WATCH THE FREE NIKE CROSS NATIONALS LIVE WEBCAST DEC. 3 ON RUNNERSPACE

Liesel Kehoe, a junior at Edmond North High and the reigning Nike Outdoor Nationals 5,000-meter champion as well as the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association 6A state cross country winner, joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss her recovery from a hip injury to qualify to race Dec. 3 at Nike Cross Nationals at Glendoveer Golf Course in Oregon. Kehoe missed the first half of the season and did hours of aqua jogging to rehabilitate her injury, before making her season debut Oct. 11 to win her conference meet in a 5-kilometer personal-best 17:11.9. She revisits Edmond North taking third Oct. 29 behind Owasso and Deer Creek at the 6A state championship, along with capturing the academic team award, and how inspired she was to have junior teammate Morgan Kirkland take third behind her victory in 17:14.4. Kehoe reflects on competing Nov. 19 at NXR South at Bear Branch Park in The Woodlands, Texas, and the challenges all the athletes endured with rain, wind and mud, and how she navigated her way to a third-place finish in 17:33.2 to advance to NXN. She explains how beneficial it was to have strong competition from Texas athletes Isabel Conde de Frankenberg of Cedar Park, San Juanita Leal of Edinburgh North, McKenzie Bailey of Georgetown and Macy Wingard from Denton Braswell, in addition to the qualifying teams from Southlake Carroll, Lucas Lovejoy and Flower Mound. Kehoe analyzes the significance of being the first Oklahoma female athlete to qualify for NXN since Cheyenne Walden of Charles Page in 2016, and looking to become the first overall to earn All-America honors. She examines how meaningful it was to not only win the Nike Outdoor championship in the 5,000 at Hayward Field in Eugene in June, but also to make the trip with teammates Morgan Kirkland, Camryn Kirkland and Elle Schuppan to compete in the distance medley relay. Kehoe expresses gratitude for the support of family, friends and teammates throughout her recovery, and shares her ambitiion to race at the national level again in March during the 2023 indoor track season.