Duke signee has potential to win four events as Eagles look to become just sixth girls program in section history to win four consecutive years, only the second in Division 3

By Landon Negri for DyeStat

Success is nothing new for Santa Margarita CA senior Nikki Merritt, but she’s taken things to a whole new level during her final high school track season.

As Merritt gets ready for the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 finals, as part of the all-division finals meet Saturday at El Camino College in Torrance, she does so not only as someone setting new standards in multiple events, but also one who could lead Santa Margarita to a fourth consecutive section championship.

Does that put her on double duty? You bet.

MERRITT INTERVIEW

“Track is kind of an interesting sport because it’s both individual and team,” Merritt said. “Definitely everyone on the team has to go out there with the right attitude and play their part and I definitely take some responsibility for – hopefully – a team title, along with everyone else on the team.

“Everyone’s worked so hard up to this point, so everyone knows what they have to do. We just have to get out there with the right attitude and be ready to run.”

Merritt has been in that mode for a long time before kicking things into high gear April 26 at the Trinity League prelims, when she ran personal bests in the 100 meters, 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles. The latter is the leading mark in the state at 42.23 seconds, and closing in on the Orange County record of 41.95 set in 2016 by former Newport Harbor standout and Colorado State sophomore Emma Kratzberg.

Her 100 time (11.82) from that day ranks fifth in the Southern Section. Her mark of 13.97 in the 100 hurdles makes her the No. 4 performer.

And you begin to get the picture.

Merritt followed that up a week later with four league championships in the same three events, as well as in the 4x100 relay. That also meant she was a four-time league champ in both hurdles events.

But she’s not going to choose as she moves on through the postseason.

“Go as far as I can in every event that I can,” she said. “I just get out there on the track and focus on that one event I’m running at that moment – and I just hope that pays off in the bigger picture.”

That flies in the face of some athletes’ strategies, when they count on paring down to one or two events as the postseason progresses. Merritt is thinking about that legacy for her team, and quite frankly, she just wants to go for it.

She’s pacing herself, too, as her marks at the Division 3 prelims May 12 were off of what she done at league finals.

That makes sense, as nobody can peak every single week.

Her hurdles coach, Dave Zeitler – the longtime head coach for cross country and track at Santa Margarita before his son, Sean Zeitler, took over seven years ago – believes this will be a big week.

“I don’t know if I told her or not,  but it was definitely on my mind that I wasn’t expecting 13.90,” Dave Zeitler said. “I didn’t expect it every single week. But I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I expect something like that this week, because it’s finals.”

Nikki, of course, is not the first Santa Margarita standout with the Merritt surname.

Older sister Kaitlyn was a standout track athlete for the Eagles, and still holds the school record in the pole vault at 13-9 – equal to the No. 3 performer in state history – and is now at Stanford, where their parents also went to college.
That’s yet another legacy to live up to. Nikki embraces it.

“Kaitlyn is actually a lot of my inspiration coming into this sport,” Nikki said. “She’s the one who inspired me and encouraged me to come out for track. I did end up picking up different events than her. (It) wasn’t so much a competition, or lack thereof – it was more of just finding my passion in events that I love and I can succeed in.”

She talks to Kaitlyn “multiple times per week,” and will continue sibling distance after this year – as Nikki is headed to Duke to run track.

Add in a sweet disposition, and Nikki Merritt has been everything and more for Santa Margarita.

“She’s about the nicest person you can ever meet, honest,” Dave Zeitler said. “I’ve been coaching 41 years – 36 in track and the varsity level. I’ve never coached anybody like her. She’s as nice as could be and she’s by far the best athlete I’ve ever coached. I think she’s one of the best athletes to come out of Orange County, personally.”

The nicest way for Merritt to conclude her final section championship meet would be helping the Eagles become only the sixth girls team in any division to win four consecutive titles, including the first in Division 3 since Morningside capped its run of seven straight crowns overall – the first three in Division 2A – with four in a row from 1993-96.

“In this case, with the CIF finals, because we have such a great chance of hopefully taking home the team title, I definitely take on a little bit more pressure with the team, but beyond that, I definitely try and go out there and run my personal best (in every event),” Merritt said. “But that does contribute to the team success, so it’s a little bit of both.”