The two-time SSC Cross Country Champion serves as a nurse on the west coast
Nova Southeastern Athletics would like to recognize former women’s cross country and track and field athlete Alexandria Palm as its GEICO Alumni of the Month.
A 2014 graduate in Nursing, Palm began her professional career at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago in the Emergency/Trauma department. She went on to become an ER travel nurse in Denver and Phoenix. She was a pediatric ER nurse in Phoenix when the COVID-19 pandemic began and is transitioning to a career as a trauma flight nurse in northern California.
“Nova Southeastern Athletics taught me strength, resilience and ambition that I now use every day in my field of work,” Palm said. “I am so thankful for all my lifelong memories and experiences I gained while at Nova.”
From the moment Palm arrived from Winnebago High School in Illinois, it was obvious she would have a huge impact on the cross country program. From her rookie season in 2010, Palm kicked off a career rewriting the NSU history books – breaking the Sharks’ 5k and 6k records as a freshman, helping NSU to a second-place finish at the Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Championships and a fourth-place team ending at the NCAA South Regional. She finished seventh in the Regional race.
As a sophomore, Palm again led the Sharks to more history, maintaining the second-place team finish at the SSC Championships (in which she finished sixth) and pacing the Sharks to a third-place finish at the NCAA South Regional.
However, as Palm became an upperclassman, everything clicked into place. In 2012, Palm became the first women’s runner to win a Sunshine State Conference individual title. Notching first-team All-SSC accolades, Palm’s winning time of 21:51 set a school record in the 6k, surpassing her own mark by 12 seconds. The Sharks would again finish second and third at Regionals – with Palm coming in third in the Regional. Palm led the Sharks to their first team appearance at nationals as the lead runner – her 22:34 gave her sole possession of the five fastest 6k times in the NSU history book at the time.
Her final campaign as a Shark cemented her place in history, winning her second consecutive individual SSC Championship, being named the SSC Runner of the year, downing her own 6k record at 21:50 as the first runner to win the conference meet in back-to-back seasons since 2005 and crossing the line in second at the NCAA Regional. The Sharks again were third at Regionals and returned to the National meet.
On the track, Palm recorded a third-place 3000m finish at the NCAA South Regional as a rookie, was third in the Peach Belt 3000m steeplechase as a sophomore for an All-Region bid and finished out her NSU track career with a pair of personal bests for third in the Peach Belt 3000m steeple (11:34.37) and sixth in the 10,000m (40:18.53) in her third and final season, again notching All-Region honors.
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