DENVER – Everything has come full circle for MSU Denver 800 meters star Nick Nowlen.
 
A late-season surprise as a freshman all the way back in 2019, Nowlen stormed into the NCAA Division II National Championships field with a time of 1 minute, 54.01 seconds while placing second at the RMAC Championships.
 
But, for two seasons, Nowlen rarely broke two minutes – his best was 1:56.23 for fourth at the 2021 RMACs.
 
This season, though, Nowlen is back to being among the best, consistently winning, posting a career-best raw time of 1:51.46 and another time – converted for altitude and track size to 1:49.79 – that has him ranked sixth in NCAA Division II this season.
 
And so it's back to the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships for Nowlen. And, just like in 2019, the meet is in Pittsburg, Kan.
 
"This season has been so fun," MSU Denver coach Janis Christopher said. "It was really hard to see him struggle and know that there are so many things that are out of our control to get him, and to make sure he had all he needed to succeed. It's very exciting to see him get back to where he was, and when he had that race at (Colorado School of) Mines (the converted 1:49.79) after running so well at Grand Valley (his personal-best raw time) … he had his heart set on it, and did it. There were some tearful moments because I was so happy for him."
 
The 800-meter preliminaries are set for 3:40 p.m. MST on Friday. Should Nowlen post one of the top eight times, he would advance to Saturday's 5:25 p.m. MST final.
 
He would also become MSU Denver's first All-American in men's indoor track & field since Kirk Harvey, in 2014, in the 3000 meters.
 
The 800 is MSU Denver's signature event – it's lone national champion (both indoors and outdoor) was 800 star Anthony Luna.
 
Nowlen is MSU Denver's lone representative at this year's meet. In fact, since 2015 he is the only Roadrunner male to qualify for indoor nationals.
 
But carrying the weight of the program isn't too much of a burden.
 
"It's always fun to have teammates around, especially at the National Championships, when everyone's focus is to all do the same – to do something great," Christopher said. "There can be a lot of down time. So when you have a solo athlete, there's a bigger emphasis on getting out of the hotel and doing things."
 
And, of course, in this era, you're never really alone.
 
"Nick has found a way to bring his teammates – they're all playing Xbox online together," Christopher said. "He can hear their voices over his headset."
 
Interstingly, Christopher said that Nowlen's internal headset has been a big key to his bounceback season. As with many of MSU Denver's student-athletes, a sports psychologist has helped.
 
"The 800 is a really painful race," she said. "There are not a lot of people who can mentally do it, people who are  willing to go out and hurt for a long time. You have to be able to run towards the pain, and if you aren't in the mental space to do it, it's easy to talk yourself out of it. But now he knows what to say to himself to keep himself going."
 
A big key this weekend will be Nowlen's experience. National championships in Pittsburg, Kan.? He's been there and done that.
 
"We weren't expecting to be at the National Championships his freshman year," Christopher said. "It's vastly different if you're a 19-year-old kid whose biggest meet previously was the high school state championships. It's intimidating and you don't quite understand that you really do belong there. You're just as good as everyone else, but you don't have the racing experience."
 
Nowlen, 16^th in the event in 2019, has the experience now. He'll plot strategy for the prelims with Associate Coach Amanda Rego, a race plan savant. And he'll work to get into Saturday's final.
 
After that?
 
"In the finals, there's some strategy involved, but a lot of it is guts," Christopher said.