In very rare cases would an athlete be able to walk onto a team and not only dominate, but become a part of school history.

Making the Top 10 on few list including in the No. 10 spot in the discus of all-time at Eastern.

Accomplishments like that are typically thought to be star recruiting athlete. This must be a rare case.

Senior track and field thrower, Zack Nielsen is now experiencing what is considered to be his breakout season.

According to Nielsen, he feels that is it a little too late and he could have done things better earlier, but at the same time, he is experiencing the most enjoyable time with teammates and himself.

“It’s been a blast,” Nielsen said. “If it were to end now, I wouldn’t be disappointed at all.”

Nielsen is making the cut to land Top 10 in a few categories for Eastern’s track and field events. Thus far, Nielsen said that his accomplishments are exciting.

“In my indoor event indoor variation, hammers and weight throws, I finished indoor season third all-time in that and I moved up to No. 3 spot all-time in the hammer,” Nielsen said. “The only people I have to beat are my teammate [Jordan Arakawa] who is great, phenomenal and David Paul who works out at Central [Washington University].”

Seniors Steven Warner and Jasmine Stray have witnessed Nielsen’s journey since the beginning of his college career. To them, Nielsen is more than worthy of all the success he is accomplishing.

“He’s definitely one of the hardest working people I have ever met,” Stray said. “He definitely has a determination about him that you may see in a lot of college athletics but he has this drive. He’s very determined, very competitive, very motivated.”

When taking into consideration the circumstances under which Nielsen joined the team, Warner agrees that he is one of the most hardest working people he knows.

“When you think of [Nielsen] being a walk-on,” Warner said. “He’s always been talented. So him shining through and getting his moment, I can’t even put into words. I am ecstatic for him.”

Stray and Warner both agree that Nielsen is not an average college athlete. They say he is a role model both on and off the field.

Zack Nielsen met his wife Jade Nielsen when they were 12, got engaged at 17 and got married August 2012; for Warner, that is a reason he looks up to Zack Nielsen.

“One thing that is important to me and we’ve never really talked about it is the role model he is,” Warner said. “He might be the only guy on the team who is married right now. It’s hard for a lot people to be in a relationship in college let alone be married. The way he handles himself and the way he speaks about his wife; those kinds of things speak about his character, speaks volumes to his character to me.”

For Zack Nielsen, there were definitely times he wanted to throw in the towel and quit because it was not fun. However, with the support of his wife, family and close friends, he continued and for that, they play a huge part of who he is becoming.

“I love my wife so much,” Zack Nielsen said as tears come to his eyes. “She is really supportive. When I have a bad day and I come home and she is there I talk to her and she makes everything a lot easier.”

Being the only person in his family who chose athletics as a path to pursue, Zack Nielsen said he does not feel pressure in that aspect.

With a father who will be retiring next year after serving 34 years in the military service and a grandfather who served in War World ll, Zack Nielsen said that he has big shoes to fill as a man in his family. With the support of his wife and family, everything is easier.

“My parents are the same way. They’re extremely supportive,” Nielsen said. “I have all the support in the world! My roommate, we’re damn near siblings now. My wife and I live with one of my old teammates and I just met her when I came to college. We’re extremely close. She’s supportive and always excited to talk to me about throwing and how I am doing.”

According to Stray, Zack Nielsen is someone you will never catch giving up or quitting on anything. She said Zack Nielsen is a role model that college coaches want to be a part of their team.

Stray said that Zack Nielsen has been her best friend and has helped her constantly throughout their last five years here.

“You hope your athletes have someone like him to talk to and look up to mentor with,” Stray said. “Inside and out, athletically, academically, his personality, he’s the whole package of what you want when you think of student athlete.”

Warner has also witnessed these characteristics.

With the track team facing several personal hardships this year, particularly within the throwers group, Warner noticed that many players turned to Nielsen for guidance and support.

“Certain people had families passing and that it shoots you throw a loop. But when I look at how [Zack Nielsen] is to be able to pull some of them out of and be that light they could kind of look to, that speaks volumes to his character too.”

Coming into this school year, Warner said that Zack Nielsen mentioned he wanted to do better in school and educated himself a little more.

Academically, Zack Nielsen has been named to two consecutive Big Sky All-Academic teams.

Zack Nielsen’s positive mindset and disciplined work ethics has landed his a position here at Eastern as a graduated assistant strengthening and conditioning coach next year, which gives him the opportunity to work on his master’s degree as well.

Zack Nielsen is very thankful for Amir Owens the current head strengthening and conditioning coach for giving him the opportunity. Zack Nielsen said a lot of his work ethics he has learned from Owens, so he is looking forward to working alongside of him and still assisting his fellow Eagles.

“I’m very excited. One I like the prospect of wearing shorts to work every day of the rest of my life,” Zack Nielsen said. “I’ll be working with the guys I am working with now and it’s a blast! Everyone has those days when they don’t want to go to work. So if that’s me, I’ll come in, if I am low energy, I come in and they bump me out of my slump. It’s great. I love it.”