Two-time Iowa school record holder and fourth-year mid-distance runner Alli Bookin-Nosbisch is finding herself to be a key member of the women’s cross country squad.

In track and field, the 800-meter race is her specialty.

Now, Bookin-Nosbisch has discovered success in a race over seven times the distance.

Originally, Bookin-Nosbisch’s reasoning for dabbling into cross country was to train for her mid-distance track races.

“I knew going into this season, my coach really wanted to focus on growing our endurance, so that’s why we took that cross country path,” Bookin-Nosbisch said.

Despite her relative lack of Iowa cross country experience, Bookin-Nosbisch has been a scoring member of the team in three races in this season alone.

To put her limited collegiate cross country career in perspective, after four years as a Hawkeye, Bookin-Nosbisch ran her second-ever 6,000-meter race this year at the Redbird Invite on Sept. 13.

Bookin-Nosbisch recognizes her scarce experience and gives her cross country teammates credit for battling through the difficulty of distance running.

“I have no idea how to run a [6,000-meter race],” Bookin-Nosbisch said. “I just die the whole race and happen to sprint at the end. Cross country is not for the weak.”

To get through those tough distance races, Bookin-Nosbisch has adopted a mantra, “I can do hard things.”

She uses those five simple words to pull her through every event — no matter the distance.

“I think that [mantra] will transfer to my life outside of track and school,” she said. “When things get tough, I know I can do it. I can do hard things.”

After another month of experience on the course, Bookin-Nosbisch had another breakout race at the Bradley Pink Classic on Oct. 13. She finished her 6,000-meter race with a new personal record of 22:00.7.

“It was really cool getting to make an impact at Bradley,” Bookin-Nosbisch reflected.

Next on the agenda was arguably the most anticipated meet of the season for Bookin-Nosbisch and the Hawkeye women’s team — the Big Ten Championships.

Last year, the Iowa women found themselves at the bottom of the leaderboard, finishing last out of 14 teams. These results were mirrored this year as the Hawkeye women’s squad replicated their last-place team finish.

Despite Bookin-Nosbisch’s lack of 6,000-meter race experience, she was the fourth Hawkeye runner to cross the Big Ten finish line.

Following the conference race, Iowa’s top finisher, fellow fourth-year Abby Ryon, recognized Bookin-Nosbisch’s “speed to get out fast and close quickly.”

Bookin-Nosbisch attributes this speed to her mid-distance track races where she particularly shines.

Last year, she set two school records in the indoor 800-meter race and indoor distance medley relay.

“Those records were really cool, and I’m just excited to see what happens this year,” Bookin-Nosbisch said.

Bookin-Nosbisch and the rest of the track and field team will begin competition on Dec. 2 in Boston, Massachusetts.

“I think everyone on the team keeps pushing the bar,” Bookin-Nosbisch added. “I know records are going to go down this year.”