Committed by Cami Merickel: Track & Field, Nebraska D1 Athletics, Traveling Abroad, & more!

In this episode of Committed, Kate sits down with Nebraska distance runner Cami Merickel to talk about the realities of Division I track and field and building a life beyond your sport. 

From growing up in Arizona to competing at the D1 level, Cami shares how she navigated recruiting without a clear roadmap, adjusted to the demands of college training, and learned to trust her own path as an athlete. 

She opens up about the transition from high school to D1, managing injuries and increased workload, and why track is far more mental and strategic than people think. 

Cami also shares her experience studying abroad in Barcelona while continuing to train at a high level, a rare path for student-athletes, and how that experience ultimately reshaped her career goals and identity beyond running. 

This episode is for athletes learning how to balance performance, personal growth, and life outside of sport. 

Follow Cami:
Instagram: @camimerickel (confirm handle if needed) 

• To reach out or learn more please visit: https://byndsport.com/
• Social Media: @committedbykatefitzgerald
• Substack: @committedbykatefitzgerald
• YouTube: @kateafitzgerald

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

When I'm running, I feel like a lot of people think like, oh, there's just nothing going on. No, I mean, sometimes I'm doing like math. I knew ever since I was a freshman, ever since I really started running, I wanted to run in college. So that was always a dream. I was like anti-5K. I was even though I ran cross-country, I was like, do not put me in a 5K on a track. That is not my thing. A ton of collegiate athletes got recruited because they reached out to their coach. There's nothing a coach likes more than when they see that an athlete is dedicated because that's not something you can really do. There's just so much more to like in so many ways. It really just opens my eyes to budget. So many things.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

But none of that came easy. And trust me. Hi everyone, and welcome to this week's podcast episode. Today we have a very special guest. She is a senior on Nebraska's track and field cross-country team, originally from Phoenix, Arizona, now representing the Corn Huskers. Academically, she is majoring in nutrition and health science with a major in psychology, aiming for a future in sports dietetics. Despite the challenges of COVID-era relocation, she balanced shifting majors, frequent family separation, and the life of a Division I athlete. Significantly, she also completed a study abroad experience, which is very rare for a D1 athlete to do, while maintaining her D1 athletic schedule, a rare and compelling experience for student athletes all over. Please help me welcome Cammy to the home.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Hey guys, I'm Cammy. Like she said, I'm from Arizona. Um, and I'm currently in Nebraska. I've been here for the past four years, um, and I love it.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

So amazing. I'm so excited to have you on today because you have such a unique story. Not only are you an incredible track and field athlete, but you're going into your fifth year at Nebraska and you've had the ability to study abroad. So that's just a really unique experience. Most athletes don't get. What year did you do that?

SPEAKER_00 2:17

I actually did that last year and I did it in the summer. Um, and it was it was kind of an ongoing conversation. I I didn't want to go at first because there was a lot of I was worried about my training schedule. I was worried about, you know, my nutrition. I was worried about so many things. And um I talked to my coach and we kind of had a system. Um, I called him like once a week. We texted all the time, and we used like the garment app. So everything just uploaded to the app and he could see everything I was doing. Um, and the biggest thing is he just trusted me, and I was I'm a very dedicated athlete, so it was easy for him to say, you know, go do your thing, go live your life. And um, it was the most incredible experience of my life.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

So well, that well, that's amazing. And I can't wait to dive into it a little bit deeper as we get into this episode. But first, take me back. Like, what got you into track and what got you started as an athlete?

SPEAKER_00 3:16

So my mom actually ran track for the University of Georgia, and I grew up playing soccer, and I remember I was always begging her, like, please, I want to, please take me to a track meet. You know, I want to be in club track. And she was always a little hesitant because she didn't want to put me in it too young and kind of get me like in that stage where I got to burn out and then I like hated it. Um, but she eventually did take me to a track club, and I started running around eighth grade, seventh, eighth grade for club track. And I was also swimming at the time. I stopped playing soccer. So I was doing swimming and track, and my parents kind of said, you know, let's pick one sport for high school, let's focus on that and you know, go all in. So I picked track, which along came cross country also. So all four years of high school, I ran cross country and track, and I knew ever since I was a freshman, ever since I really started running, I wanted to run in college. So that was always the dream.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

So that's amazing. That's amazing. And so you played soccer for most of your life growing up, and then it was really eighth grade going into high school where you solidified, you know, I want track to be my main sport, it sounds like. Yeah. Yep. And then, but so many people get confused around track. I feel like there's a lot of misconceptions. Like, what um, how did you decide within track and field what you wanted your specialty to be in your events?

SPEAKER_00 4:36

So when I played soccer, my coaches would always say, like, I would be running around just everywhere. I never, I mean, I was not as out of breath as everyone else. I just loved to run the field up and down. And that was kind of when my parents and my even my soccer coaches were like, this, she's a distance runner, you know, you should get her in distance. And I started out running the mile and the 1500, um, which is a shorter distance. Um, and I always said, you know, I'm never running the two mile, that's way too long. It ended up being my favorite race.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

And now, yeah, there's just that's exactly why I left soccer. I was like, I can't run anymore. I need to go. I mean, beach volleyball wasn't much less, but um really, so two miles, you just loved it. Why what what do you feel while you're running two miles?

