A blessing and a curse

WALLA WALLA -- When Aaron Nelson climbs out of bed these days, he checks his breathing, tests his limbs, searches out any new aches and pains.

As the junior heads out the door to go to class at Walla Walla High, he grabs his backpack, making sure it has the little bottle of antibacterial hand sanitizer.

And if you have a cough or sneeze, don't even approach.

One can never be too careful living with "The Curse." Not this close to state.

"Tuesday I noticed my hip was tightening up, but I'll get some massage therapy," he said.

And if that's the extent of Nelson's obstacles this week, he'll consider it good fortune.

His sister Rachel Nelson has had plenty of that --good fortune -- during her freshman season, which has seen her become one of the best runners in the CBBN, period. Her second-place finish at regionals in Spokane last weekend confirmed that and earned her a berth to Saturday's state meet at Sun Willows Golf Course.

"I'm very excited to go to state," she said immediately after finishing runner-up to Mead's Baylee Mires, one of the favorites to win the 4A race.

Aaron and Rachel are both standouts on the Blue Devils cross country team, but their journey to this weekend's meet couldn't be further apart.

Aaron was never a big fan of running growing up -- not 3 miles a pop, anyway -- and only got into cross country as a freshman to stay in shape for wrestling, his favorite of the many sports he sampled over the years.

He showed promise right away, and during his sophomore season posted some eye-catching results: 12th in the elite seventh flight at Sunfair, third at districts.

"He was in eighth place with 800 meters to go," Wa-Hi coach Mike Locati recalled. "And then he started feeling 'not good.' With about 600 meters left, he fell from eighth place to 32nd, and he finished 45 seconds behind the group he was with when he started feeling ill."

Of course, one ill-timed bout of illness does not a curse make. But when that illness turns out to be bronchitis and does a number on your wrestling season, and then another bout pops up to spoil district wrestling, and yet another to take out district track -- you start looking for broken mirrors and black cats.

"It was really a disappointing feeling," Nelson said.

The irony of his sophomore season is that it's caused him to play it safe -- he's not going out for wrestling this season, instead spending the winter training for track. So what used to be a way to stay in shape for wrestling -- and a chore -- has now become his favorite activity.

"I learned to enjoy it," he said with a grin.

Rachel always enjoyed running -- couldn't get enough of it while growing up, in fact, to the point where she got upset when she wanted to run the mile in grade-school track, but they'd only let her run 800 meters.

"I just love it," she said.

Rachel has dominated her age group in distance events around the Mid-Columbia since then. But she really came into her own this fall, and her confidence has been sky-high since a September afternoon in Sunnyside when she went head-to-head with Pasco senior Marisa Vander Malle, one of the most consistently good runners in the CBBN.

"I was pacing with everybody else, and then in the last mile I caught her and we battled to the finish," Nelson said of her 1-second victory. "It really was a boost to my confidence."

Both siblings have big plans for this weekend -- top-10 finishes are mentioned.

Rachel is less worried about where she places than she is with running in the 18:30s -- it would be a season-best for her and almost certainly place her among the top 10.

For Aaron, a top-10 would mean overcoming a stacked field that includes defending champion Mack Young of Redmond as well as eight other runners who placed in the top 20 last season.

"I really want to place in the top 10, but the main thing I want to see is the pace," he said. "It should help set up next year, because next year my goal will be to win."