Nicosia doing well for UM track squad

Former Wildkat track star Carla Nicosia continues to make her way to the top of the college scene, recently taking second in the triple jump at the Big Sky Conference outdoor track championships in Missoula.

Competing in her redshirt junior year for the University of Montana, Nicosia recorded a personal-best leap of 12.12 meters (39.76 feet) for the Griz to finish just behind Brittany Patterson of Sacramento State, who won the event at 12.35 meters.

“It was awesome to put in a jump like that,” Nicosia said about the feat. “It was great because all of the hard work I have put in over the past three years finally paid off.”

The jump was less than a foot short of helping Nicosia reach one of her personal goals, advancing to the NCAA regional meet be ranking in the top 48 competitors in the event among western NCAA Division I schools.

“I’ve had a list of goals hanging on my wall since I went to the state track meet as a freshman in high school,” she said. “One was to compete in track at a Division I school, and I have done that. Another one was to triple jump 40 feet, and I am close to getting that one, too.”

While they might not have been on her list as a high school freshman, Nicosia said two of her new goals are winning the Big Sky Championship in the triple jump in her senior season next year and qualifying for the regional meet.

Nicosia actually had a slightly longer jump in a meet prior to the Big Sky Championships this season, but the wind-aided leap did not count toward her regional ranking. She also said that she had a few jumps further than 40 feet this season, but that they did not count because she barely scratched on takeoff of the leaps.

Nicosia has come a long way since her freshman season in 2016, in which she recorded triple jump leaps of 10.99 meters during the indoor track season and 11.40 meters in the outdoor season. Since 2016, Nicosia had added more than 3 feet to her indoor mark in the sport since her freshman year and 2.36 feet in the outdoor event.

Nicosia’s success has not only come on the field, as she has been named to the Academic All-Big Sky Conference in the indoor sport four times and the outdoor sport three times as she pursues a bachelor’s degree in exercise science with a minor in psychology.

Nicosia has one more season of eligibility in outdoor track and hopes to achieve all of her goals before graduating next May.

“I have always had my goals and I know that with focus and working hard, I will get there,” she said.