This track season, everything came together for senior 1,500-meter runner Jessica Huff.

In addition to qualifying for the outdoor NCAA Track and Field Championships for the first time in her collegiate career, Huff won her final regular-season contest at the Drake Relays in Des Moines.

On April 24, the Marshalltown native won the 1,500 at the Drake Relays. In high school, Huff won the 800-meter run at the Relays. Winning Iowa’s premier track meet in her senior year of high school and her senior year in college was indeed special, she said.

“It always can go up and down. I am happy because this is my senior year,” Huff said. “2002 was my best year in cross country, and this year is my best in track.”

In 2002, Huff competed in the NCAA Cross Country Championships and placed 123rd out of 254 athletes.

Huff and cross country/track and field coach Dick Lee recognize how and why this track season was better than the others.

“Her goal this year was to have a better track season than last year,” Lee said.

“Last year, she thought that the cross country season wore her down. We purposely held back in the cross country season so we would have more legs left for the track season.”

Huff agreed with Lee and said although running cross country had its benefits, it became a long season with a lot of pain.

“Cross country can burn you out since it is a mentally long sport,” Huff said. “Coach Lee and I talked and decided to cut down on races in cross country because it wears on you to race every weekend.”

This track season has gone much better for Huff compared to last season. In 2003, she made the NCAA qualifier meet, but finished 15th and said running cross country affected her.

“It went horribly, horribly wrong. I was burnt out from the long cross country [and] track seasons,” Huff said. “I am very, very glad that I didn’t repeat that performance this year.”

Some of Huff’s highlights for the 2004 season were her personal best time (4:22.16) at the Georgia Tech Invitational on May 14, earning fifth place at the NCAA Midwest Regional meet that qualified her for nationals and winning the 1,500 at the Drake Relays in 4:25.87. At Drake, Huff beat a world-class runner and two-time Division III cross country champion, Wartburg’s Missy Buttry.

Huff said reaching the outdoor championships and winning the Drake Relays are both special.

“[Winning Drake] meant a lot to me. This is Iowa’s premier meet. It was great to carry the flag around the track and have people that didn’t even know me yelling, ‘Way to go Iowa State,'” Huff said. “I am glad to go to nationals because not everyone gets to go.”

Lee said Huff is excited to make nationals since this is her senior year.

“Making the indoor or outdoor nationals was one of our goals at the beginning of the year,” Lee said. “She made nationals in cross country [2002], but it’s to go as an individual since the team didn’t qualify. It was just an accomplishment to make it.”

Lee said Huff doesn’t just want to participate in the outdoor championships — she wants to compete well.

“Her first goal is to have her best race in the prelims and give our best shot at the finals. She has to run a career race to make the finals,” Lee said. “We are not going in thinking about winning. There is one of the top 1,500 runners in collegiate history racing right now, a girl from Mississippi State.”

The Bulldogs’ Tiffany McWilliams is ranked first in the country in the collegiate 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:09.19 — two seconds ahead of the nearest competitor.

Huff knows that it is quite an accomplishment to be at the NCAA Championships.

“It shows that my hard work has paid off and that I have accomplished something in running,” she said. “It’s pretty special since everyone wants to make nationals, but only 28 girls out of how many in the United States make nationals. It is a great meet whether I make it through prelims or not.”

Huff’s event will begin this Thursday at 7:55 p.m., with the finals taking place on Saturday.