KISSIMMEE – Oakleaf High cross country and track runner Dylan Nelson has ticked off goal after goal this summer with one more on the list as the junior steeplechaser won his second national steeplechase race in two weeks Thursday at the AAU Track Club National Championships held at Disney’ ESPN Wide World of Sports track facility.

Nelson gives much credit to coach Enoch Nadler, a Keystone Heights High standout who excelled also at the University Florida and is now qualified to run the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta.

“I give much of the credit to coach Nadler because he has me focused on the right things to be successful as a track competitor,” said Nelson, who won his club title in six minutes, 33.49 seconds at Disney. “Coach Nadler was such a great runner himself that he is advising me on the little things like nutrition, sleep and mental preparation to keep my track fast. We also do some pretty tough running, but that’s a small part of being successful on the track.”

Nelson, who recently won the USATF National Youth Outdoor steeplechase title at College of Brockport (NY) on June 26 with a 6:46.62 time.

“It was pretty hot at that race and the pace was not too fast,” said Nelson. “I had raced the guy who was second at Disney before and knew he would want to run the first two laps fast to try and set himself apart from the field.”

Nadler sees Nelson use of steeplechase training as a springboard to a successful high school cross country and track season. Nelson holds the cross country 5K (3.1 miles) record for Oakleaf at 16:48, but would like to get under 16 in September.

“Dylan has really stepped it up this summer big time,” said Nadler. “In the past, he’s run a much larger AAU summer schedule with more races and less training for cross country over the summer. This summer, his main focus has been on preparing for a big junior year of cross country and less summer track. We’re looking for a breakout cross country season and an even bigger track season in the spring.”

At Disney, Nelson and Shey Green of Team Dynasty (NY) blasted away from the field at the run to establish the race as a two-man effort at first. Nelson and Green traded surges in those first two of five laps before Nelson took control in the third lap as Green’s strides over the hurdles started to falter.

“I think I have probably the best technique over the hurdles than most kids my age and that helps in the latter part of races because I’m not thinking about hitting that barrier,” said Nelson, noting that the steeplechase barrier is attached to the track and will not fall over as in the other track hurdle races; the 110 high hurdles and the 400 hurdles. “The beauty of steeplechase is that raw speed does not dictate the race.”

As Nelson, the defending AAU club champion, pulled away from the field in the final laps of the Disney race, his eye was on the 6:15 meet record before him.

“I knew what the record was and we went through the first 800 close to the pace, but when I pulled away and he didn’t stay with me, I just concentrated on good form and winning the race,” said Nelson. “If we had battled to the end, the record may have fallen.”

Note: The national high school record is 6:02.84 set in 1988.

With one more national race on his summer list, in Iowa at the AAU Junior Olympic Games at Drake University in Iowa July 26, where Nelson finished third in 2017 in 6:34.14, the goal is the triple crown. The winning time in 2017 ws 6:29.32.

“I set my mind on winning all three of these races; USATF, AAU Club and the Junior Olympics this year as my list before settling into my cross country training,” said Nelson. “My time is faster than last year at this point. I will go up, compete, takes some time off afterward then regear for September.”

Nelson, 27th in region 1-4A last year in 17:09.67 after advancing with a fifth place 16:48.44 record run in the district race a week prior, has been training with a strong contingency of area runners; Fleming Island’s Andrew Miller and Evan Fuller; Ridgview’s Joel Nesi and Orange Park’s John Bear, plus Bishop Kenny standout Nathan Jubran to build up his foundation while traveling to Gainesville to do speed work with Nadler and his Florida Track Club Elite Team runners.

“My buildup runs are with the locals guys, then I go to Gainesville one or two times a week to be with coach Nadler’s group,” said Nelson, who has a 4:39 mile best. “I’ll do 5-7 mile runs here and ladders for speed; up from 200s through 1200s with mile repeats with Nadler. He also has me focusing on taking my easy days easy where last year I tried to run hard every day. Recovery is just as important as the work days.”