SPEAKER_00 5:25

Well, I feel like the two mile is so fun for me because you it's one of those races you get into it, and it's not like right from the gun if you don't get a good start, if you don't get out good, you're like toast. You know, you can settle in. There's so much strategy, it's so strategic. Um, and that's kind of what I love about it because you get into a pace, you know, you kind of like sit on some people, you move in a certain place. Like, so it's just it's really fun because it is so strategic.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

Can you tell me more about that? Because I especially for like a young athlete listening, I feel like you hear track and field and then you hear distance track and field, and you're like, okay, you just have to run two miles in like X amount of time. When like you said, there's strategy behind it. So what do you what do you mean?

SPEAKER_00 6:10

So let I'll walk you through like a typical, let me go back to my high school days of me and the two mile. Um, so it's eight laps. Um, and when I mean when I say strategy, it's you you don't want to get out too hard, you don't want to get out too slow, but you want to get out, you know, a good, comfortable pace, but you want to start building every single lap. And then when you hit that middle mark, you want to start cutting down. So you need to be at a place where where you get to the middle mark, you can start going down, but you don't want to be, you know, too exhausted to where you're gonna positive split your race because a perfect race, you know, is the definition of a perfect race in the track world, is a negative split race. So where the first part of the race would be slower than the fast the second part of the race.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

So really okay. So in high school, that's what you started to like learn how to do is navigate that split, essentially.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

Yes. And um, in high school, it's you just have a lot more competitors than you do in club track. So that just comes with a lot of like you learn who, you know, you learn who you're you should be behind, you learn when you should move, you learn, you know, maybe when someone else is gonna make a move early, someone else maybe has a kick, maybe someone is stronger in the middle. So you kind of learn to play off of other people's strengths while kind of focusing on what your own strengths are.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

So you're thinking about a lot while you're running. It's not just like music in your ears and you're running.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

There is so much going on. I mean, it like when I'm running, a lot of people I feel like a lot of people think like, oh, there's just nothing going on. No, I mean, sometimes I'm doing like math. I'm like calculating all my splits. I'm like, okay, I'm at a you know, I'm at a 72. I need to be here for my next one.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Yeah. So it probably makes the run go by a little faster.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

It definitely helps.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

It definitely helps a lot going on than nothing. That's fascinating. So then when did you move away from the two mile out of high school?

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Out of high school. So going into college, we don't run the two mile anymore. It becomes the 3K. And so I started running the 3K, and then we we do them, it's kind of weird. We do the mile indoor and then we do the 1500 outdoor. And then outdoor, there actually is no two mile or three K, which is kind of how I got into the steeple because I loved the two mile, but there was kind of a gap. It was either the 1500 or the 5k. And it's up until last year, I was like anti-5K. I even though I ran across country, I was like, do not put me in a 5k on a track, I'm not doing it. Like that is not my thing. Um, and I actually I ended up running one last year and I ran really well, and I realized it's actually kind of fun. So really no, that's that.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

Can you yeah, can you for those like listening who are probably just getting into track or their parents, you know, are trying to help their kids navigate track, can you just break and explain what you said a little more right there into like what it all means?

SPEAKER_00 9:03

Yeah, so college and high school are the distances are a tiny bit different, which don't ask me why, it's just it's weird like how it is, but yeah, yeah. So college we run a 3k, which is 200 meters short of the two mile, which is what you run in high school, and then we do the mile, but only outdoor because indoor we run on 200 meter tracks. And um actually, no, we do the mile indoor because we run on 200 meter tracks. Outdoor run the 1500 on a full 400 meter track. Um so it it does kind of get confusing. And for the kids like me who, you know, you're just like, I love the two mile, um, you're kind of stuck in a weird spot because you either you gotta get your foot speed under you and you gotta do the mile, or you're gonna get thrown in a 5k or a 10k, which I'm really not doing that.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

So you're like, no, please keep me out of here.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

No, yeah, no 10k.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

So you always knew when you joined track, like, I want to be a distance runner. That was always your goal.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

Yeah, yeah. I mean, even I wasn't even really interested in the 800. I ran the 800 a couple times in high school, and I just sprint. It's just a long sprint. It's literally it's literally a two-lapse sprint, and I was like, this is not my thing because there is, I mean, there's obviously a lot of strategy in the 800, but it's like you get out and you're just you gotta sprint, two laps. There's no like, okay, let me settle in, let me make a move here. It's like you just need to sprint all out.

SPEAKER_01 10:36

Like get going, get going. Exactly. Um, so then when again taking it back to high school and you really got into track, you focused and said, This is gonna be my sport, I'm gonna do distance. I love the two mile, you kind of figured yourself out. When and what kicked off your recruitment process? Like, how did that start? Was it help from your parents? Like, can what was that like?

