COLORADO SPRINGS — "It goes by fast so the more you enjoy it, the better you're going to do," Mettler said.
Air Force senior distance runner, Maria Mettler knows plenty about going fast.
"I think that's what's beautiful about this sport is it is challenging and if it were easy everyone would do it," Mettler said.
Mettling with greatness, the Colorado Springs resident is coming off a tremendous junior campaign in which she became an All-American in the 6K race and a 2-time Mountain West indoor champion.
"I'll remember the wins, the good races and the bad, you can definitely learn from those as well," Mettler said. "The people are what I'll remember most."
It's a historic career that began down the street as a member of the Kadets track program, where she earned all-state honors four years ago.
"I think Air Academy and the high school aspect set up a foundation that I just love training, competing, and being a part of this community," Mettler said.
Sitting "Top 3" all-time in program history in both the 3000 and 5000-meter runs, Mettler again turned heads in her season debut last week, when she shattered the Falcon's 10K mark and put up the fastest time by an American female in 2020.
"That's going to be the goal regardless of the time," Mettler said. "That I did everything I could in this short time to be as fast as I can be."
Her time of 32:09:37 lasted for a bit before being broken by the top of the field. However, Mettler is still among the fastest in the event and has qualified for the Olympic trials next summer. A rare opportunity to live every runner's dream after her collegiate career ends.
"While the Olympic trials are important to me and I want to compete as well as I can and see how high I can place, I do want to focus on doing well and getting this ladies American distance team to the National Championship for cross country," Mettler said.
