Abby Nichols, a graduate student-athlete at Colorado and NCAA Division 1 cross country All-American following an 18th-place finish March 15 in Stillwater, Okla., joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss her victory Oct. 15 in the women's garnet 6-kilometer race in 19:46.4 at the Pre-Nationals as part of the Florida State Invitational at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee. Nichols also led six Colorado athletes in the top 30 to help the Buffaloes prevail by a 54-149 margin over Utah. She revisits her improvement since she competed Feb. 5 at the Florida State Winter Classic, covering the 6-kilometer layout 20:52.7. Nichols also examines her ability to move from 40th at the opening split into the top five at the 5-kilometer mark and her ability to surge past Lauren Gregory of Arkansas in the final straightaway to secure the victory and lead five athletes to sub-20 performances. She expresses gratitude for being able to run with teammate Emily Covert throughout the race and how encouraged Nichols was about the performances of the entire Buffaloes lineup. Nichols analyzes how much the arrival of India Johnson, an All-American at Michigan State, has bolstered the Colorado lineup and provided valuable experience after she helped the Spartans place fourth at the Division 1 championship meet at Oklahoma State. She also explains how much potential Hannah Miniutti has and how the freshman has benefited from being surrounded by veterans like Madison Boreman, Rachel McArthur, Micaela DeGenero, Nichols and Johnson. Nichols reflects on Colorado placing second behind Stanford on March 5 at the Pac-12 Championships, and her optimism surrounding the Buffaloes contending for the team title Oct. 29 at the conference meet at the Regional Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City. She also shares how much experience has been gained from placing eighth at the Pac-12 cross country final, along with runner-up finishes in May in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the conference championship meet at USC, and the aspirations to contend for her first conference crown. Nichols looks forward to racing Nov. 12 at the Mountain Regional in Provo, before returning to Apalachee Regional Park again Nov. 20 for the Division 1 championship meet. She also speaks about her undergraduate degree in speech, language and hearing sciences at Ohio State, along with furthering her education with an emphasis on physical therapy at Colorado.