SPEAKER_00 10:58

So I would say the my parents obviously helped a lot, but my older brother, who he ran for a school in Minnesota called St. John's, um, he was a huge part of my recruitment process because I really did not know there no one from my high school went D1 track. I mean, there might have been like one other person, and there were no distance runners before me or you know, close to when I was there. So yeah, you had no mentors. Yeah, I was no one to tell you what to do. Exactly. I was like, I don't really know what I'm supposed to do. I don't even know like where I'm supposed to look. And I had, you know, some college coaches reaching out to me, and I was just like, still like, where like how am I supposed to choose like where to go? Like, like I have no idea. So my older brother, um, he actually went through and he helped me like make a list. I made a list of like college coaches that had already reached out to me, colleges that I just had interest in on my own, and we kind of like went through that. And that is Nebraska is a c a college that reached out to me, and it was like one of the places I really wanted to go. Um, I would say it was my top school. So um, but that was just a huge part of it because without him, it would have I mean, I don't really know. I would have been like so lost. Um, but he kind of just like took me out of his wing, and it's funny because he went to a D3 school, so the process is a little bit different for them. So he didn't really know what he was doing either. So it's kind of like a learning. Or just like forgive it how you make it. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

So, what did you do through that process when you found like you had your list of schools that were reaching out to you, um, which is incredible. So, how did you respond to those schools? And then what did you do to reach out school to schools that weren't reaching out to you?

SPEAKER_00 12:45

So I responded to everybody. I made it a like a point to respond to everybody because they took the time to reach out to me. I wanted to respond to them. Even if there were a couple, I was like, absolutely, I don't think I'm interested. Um, but I did respond to everybody. And if I didn't really know, I got on a call with them. Um, sometimes it was like two or three calls. It would be like with the coach first, and then like with the team. And then for the schools that didn't reach out to me, I would send, you know, I had like kind of like an email template. My brother also helped me with. Um, and I would send an email to the coach and I would say, you know, I'm a rising senior in high school, these are my times. I'm interested in talking about, you know, your call, like your college program, whatever. And then I got some responses there.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

So and your template, you'd have like your base, but then you'd specialize it for the school, right?

SPEAKER_00 13:40

Yes, exactly. I would say why you were interested in yes, like hi, the coach's name, and then why why I was interested in that school. So always personalize it.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

So it has to be. They can they can test it out. Um, so then what once you got there and you pick Nebraska and you're like, okay, my dream school, you got you got so excited that those two came together. Um, what was your like when you got there? Like, what take do you remember freshman year?

SPEAKER_00 14:07

Oh my gosh. I I remember I was I was so eager to get out of Arizona because I didn't even look at Arizona schools. I did not, I knew I did not want to go to Arizona. I wanted to get out, and I was so excited, but it was also terrifying because I live like it's like a it's a 20-hour drive, so it's not like I can just like go home. I can get on a plane to go home, but yeah, I was very far, and I do have some family friends here, which is another reason I this was uh like a great option for me because I do have some people that are in my corner if I need them, but it was scary because I was like, I don't even know anyone, like I don't even have any friends. I'm just like flopping myself on this campus, and I've never like I don't know. So it was it was I would say like 50-50. I was like so excited, but the first week was very rough for me. Um, and I I had a great roommate. We I met her like through Instagram, um, and she was awesome, but I just there were so many teammate as well. She actually wasn't she was just like a she was in a sorority. Um really yeah, we just randomly met on Instagram and I kind of like really connected with her and I was like, I want to live with her, so that was really cool.

SPEAKER_02 15:24

That's not common.

SPEAKER_00 15:25

No, it's not. Usually you do live with your teammates, but I my recruiting class was kind of weird because we were all recruited during COVID, so we never none of us ever went on visits, we didn't even know each other. So I honestly had no idea who was in my class or what was going on. So I was like, I'm just gonna find someone myself, and I love that it will be better that way. So and I love it. Do you think that sorry?

SPEAKER_01 15:53

So do you think that got you closer to your teammates then because you weren't living together all the time?

SPEAKER_00 15:59

Yes, I definitely think so because I think with like living together freshman year with your teammates, you're with them 24-7. I mean, even my teammates now, um like the past four years. It's like you're with them all the time. So I think it's kind of hard to just go back to your room and it's like, okay, you're just surrounded by the same person literally all the time. So it's great to have like a little break.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Yeah, that's exciting. That's exciting. So then moving into it, you went from Phoenix to Nebraska. You talked a little bit how that transition was for you personally. What was that like for you athletically?

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Um, I would say my freshman year athletically, I definitely struggled a little bit. I think there's um that's pretty typical for you know a freshman just coming in to kind of have like a harder time adjusting to the mileage. I was not very high in mileage in high school. Um, we didn't do like crazy workouts or anything. So there was a lot of adjusting that needed to be done. And my I will be honest, my freshman cross-country season was not super great. Um, and that's okay because it was, I mean, over the years I just kept getting better and better and better. And it was just, I mean, it's just part of the learning curve and part of the process. Um, but I had, I mean, my coaches were great, my teammates were great. So it was it was just part of the learning process.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

Was it not great in the sense of like you're just homesick, or was it not great in the sense of athletics or kind of all the above?

SPEAKER_00 17:34

Um, it was more just like I just wasn't performing super great. Um, I was just having a really hard time adjusting to like the mileage and the workouts and everything. I had like a couple little like nagging injuries because I had like I've kind of shot up in mileage. I was like in high school, I just didn't run. I think my long run was probably like seven miles, and then we I get to college and my long run is like 12. So it was a bit different.

