Laura Hollander took the collegiate cross-country scene by surprise at the 2012 Wisconsin Adidas Invitational, where she claimed her second victory of the season against one of the most elite fields in the nation. Her name was tossed around as a contender for the NCAA crown at the November national championships. 

"Last year was so dissapointing with how I finished," Hollander said. "On that day that was my best and I gave it everything I could, but for me it was like 'Wow, was that only my best?' I felt that I could have done so much better. I think it was a matter of peaking at the right time and that I wasn't really my best at the end of the season. The one thing I care about the most is doing my best."

Now 19-years-old and entering her sophomore year at Cal Poly, Hollander appears to be the biggest threat to the pre-season national title favorite, Abbey D’Agostino. Isaac Wood’s pre-season projections for 2013 NCAA Cross-Country National Championship have her as the third place finisher behind D’Agostino and Kentucky’s Cally Macumber.

Hollander did not run during indoor season, which is not out of the ordinary for too many cross-country runners at Cal Poly. Head coach Mark Conover rests many of his cross-country runners in preparation for the outdoor track season. Five months after finishing ninth at the cross-country championship in Louisville, she made her outdoor track debut at the Mt. SAC Relays as she placed third in the women’s 5,000-meter elite race in 15:53.73.

Her performance at Mt. SAC was followed up with a 1,500-meter run in 4:25.87 at the Cal Poly/UCSB Dual Meet and then she won the Big West 5,000-meter conference title in 16:25.62.

In her post-race interview at Mt. SAC, Hollander cited a knee injury at the beginning of the track season, which may be the reason why she did not run at the Stanford Invitational after appearing on the original entry list. Her season came to an unfortunate end as she fell off her bicycle on campus and landed on her hip. Doctors found a torn leg muscle and recommended rest, which prevented her from running at the NCAA West Regional Meet in Austin. 

Hollander took a three week break from running and is back on a similar training plan as she was prior to her freshman year. Last week, she ran 80 miles, but has consistently been in the 75 mile per week range. 

Conover is very careful with Hollander and is taking a long-term progression approach to her training. There's a learning curve between an athlete and their coach. Conover sees that curve improve with one year under Hollander's belt. 

"I don't think Laura has maxed out at what she's capable of doing. We'll look at things to try and get athletes to improve, whether it's working on their running mechanics or their all-out speed. In the last mile of a race for example, there are several variables that every athlete needs to improve upon as they progress in their careers."

Hollander believes she peaked too early in her cross-country season and would be open to making minor adjustments in her training to optimize her performance for November. 

"Going back I don't think I would have done anything too differently, even though I'm disappointed with how Nationals turned out. I know I could have done better." Hollander said. "I don't think I'd train less or not train as hard, but I think it's more of making sure I take those days in between workouts to run relaxed and make sure I'm not pushing it on those easy days."

Of all the runners ahead of Laura Hollander at the NCAA Championship, Oregon's Jordan Hasay was the only one that did not run a season’s best in Louisville. Hasay set her season’s best two weeks before that where she defeated Hollander by six seconds at the NCAA West Regional Championship.

Hollander has seen her fair share of comparisons to Hasay – so much so that Sports Illustrated confused the two in a photograph. Hasay got faster with each race leading up to the NCAA National Championship. Hollander’s October was much faster than her November. 

When asked about how she can separate herself from the comparison to Hasay's legacy, Hollander mapped out her plans for her future running career. 

"I would love to win a national title in cross-country during one of my years," Hollander said. "I want to see how good I can get in the 5K on the track as well. The 10K does not sound fun to me at all on the track, but I do think that will be a good race for me. I feel that I am more of an endurance runner, so I want to see what I can do in the 10K possibly and hopefully win a national title on the track too. I just want to keep running after college and see how long I can run for. As long as I love doing it to keep doing forever."

Sounds a lot like how Hasay's collegiate career turned out. An NCAA cross-country title for Hollander would be something Hasay never attained. 

The Cal Poly sophomore shattered the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational course record by 20 seconds and then the Big West Conference Championship course by 45 seconds. Many of those times were a result of running from the front of the pack and pushing the pace. Hollander expects that to continue to be her style.

"I do think that's just the way I run. It's the way I ran in high school. I did learn a lot this track season just by watching the races," Hollander said. "I know track is different strategically than cross-country, but that is the way I'm going to want to run. I know I need to work on my finish."

The 2013 Cal Poly Mustangs schedule does not include the Wisconsin Invitational on October 19. If she is healthy and does not redshirt, here is a list of the possible races for her before the NCAA Championship. 

September 14 - Fresno State Invitational
Possible season opener for Hollander after beginning her 2012 campaign at the PAC 12 Preview Elite Invitational on September 21.  There is also the Cal Poly vs. UCSB Lagoon Open on August 31. Coach Conover does not expect her to race both. 

October 4 - NCAA West Regional Preview

October 19 - Pre-National Invitational 
Dartmouth will be at the Wisconsin Invitational, so a preview of D'Agostino vs. Hollander will have to wait until the NCAA Championship. Cally Macumber will be there with the Kentucky Wildcats. 

November 2 - Big West Conference Championship
No need for a course record, when Hollander already holds it from last year's race. 

November 15 - NCAA West Regional
This was the site of last year’s Hasay vs. Hollander battle that lived up to the hype. With no Hasay or Kathy Kroeger, Arizona State junior Shelby Houlihan will be the next best returner. After redshirting the 2012 season, Boise State's Emma Bates will be Hollander’s biggest challenger for the West title. 

November 23 - NCAA Championship
Showtime vs. Abbey D’Agostino

Chris Chavez is a staff writer for Flotrack and a journalism major at Marquette University. He once beat Joey Fatone of NSYNC in a half-marathon. Feel free to to reach him with any questions, comments, or feedback on Twitter or by email.