Poole representing Northwest at Division II National Meet

An All-American in track, Northwest Missouri State senior Brittany Poole has a chance to add to her distance running legacy Saturday at the Division II Cross Country Championships in Joplin.

Poole, who qualified individually out of the Central Region with an eighth place finish, needs to finish in the top 40 at nationals in order to be an All-American.

Northwest head coach Scott Lorek likes her chances of pulling it off.

"I'm just counting on she's going to beat a lot of other people out of these other regions," said Lorek. "I think she's going to run a lot faster than she did at the region meet. To be an All-American, I think she can do that."

Poole spent the past week in a walking boot to help rest her injured foot and is ready to attack a course she ran a career-best time on two weeks ago of 21:24.1.

She brings with her a pedigree of success in national meets after finishing sixth in the 3000M Steeplechase at the Division II Track Championships in Colorado last spring.

That performance helped elevate Poole's confidence heading into her final cross country season.

"Once you hit that kind of level, the expectations for being at that level again gets a lot easier," said Lorek. "A lot more believable. She would always say I'm not a very good cross country runner. I think the whole idea that she's just one of the better runners period has made a big difference this year."

It's taken until late in her career for Poole to realize her distance running potential.

Injuries and an overall lack of drive caused Poole to fly under the radar during most of her first three seasons at Northwest.

"She's just changed so much in her intensity in her desire and her goals," said Lorek. "It's night and day like it is with a lot of freshman. I knew she could be pretty good, but I was never thinking she would be an NCAA qualifier and an All-American. None of those things. She has made tremendous progress and you can see it in her PR's. Part of it was really learning how to train and staying healthy."

An All-MIAA finisher this year as well, Poole is the first men's or women's runner from Northwest to qualify for the national meet since 1997.

The women's race is scheduled for 11:30 a.m, and Poole will be among a field of over 200 runners.

"Everyone's goal is to get to the national meet in cross country," said Lorek. "We've had very good teams, but never good enough to get there. Our goal is still to get a team there, but this is a good thing for the whole team."