SPEAKER_01 18:04

Um probably was like having a hard time preparing for that.

SPEAKER_00 18:10

Yeah, I had some back issues, had some knee problems, where there were so many issues.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

So yeah, you do you do you find more now that like younger athletes are starting to train the longer mileage in high school? Or if they aren't, would you highly recommend they start doing that?

SPEAKER_00 18:26

I think like there's a middle ground, and the middle ground is like perfect because I now I think high school athletes are definitely training and running a lot longer than I did in high school. And I mean, I was a freshman in high school so long ago, like 2018, 2017. Um, but I also think it's really dangerous to be at a super high collegiate level mileage in high school because then there's nothing to build off of. So I think you want to be in a good spot where you can make that little jump, but you can also, you know, build out a little bit farther. But if you're like super low, like I don't know, like 15, 20 miles a week, it's gonna be a lot harder to make the jump to 50 miles a week because you have a 30 gap than if you were at like 35, 40.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

So I'm lucky if I run five miles a week. I'm pretty sure there's stats that like people stop running after the age of the 30. So 50 miles a week is a lot. That's very impressive. So now moving away a little bit from your athletic journey and the experiences you've had as an athlete specifically, and now more to the student side, you um came into college and you're leaving college with a different major from what I read about. So, can you kind of tell us what walk through what prompted the switch and how you navigated switching majors while competing?

SPEAKER_00 19:48

Yeah, so I came into college um and I wanted to be a dietitian initially. Um, and actually, the thing that kind of flipped my switch was when I studied abroad. So I studied abroad um through the business college, which I'm not a business major. Um I'm in the sci the science college. Um, but I studied in the business college and I had an internship with a women's health company. Um, and I was doing like their marketing and their social media, and I was doing like the research and the analytics for a ton of like um, it was just like a very broad company, just women's health like all over the map. So we could kind of do like I did a ton of stuff on athletes, like sleep, nutrition. I was kind of have I kind of had like free will to pick what I wanted to do. Um, and that kind of slipped the switch for me because I originally wanted to be a dietitian. Um, and that was my like I kind of had like blinders on. I was like, this is like this is what I'm gonna do. And when I did that, I kind of saw like the business side of it, and I love I love nutrition, I love health and wellness. It like embodies my life. Like that's literally I like live that lifestyle every single day. So it's so easy for me to love that. Um, but when I saw the business and analytics side of it, I was like, this is so cool. Um, so I kind of got into like that side of it, and I still want to do, you know, nutrition, wellness marketing, but it's more like the business aspect of the nutrition and wellness. Um, and I just realized that last year. So that was kind of crazy for me because I was getting um to my senior year and I was kind of like, this is kind of scary. Like, I'm I'm gonna make a change, you know. I'm graduating with my this major. Um, but it still is like very integrated in what I want to do. So I'm like I'm glad I have it.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

So what major, um, because like we said, like so moving away a little bit, like I said, from athletics and getting into like the academic side of things, what major did you come in with? And what major are you leaving with?

SPEAKER_00 22:02

So I my major coming in, I believe it was pre-health. And I graduated with nutrition exercise health science, which those two are like kind of similar. But right now I'm doing a marketing, I'm getting a marketing master's. So I did end up graduating with the nutrition degree just because I kind of had this like last-minute epiphany last year before my senior year. Um and like I said, I still like love the nutrition and wellness aspect. So I still wanted to graduate with that major, just not with the intention of going to dietetic school anymore. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

And that epiphany stemmed from studying abroad in this sports internships. Just kind of let's get into that because I never hear D1 student athletes. I almost quitting because I was like, I really want to study abroad one time in college. And obviously I didn't. I'm grateful I didn't. But you did something really rare there and you kept up with your D1 training. What made you and gave you that decision to pursue that adventure? And how did you structure your life to pull it off?

SPEAKER_00 23:10

So initially I was actually like so against it. I was like, because I'm very like, yes, I'm very type A. I'm very routine oriented. You know, I love, I love when things are like blocked out. I know what my plan is, you know, I can do it. And when you go to a different country, somewhere I've never been, it's a lot harder to sit down and be like, I'm gonna do this, this, this, and this, especially when I'm training for, you know, a cross-country season, my senior season. So I was actually like super against it. And my parents were um, they were they wanted me to go, they were very open to it, and they were kind of like trying to convince me because they were like, this would be a great opportunity. And I was like, oh, like I don't know. And then I um saw that there was a business study abroad in Barcelona, and something about Barcelona to me, I was just like, you know what? Like this sounds really cool. And I was I kind of just bit the bullet and I was like, I'm gonna push myself. Like, I was like, I need to push myself out of my comfort zone. And this, I pushed myself so far out of my comfort zone. I mean, I remember I got there on the first day, and I was sitting in my little tiny room, and I was like, what did I just do? What am I doing here? Totally. But um, so I got there and um it took me a little bit to get adjusted. Obviously, I had never been to Europe before. Um, I'd never been to Spain. I was living with um a bunch of girls from the University of Nebraska, but I didn't know them. Um, so I just kind of had like a plan. I was like, I had my training schedule. I had it, there was a gym right next to my apartment, and it was a 24-hour gym. So I had um a gym membership. And my our trip coordinator, she was she would always find like trails to send me to run because she knew I was an athlete. Um, so she always sent me like places I could go. And I loved to run, like I loved training in Barcelona, and I traveled to so many other countries, and I will die on the hill of the best way to explore a country is just run through it. Like it was so cool.

