Nicole Court-Menendez

GULF SHORES, Ala. For the third consecutive season, junior Nicole Court-Menendez made her way to the NAIA Outdoor National Championships to compete in the 5,000-meter race walk for the Dakota Wesleyan University track and field team.

In her first two years as a Tiger, the Lewiston, Maine native, found a way on the podium four times. She placed eighth in the women s race walk at the NAIA indoor and outdoor national meets in her freshman and sophomore seasons.

Nicole is a tough competitor and she hung in there with the best in the nation today,” first-year DWU Coach Derik Fossum said. I m proud of what she has accomplished so far in her career and I m really excited to see what she will do in her senior season.”

After taking ninth at the indoor championships earlier this year, Court-Menendez raced her way to a 10^th-place showing at the outdoor nationals Friday at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Gulf Shores, Ala. The finish was two spots shy of returning to the podium and another All-American finish.

She finished the race in 27 minutes, 23.28 seconds, which despite a lower finish, was better than her time at the national meet last year. Court-Menendez is the DWU school record holder in the race walk events.