#3 | Female Athlete of 2015

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Molly Seidel: The Unstoppable Foot Locker Curse-Breaker

Notre DameÂ’s Molly Seidel became a double NCAA Champion in 2015, as well as a “curse-breaker.” Her outstanding campaign began during the indoor season when she became a double ACC Conference Champion in the 3K and 5K, broke the Notre Dame 5K school record, formerly held by Molly Huddle, and finished sixth in the NCAA Indoor 5K. 



During the outdoor season, however, is when she cemented herself in the record books. In only her third 10K of her career, Seidel won the NCAA Outdoor Championship in 33:18 over defending champion Emma Bates and favorite Dominique Scott. 



Her 10K win got us to thinking — could Seidel break the Foot Locker “curse”? The word “curse” wasnÂ’t meant to insult anyone of course, but before 2015, no female Foot Locker Champion had ever gone on to win an NCAA Cross Country Championship. After finishing second in the competitive adidas Wisconsin Invite and dominating the ACC Championships, Seidel squashed the NCAA title by winning the 6K in 19:29, five seconds over Boise StateÂ’s Allie Ostrander. Now with two consecutive NCAA wins under her belt, itÂ’ll be hard to top Seidel in 2016.