SPEAKER_01 25:20

Yeah, it was okay. Okay. So when you got there, you were doing an academic internship, correct? And what was it?

SPEAKER_00 25:29

So I had so I I believe I had I was in like three classes. I was there for three months, and my internship was with a it was with a company called Alma Health. Um, and I I think there were two other interns. So it was a very small group, but it was really cool because we all just kind of uh got to collaborate together. And again, we're we were in Spain. So and it was the coolest thing about it, honestly, was just learning like the work culture in a different country. And because I wasn't before what was the difference. So Spain, they're just like very, they're very laid back, you know. Um they don't really I mean, sometimes we never met in an office. We always met in like coffee shops, like super fun places we went out to dinner, like it was just so fun, and it's very friendly. It's not like your traditional like boss, like employee relationship. I thought I felt like my boss was like my friend, you know, we could have very, like, very meaningful, good conversations, and I didn't feel like she was like, you know, like in charge of me, you know what I mean? So um it was really cool. Um but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:45

That's so cool. And so what were the biggest academic or athletic hurdles you faced abroad and how did you overcome them?

SPEAKER_00 26:52

Athletic, I would just say, I mean, there were some time, I mean, uh there were a lot of times when my friends were like, oh, like we want to go out, we're gonna, you know, we're gonna do this, and you're in a different country and you want to go experience the country, but I was like, okay, like I want to do this, but I also I have these obligations, I have these goals that I want to, you know, achieve. So there were there were definitely some times where I had to kind of like sit back and be like, okay, like I'm gonna have to miss out on this because you know, I need to, I have a workout tomorrow or I need to do this. And a lot of times I did really try to like kind of make a compromise because I was in a different country and you know, I wanted to experience it and I didn't want to hold myself back. But I also like I said, I did have those goals, so it was just kind of like balance of both of them. Um, and then academically, I I honestly don't I wouldn't say I really had any challenges. I I mean maybe maybe I was in um I was in an intensive Spanish class, so that alone, I guess, was a challenge. Um really fun.

SPEAKER_01 28:02

That's amazing. That's amazing. So, what about you said that there was obviously you're in another country and you're trying to explore. Like, what was what was your favorite thing? Like, what'd you go do? What'd you go see while you were out there? Tell us about Barcelona.

SPEAKER_00 28:14

I my favorite thing, my one thing was like I need I'm gonna try like all the food, food everywhere. You know, I wanted to try just like everything. So I tried so many different and the food is incredible. I don't think I had a bad bite of food when I was there all the time.

SPEAKER_01 28:32

Did you go on any on that's incredible? When you were going through runs, um, you said the best way to explore a country is through running it. So, where did you run? What did you see on your runs? What was that like?

SPEAKER_00 28:44

So, a lot of my runs, I would like sometimes we lived, I want to say, like three or four miles from the beach. So I would just run through the city and then to the beach. And then um, like just running through the city is just so fun. I mean, there's so many people all hours of the day, especially in Barcelona. People are out. I mean, like the people are coming home from the clubs at like 5 a.m. There's there's families walking with their kids at like 12, like midnight. I mean, there's just people all the time. And I also never felt unsafe, which is one of the other reasons I really loved it. But I you can run right by all the landmarks, like the Sagrada Familia, um, just so many incredible things. And all of those, if you go early enough in the morning, you know, because I would usually run in the morning, there's a lot less people there too. So that's another really awesome thing, too, because you get to see it without the crowd.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

So that's so cool. So you're just immersed in this city, but you're still a student athlete. You're studying, you're learning, you're studying a different degree than you ever had previously been studying. How did being immersed in all of that culture and environment did it impact your identity ever as an athlete, especially?

SPEAKER_00 29:54

Um, I think a little bit. I would say my identity is very deeply rooted in being an athlete, but it also kind of gave me the perspective of like, I, you know, ever every athlete knows there's much more to life than being an athlete, but sometimes it feels like, okay, like this is my entire life. Um, and it just gave me like a much broader perspective of, I mean, like, there is so much more like out there than just being an athlete, you know, like one race, one game, especially like one bad race or one bad game, you know, like there's just so much more to life in so many ways. So I think it kind of just like it really just opened my eyes about just so many things.

SPEAKER_01 30:39

That's amazing. And you obviously were away from families. Like, how did you maintain that mental resilience through all of it?

SPEAKER_00 30:46

I called my family a lot um when I could get a hold of them. It was really weird with the time difference. I think it was like seven or eight hours. Um but and I was really fortunate to be living with the girls I lived with because they were super awesome and they were just like my best friends when I was there. Um, so that obviously really helped. But yeah, I just think like just being in contact with my family really helped. Um, and obviously calling them.

SPEAKER_01 31:18

So that's amazing. That's amazing. So you're in Barcelona and you're obviously focusing on like being a student athlete, making sure you hit all the milestones, your coaches tracking you. When was there there had to have been a night you just had fun and you just like went out with everyone? Like, what what was that experience?

