seems content that it’s time to move on.

“I think it’s my time to be done,” Graham said. “I don’t think I would find the same joy in track if I wasn’t a part of this team.”