Nelson struck gold in the 5,000-meter run at the 2012 Great Dane Classic and surged atop the NEC leader board in the process. The veteran distance runner raced to victory in 17:27.30, coming in well under the qualifying standard for the ECAC Championships in March. The 5K time gives her more than a 4.0-second cushion over Sacred Heart’s Brittney Lane on the league’s performance list. Nelson has NEC top-three times in two distance events with her seasonal best 3K mark from the Army 6-Way Meet sitting third overall.