SPEAKER_00 31:35

Yeah, there definitely were, and I those nights, you know, that's when I kind of was like, you know what? Like I'm in Barcelona, I need to like let loose a little bit and just have some fun. And for those nights, I or just like days, my my coach was super flexible about moving things around. So even when we would like if I would go out or like we would travel, and you know, it would just be like a late night and I was super tired. I I had one off day during the week. So I would usually save the off day for like any time I would like after I would go out or like a long travel day or something. And uh He would just let me kind of like configure my week, however. So I would kind of just like take that off day, put it there, and then kind of like switch my runs around um so I could still have that experience.

SPEAKER_01 32:22

So you're here though, but the entire team's still training in Nebraska. How did that with was there conflict with that, or were your teammates supportive?

SPEAKER_00 32:30

Not really. I mean, my teammates were super supportive. Um, they loved seeing everything I was doing, they loved staying updated. So yeah, it was it was really fun.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

That's really, really cool. And have you started a trend? Have there been more athletes doing it since?

SPEAKER_00 32:45

Or there have not, not yet. Okay. I tried. I did try to get one of my teammates to do it, and you know that it kind of fell through, but they they were like, no, it's that's way too much.

SPEAKER_01 32:56

That's so funny. Would you recommend to athletes that can do it to do it?

SPEAKER_00 33:01

100%. I mean, I it's so funny because my parents are gonna be like, Yeah, we told you it was gonna be so fun after I was like, I'm not going. But it was truly the most incredible experience of my life. I mean, just to immerse yourself in a different culture and to really just push yourself, you know, and push yourself out of your comfort zone and just do hard things because I I think about that all the time. I'm like, how did I do that? You know, like how did I live in Spain and like do all my training and all this stuff by myself, you know? But I did, and I loved every single second of it. So I would 100% recommend it.

SPEAKER_01 33:39

That's amazing. And I I love that. Looking back, what's something you know now that you just wish in general your pre-studying abroad self knew about balancing sports and academics and just the un I would say just like it can be flexible.

SPEAKER_00 33:52

I mean, as as much as it seems like it is like so just like this, this, this, this, this needs to be done like 100% this way and only this way, it's just not like that. Especially if you uh, you know, communicate with your coach or whoever you're talking to. Things can always be moved around and accommodations can be made. And it's not always as black and white as it seems because before I went, I was so like, nope, everything needs to be done a certain way, and if it's not done that way, then it's not right, which not true at all.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

Yeah, yeah. What is so what do you do now?

SPEAKER_00 34:31

So I would I mean, just communicating with my coach. I mean, like I said, things can be like moved around like with anything. I mean, just if anything comes up, I mean, it's it's not the end of the world if you know I can't do something in a certain way. So I think that's a really important thing to remember.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

That's really cool. That's really cool. And um, so what's one piece of advice that you would give to other D1 athletes think about studying?

SPEAKER_00 34:57

I would say just like your your motivation and your self-determination is so incredible and it can take you so far, like so far.

SPEAKER_01 35:08

It's amazing. That's amazing. That's amazing. And then something that I would love to talk to you about is your NIL journey because you've had a unique NIL journey as well. What kickstarted NIL for you?

SPEAKER_00 35:21

So I always wanted to do NIL, I just never started because there's always, you know, like, oh, I'm I'm gonna have to post a video of myself talking on the internet, and you know, everyone's gonna be like, what is she doing? She's posting a video of myself talking on the internet. Um so I was really scared. So from like freshman year to junior year, I did nothing. I just didn't, I didn't even buy into it. I was like, I'm not doing it, like it's not happening for me. You're like, I'm done. Exactly. I'm like, this is not my thing, I'm not doing it, you know, whatever. And then I kind of I some of my friends started doing it from other schools, and and I all started to really blow up. Um, and I kind of was like, you know, maybe I'm gonna I'm gonna start posting a little bit. So I started posting a little bit on TikTok, and then I posted a couple things on Instagram, and I kind of had a moment I was just like, this is fun for me, so I'm just gonna do it. And if people think it's weird, then whatever. Because I really, I really had a fun time doing it. I loved like the editing process, the create like the idea of like creating a video, just like the content creation, just everything. So I kind of fell in love with the process, and with that, I was kind of just like, this is something I want to do, and I need to just like again just push myself out of my comfort zone and kind of like put myself out there. And I just started posting videos of like, you know, my day in the life, just like relatable content for other athletes, and it kind of just like kickstarted from there.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

So so you looked and took NIL and you looked at it entirely from a social media perspective of just like, okay, I am gonna post on social media, hopefully reach a number of followers, and then start reaching out to brands, or did brands start reaching out to you?

SPEAKER_00 37:09

Uh, I want to say it was kind of like 50-50 when I first started. I would reach out to my I had a couple of brands that I just like loved, and I would reach out to them, but I did get some brands that reached out to me. And I want to say my first NIL deal, one of my first NIL deals was actually with Adidas. So that also gave me just yeah, it gave me like a ton of confidence. I was like, yeah, this is cool. Like, I want to do this. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

That's awesome. That's awesome. And then for those just getting started in NIL now or incoming athletes, like what advice do you have to them?

