Isabelle Nicolas had pretty much no athletic background when she went out for the Lawrence Middle School track & field team. Little did she know, however, she had already been in “training” for what would become her best event.
“My dad got me into track because I was a dancer for most of my life and he said ‘You know, you should try out a sport,’” Nicolas said. “He got me into track & field and I ended up loving it, and here we are now.”
Where we are in Nicolas’ junior year is that she made it to the NJSIAA Group III championships in the 100 high hurdles by finishing fourth in the Central Jersey Group III meet in a PR (personal record) of 17.13. That came after taking sixth in the Mercer County Championships and seventh in the CVC Invitational in her first true full season of high school competition.
Isabelle’s ability to become a hurdler was hastened thanks to her background in dancing.
“It definitely helped a lot.” she said. “I feel like my form was a lot more advanced than most people as a beginner hurdler. I already knew what my technique was, all I had to work on was my speed and getting up to date with that. I was very flexible so it helped me to have a straighter lead leg. Pushing myself forward and things like that helped a lot to make it a more enjoyable experience.”
Nicolas was unable to advance to the Meet of Champions as she finished 16th in Group III, but her time of 17.05 was just .02 off of her PR. It capped a solid campaign in which Isabelle was actually acclimating herself to the hurdles for the first time.
She medaled in the Mercer County meet with a sixth-place finish (17:34), finished seventh in the Colonial Valley Conference Invitational (17:16) and won the Lawrenceville Big Red Classic (18:15). The highlight was medaling in sectionals, as the top six advance.
“At first I didn’t know what to think,” Nicolas said. “I didn’t expect to make it to states. I was just like ‘I hope I do well.’ I’m really speechless, still trying to find the words.”
Because of an influx of sprinters on Lawrence this spring, it allowed Nicolas to focus solely on hurdles for the first time.
“In terms of her hurdling, that speed has increased throughout the year,” Cardinals’ hurdles coach Simon Cruz said. “Each practice we saw her get faster and faster. Each meet as well, she got more competitive. As the competition got steeper she got faster.”
She was also aided by sharper technique.
“She worked a lot on her steps,” Cruz continued. “Her timing is getting there, her trail leg and her form is on point, so it’s just getting that speed up there. She did a lot more drills on trail legs in practice that I don’t think she used last year.
“Her lean forward got better as well. A lot of hurdlers will tend to lean back as they go over the hurdles but she’s progressively leaning forward and punching through and that’s something we focused on this season.”
With a 3.83 grade point average and membership in the National Honor Society, it’s easy to see how Nicolas could learn to figure things out quickly. She is also a member of the LHS Black Student Union, Students Helping Honduras and String Orchestra clubs. Isabelle has played violin since fourth grade and most recently performed in the school’s spring concert.
“I’ve always been a really busy girl,” she said. “If I’m not doing dance, it was orchestra. If I’m not in orchestra, it’s track. It’s always something. It just keeps me going.”
Since she is used to playing in front of crowds as a musician, Nicolas was asked if it helped her deal with the big crowds at major meets.
“Definitely (more nerves) at a track meet,” she said. “When you’re doing an instrument nobody can really hear just you. It’s everybody playing together. But when it’s the track it’s just you versus everyone else.
“It doesn’t faze me, necessarily. I always want to do my best so I’m always gonna have a little nervousness right before they call the gun. It’s a little intense for me but I get over it as soon as I start the first race.”
Nicolas’ career began by doing strictly sprints in middle school but she was always interested in hurdles and eventually – not to mention fortuitously – moved in that direction. Her first high school season was indoor track as a freshman, where she did sprints and the 55 hurdles. Her best time in hurdles was 10.90, which she reduced to 10.09 at this past winter’s CJ III championships.
The Covid-19 shutdown hit in the spring of her ninth-grade year, and Nicolas had a low-key winter season as a sophomore. Last spring, which wasn’t a full season by track & field standards, Isabelle was basically getting acclimated to the hurdles.
“I definitely think it was different last year,” Nicolas said. “I worked some in my freshman year but it picks up more as you get older. I wasn’t used to being a varsity athlete yet. But sophomore year was kind of prepping me for that. So it was a lot more responsibility to take on, but it was fun and exciting to learn from that.”
Isabelle ran a then-PR 17.91 in a CVC Valley Division qualifier, and also ran the 100 and 200 frequently. The focus on strictly the hurdles this year has been helpful.
“It’s definitely more of an improvement,” Nicolas said. “I focus more on technique, I focus more on getting bigger stride lengths because that’s the key thing to hurdling; taking those big steps if you can.”
Aside from the 100 hurdles, she actually took second in the 400 hurdles in a dual meet with Robbinsville and finished fourth in the Big Red Classic,
“She definitely has potential for that,” Cruz said. “Last year she did a few 400 hurdle races at our dual meets but we saw how much potential she had in the 100 hurdles and that’s where her speed is at so we wanted her to emphasize those 100 hurdles.”
Whatever Nicolas does, she is willing to take coaching.
“She is not the type to tune us out or be dismissive in any way,” Cruz said. “She listens to what we have to say. She’ll run with it. She communicates with us, she’s a big leader for the younger girls. Just overall the ideal teammate, athlete and student.”
Although she endures a hectic schedule between academics, violin and track, two of those activities provide her with nice outlets.
“Violin is just a hobby for me,” she said. “I like violin. It gives me something to focus on when I’m trying to de-stress from everything. Track is a sort of therapy for me. It hasn’t always been that way but as I’ve gotten older I appreciate the art of running because it just makes my life more enjoyable, I guess.”
After she completes one more year of high school, Isabelle is hoping she will continue to enjoy that art at the next level.
“I would definitely love to run track in college,” she said. “But I’m not pushing it because wherever life takes me, it takes me.”
And she’s ready to clear all hurdles on the journey.
High hurdler Isabelle Nicolas on the track at Lawrence High School.,
