Not many athletes can come in as freshmen and dominate their sport in their first season.

But as Bridget Franek proved, she is no typical women's cross country athlete.

This Monday, Franek heads to Terre Haute, Ind., for the NCAA Championship. Franek is the only woman representative for the Nittany Lions at the final meet of the cross country season.

In all six meets this season, Franek has posted the top time for Penn State, setting multiple personal bests along the way, even though Franek often found herself running alongside seasoned veterans.

At the first few meets this year, Franek actually posted the top time at the Lock Haven Invitational while finishing first in scoring at the Penn State National Invitational.

Franek got more widespread attention and praise after she was named the Big Ten Runner of the Week after leading the Penn State team to a second-place finish at the Penn State National Invitational.

"It was unexpected and really cool," freshman Bridget Franek said. "I was just so honored about it."

Penn State cross country coach Beth Alford-Sullivan has coached 31 All-Americans and led powerhouse Stanford to the NCAA Team Title in 1996.

However, she notices how special Franek is and how rare it is for freshmen to accomplish so much right away, considering college races are 6K, compared to the 5K races in high school.

"Her drive is very strong for competition and success. She wants to prove herself and she gets inspired to compete in actual competition," Alford-Sullivan said. "She has a great physical and mental makeup."

Franek came to Penn State from Hiram, Ohio, making her the only athlete on the team from that state, where she attended Crestwood High School.

As a two-year athlete on her high school's cross country team and a four-year starter on the track and field team, Franek won the individual state championship and led her team to a fourth place finish in the states competition. So, she is no stranger to success.

Franek chose to attend Penn State after visiting the school.

She also thought about attending Washington, Oregon, and Villanova but couldn't pass up on becoming a Nittany Lion.

"It had a lot to do with the team atmosphere. And all of the educational opportunities and diversity here," Franek said.

Franek is excited for the meet this upcoming Monday, but acknowledges that it will be different without having any of her fellow teammates running with her.

"It's going to be lonely. I'm missing my team," Franek said.

But by no means does her being the lone Nittany Lion at the NCAA Championship put more pressure on her back, at least, according to Franek.

Instead, she sees it more as an opportunity to get a glimpse of what should be even more Penn State successes during the next cross country season.

"It is just really cool to represent the team. Just ready for the next few years to convince everyone [about Penn State]," Franek said.