SPEAKER_00 37:45

I would say just be authentic, be yourself. Um, that's I mean, that's why people are gonna want to follow your journey. That's why people are gonna care about you. And that's when you're gonna have the most fun, you know, when you're not pretending to, you know, kind of have this different persona. If you just show, you know, what you're like what you're about, that's when you're gonna have the most success.

SPEAKER_01 38:06

And this is on posting on social media. So, what is the coolest NIL deal you've received that you just like love doing? What was that experience?

SPEAKER_00 38:14

Mine, I think it was with a company called Emeritas, which is a financial company. And they brought us to a salt dogs game, which is their local team in Lincoln, Nebraska for Women in Sports Day. And we got to sign posters for a bunch of kids. We got to throw a first pitch. It was just a really fun event. And those are my favorite kind of ones because I get to really interact with the community and I get to see the younger generation of athletes, especially for someone like me who does track. I don't get a lot of kids that are like, I want to do track, you know. It's always like I want to play soccer, I want to play basketball, I want to play football. I don't have a lot of kids that I want to be a runner. Yeah. So I can want to run. Exactly. So those events are always so fun for me because I just I love to just inspire the younger generation.

SPEAKER_01 39:02

Yeah, that's amazing. That's beautiful. Well, talking about inspiring the younger generation, what advice do you have to a kid who's going through recruitment right now and is feeling a little lost with their journey?

SPEAKER_00 39:14

I would say just be bold. Um, and again, just be yourself. I wouldn't hesitate to reach out yourself. I think there's a like a very big stigma behind like, I need the key the coach needs to reach out to me. But a lot of coaches love when you take initiative and you reach out to them. And I want to say a ton of collegiates got recruited because they reached out to their coach. And that doesn't make you any less good because you reached out to them. It's just there's a huge pool of athletes that all these coaches are looking at. And sometimes it's hard to look at every single one. So navigate yourself in exactly. So if you just put yourself right in front of them, you're doing yourself a huge favor.

SPEAKER_01 39:53

That's amazing. And what advice do you have to parents or coaches of high school athletes right now? Like, what's one piece of advice you wish that they would know or understand better?

SPEAKER_00 40:04

I would say just like it's a very fluid process. Um, and honestly, it's sometimes it's confusing. Um, and to just stay organized the best you can. Like if you can make a list of like, these are the schools, you know, that I want to go to, these are the schools that know. And I would say 100% respond to every single coach, college that reaches out to you because you don't want to get a bad rep from just ignoring people. And if they took the time to reach out to you, the all you can do is return the favor.

SPEAKER_01 40:35

So yeah. And then also get is focusing still on advice for that like younger athlete and that younger generation, or even just other athletes listening that are trying to play at a high level and navigate the what it's like being an athlete, right? What does your inner voice sound like when you're not performing well? Like, how do you navigate those hard days?

SPEAKER_00 40:54

One thing that I always tell myself is like, I'll tell myself you belong here because I think a lot of people have, you know, imposter syndrome of like, totally, okay, like I don't belong here. Like I'm I'm doing terrible. Like, what am I doing here? But you're there for a reason and you 100% belong there. And one bad day, one bad race does not define all the work and everything that you've put into it. So I think it's just like a very important little mantra to just like remind myself like I belong. It's I'll stand on the line of a race and I'll be like, you know, like I belong in this race. Like I'm supposed to be here because if I wasn't, I wouldn't be there.

SPEAKER_01 41:32

So no, I like that a lot. Imposter syndrome can be huge, and I hate the term. It should not exist. I hate it. It's so real. And I think it's especially real for female athletes. So that's really cool the way that you're able to say, like, no, I belong here, and this is where I'm supposed to be right now. That's beautiful. The last like piece of advice is kind of like, what do you think makes a coach say, I want that person on my team?

SPEAKER_00 41:57

Uh I would say just having initiative, dedication. I mean, there's nothing a coach likes more than when they see that an athlete is dedicated because that's not something you can really teach. I mean, when someone wants to do something, it's it's just so much more different than you have to be like, okay, you need to, you need to do this, this, this, you need to show up for this. Yeah. So when you just show, you know, you're dedicated, you're bought in, I think that is just such an incredible aspect.

SPEAKER_01 42:25

That's gonna get you to the team, but that's also gonna keep you on the team longer. Exactly. Totally. Okay. Well, um, now let's get into our TMI section, our too much insight, kind of rapid fire, kind of just like some fun questions, and we're gonna go one by one. Are you ready? Yes. All right. Go to snack when you're on the road. What keeps you fueled? Uh beef jerky. Okay. What's your favorite travel memory from studying abroad? Like one moment that you just love to reflect on.

SPEAKER_00 42:56

I would say honestly, I went on a long run in France. I ran 12 miles and I got to run part of the Tour de France course. So that was so fun. Yeah. Wait, sorry, we need to talk about this for a second.

SPEAKER_01 43:10

You ran the Tour de France course?

SPEAKER_00 43:13

Yes. How did you what was that like? It was well, it was in Nice last year, and we were staying right in Nice, and it was kind of an accident. I was like, I started seeing signs for the tour de France, and I saw like the finish line, and I was like, wait a second, like this is really cool. So I just ran the course for my 12-mile long run, and it was so cool.

