She heard herself say it out loud during last fall's cross country season: "My goal is to win the national championship." Even so, Boise State University junior Emma Bates wasn't convinced it was possible. "It was definitely a lofty goal," she says, "but after each race it became more realistic."

While she finished runner-up to Dartmouth's Abbey D'Agostino last November in Terre Haute, Ind., the season propelled Bates to a new level--and a new outlook.

"The first time I asked Emma what she thought she could do, she hemmed and hawed," says coach Corey Ihmels, who was new at Boise State. "So I stopped her and said, 'You know what? I think you can win.' She looked at me like I was crazy, but she started to believe."

HELP FOR A WEARY MOM

Bates grew up in Elk River, Minn., 35 miles northwest of Minneapolis, and began running in sixth grade at her mother's urging. "I had a lot of energy as a kid," Bates says, "and she wanted to wear me out." Bates boasted modest high school personal bests of 11:08.25 for 3200m and 5:00.13 for 1600m and was recruited sparingly. She was headed for the University of Minnesota until she made the visit to Boise State. "I fell in love with Idaho," she says, "the landscape and scenery, the trails. Plus, it's milder than Minnesota, and that was really appealing."

During Bates' first year of college, she was diagnosed with celiac disease and shifted to a gluten-free diet. It wasn't until her sophomore outdoor track season that she qualified for nationals, finishing 12th in the 5,000m (in 16:43). Then Bates' progress was again interrupted, this time by plantar fasciitis.

Last winter she lowered her mile and 5,000m bests to 4:42.49 and 15:50.78. Outdoors she claimed third at 10,000m at NCAAs and came back 48 hours later to finish seventh in the 5,000m. Her times weren't fast, but her only concern was place. "Once I pulled into third in the last lap [of the 10,000m]," she says, "it hit me that I may be one of the top girls in the nation."

SHOWING HER SPEED

Ihmels' arrival in Boise, after a successful decade coaching at Iowa State, was a surprise. But it was a positive development for Bates.

In Ames, Ihmels had developed a string of Division I All-Americans, like Lisa Uhl (then Koll), who ran 31:18.07 for 10,000m, and Kenyan Betsy Saina, who won three NCAA titles. Ihmels says his new pupil can surpass them both. "Emma's got a bit more speed than both Lisa and Betsy, a little more get-up-and-go," Ihmels says, "and her aerobic capacity is not far off."

The only blemish to Bates' great cross country season was a split-second loss to high school standout Alexa Efraimson at the Bill Dellinger Invitational. The experience stung, especially in light of Bates' public proclamation of her goals. But she bounced back, kicking to snatch a pre-nationals victory away from Stanford's Aisling Cuffe. Bates went on to win the West Regional and mounted a stronger challenge to D'Agostino than many expected. "I really tried to stick in there, and I'm proud of that race," Bates says.

The current track season will see the intensity of her training cranked up. She ran 80 to 90 miles a week all fall. "But we didn't do a lot of workouts," she says. "I know that's going to change."

Ihmels says Bates' speed hasn't been tapped yet, but it will be on display this spring. "We'll keep the mileage high through indoor, and she will continue to have a steady diet of threshold and hills," he says. "She's going to be a really good 10,000m runner, but she's got unfinished business at the 5K."

Good health. Idyllic training location. Proven big-time coach. It's all in place now for Bates. "I feel I have a lot to prove on the track, because I haven't really raced fast at all," she says. "People don't really know me, because I don't have any fast times. I want to show people what I can do."