EUGENE, Ore. -- It was quite a comeback for Nikki Hiltz to finish second in the women's 1,500 meters Saturday in the NCAA Track and Field Outdoors Championships at Hayward Field.
"It's hard to get second, but I'm definitely more happy than second," she said. "I would say second place feels like first with the season I've had."
Unable to run her normal workouts for the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville even now, Hiltz spent most of her season working with doctors and trainers to heal her right knee from a series of problems.
"A month ago, if you would have asked me about NCAAs, I would have said, 'Yeah, I'm gonna go watch,' " Hiltz joked with reporters.