SPEAKER_01 43:36

Oh, that's awesome. Oh, that's awesome. What a cool experience. Oh my goodness. I don't even, I feel like we need to just end there. I don't even know what's gonna have to do next. Okay. What's one habit you credit most for surviving through the transitions?

SPEAKER_00 43:52

I would say probably my like dedication.

SPEAKER_01 43:57

Okay. Your team locker room energizers. When things feel heavy, like what gets everyone excited?

SPEAKER_00 44:03

A good, a good playlist. We love a good playlist.

SPEAKER_01 44:06

Good music. And so what is that go-to song that you listen to before every game?

SPEAKER_00 44:11

Honestly, anything by Rihanna will get me get me going.

SPEAKER_01 44:14

It gets you ready.

SPEAKER_00 44:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 44:16

Um, if you had a dream NIL collab, be bold, who would it be with?

SPEAKER_00 44:22

Probably I want to say like either Lululemon or like Smartwater. I love Smartwater. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 44:30

Smartwater, that's a new one. I've heard a lot of Lululemon's reviewers. Smartwater, really cool. Smartwater if you're listening. Give her the NILD. Okay. If you could switch sports for a day, what would you try?

SPEAKER_00 44:42

Ooh, what would I try? Honestly, golf. Um, I'm horrible at golf, but it seems like a fun, a fun time. So it's the next one.

SPEAKER_01 44:52

What uh what's one thing in your locker bag that has no business being there?

SPEAKER_00 44:56

Let's see.

SPEAKER_01 44:58

Probably my um my iron pills. Okay. Okay. Uh last two. Okay. What's your most underrated leadership skill, do you think?

SPEAKER_00 45:07

I think just like I always say like the best leaders are like your big sisters. Like just be a friend. Um just be a nice person. Exactly. Like people don't need like a mom or like you know, like a like a leader, so-called. They just need, you know, a friend.

SPEAKER_01 45:25

So yeah, yeah. All right, and final question today. What does committed while you're off duty mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 45:31

To me, that means just fully buying in to what you're doing 100%. Um no matter what you're doing. So just every aspect of your life, um you are committed, and I mean, like your sleep, your nutrition, everything, especially being an athlete in season, like all the little things make the world of difference.

SPEAKER_01 45:54

So amazing, amazing. So you're studying abroad, but you're still training as a student athlete. So, what was an average day like for you while you were in Barcelona? Like talk walk me through your day.

SPEAKER_00 46:06

Okay. So typically, if I was back in Nebraska, I would run first thing in the morning. But in Spain and most of Europe, people don't go to bed until like 2 a.m. And the walls are not very thick. So I had a really hard time sleeping, like going to bed early. So I was not waking up to run in the morning because I I had like a 9 a.m. class and then I had an 11 a.m. class, I think. So I would I would wake up, eat breakfast, go to my class, I would take the metro to my class. I love the metro, I miss the metro so much. Um, and then I would, I would usually go to a coffee shop after my class and then go back to my other class. And then I would come back to my apartment. And when I got into the later months of July, I I did have to run in the treadmill a couple times because it was super hot. But in early June, I got back to my apartment around like 1 p.m. And I would just go for my run, come back, take a shower. Sometimes I would go to the gym if I had like a cross train or like a course session or something because it was right by my apartment. Um, shower, and then I would kind of hang out for a little bit, do my homework, and then me and my roommates would always go out to dinner. Um, and we would just kind of like hang out for the rest of the night. So it was very, very chill, and I kind of got into a routine. It was super fun.

SPEAKER_01 47:28

That's so much fun. And so while you're there and you're doing these trainings, was your strength coach sending you training every day? Like, were you following a very like clear regimen from your coach and trainers of what day by day to do?

SPEAKER_00 47:40

Yeah. So I had kind of like a kind of like was set out like on a week thing. Yeah. And so I kind of just went like by that. And that's kind of how I was able to switch. You know, I would say like, oh, I need my off day here. And I would just take if I had, you know, like a nine mile run on a Thursday and my off day on a Sunday, sometimes I would just switch them and take my off day Thursday, do the run on Sunday. So makes sense. Makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 48:08

Well, that's awesome. That's so cool. Amazing. Well, Cammy, it has been so fun getting to know you, hear all about your studying abroad journey and just like everything that you are as an athlete. This has been such a unique story. So thank you so much for coming on. If anyone's interested in learning more about you or just reaching out, like how can they get in touch? What's your Instagram?

SPEAKER_00 48:28

My Instagram is just my name. So Cammy Miracle, Instagram and TikTok, LinkedIn, pretty much everything is just my name.

SPEAKER_01 48:35

So and Miracle is spelt in her last name, everyone. Just so you know, Cami C-A-M-I-N-M-E-R-I-C-K-E-L. So please reach out if you have any questions or you want to get in touch, or you know, Smartwaters listening to reach out to get in touch with you as well. But thank you so much for coming on. Is there any last piece, one-word piece of advice you have to a younger athlete out there, current athlete listening?

SPEAKER_00 48:59

I would just emphasize what I already said and just be true to yourself.

SPEAKER_01 49:03

Um, that's your greatest strength. So thank you so much. Well, have a great rest of your day and good luck this season. We will be cheering. Thank you.