Courtesy of the Big Sky Conference

Indoor, outdoor, in Texas and Arkansas. It didn't matter for Swedish-born distance runner Ida Nilsson.

The former Northern Arizona University standout won two NCAA national championship – one indoor and one outdoor – in two different events, in two different years in two different states. Her championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 5,000 meters rank eighth on the Big Sky Conference's list of "25 Greatest Women's Moments.''

"I'm happy to be selected on the list," Nilsson wrote via e-mail from Sweden, where she lives and works.

Nilsson, who competed for the Lumberjacks from 2001-05, is not only a two-time NCAA Champion, but is also the Big Sky Conference's only four-time women's cross country champion.

Nilsson won her first title at the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship in Austin, Texas. She captured the 3,000-meter steeplechase title in her final season of outdoor eligibility.

Just a few weeks prior, Nilsson hit her knee on the steeplechase barrier at regionals. Luckily, that didn't effect her during the regional race, but the next week her knee swelled up and she wasn't able to run.

Nilsson, who finished second in both 2002 and 2003 at the NCAA Championship in the event, had a goal of finishing her senior outdoor season on top. The injury could have derailed those plans.

"I remember going camping with my brother and sister, and I was sitting with the knee in a cold stream the entire afternoon," said Nilsson. "When we arrived in Austin, the knee was finally getting better and I felt, now, I'm going to do this."

Nilsson won the second heat of the preliminaries with a time of 9 minutes, 48:29 seconds. Toledo's Briana Shook won the first heat, and was considered the runner to beat.

"The prelims got postponed because of a storm, and we had to wait another day to get started," recalled Nilsson. "I don't remember much of the race at all. I know that it was me and Brianna Shook who were racing in front, but I can't remember at all how the race unfolded."

"It was very windy and humid so it was hard to run really fast, but I was very happy for the win," added Nilsson.

Nilsson finished the finals in 9:48.29, edging Shock (9:49.44) to capture her first NCAA Championship.

Nilsson's final season of elibility came in the winter of 2005. She won the Big Sky cross country championship in the fall of 2004, and then took December off to travel to Peru and Bolivia. On the trip, she was stricken with food poisioning.

At the start of the indoor season, she was weak from the illness, and wasn't practicing well.

"I managed to qualify for the NCAA, and I felt better and better as the season went on," she said.

At the Big Sky Championship, she claimed titles in the mile, 3,000 and 5,000, earning Track Athlete of the Meet honors.

She went on to run the 5,000 at the NCAA Indoor Championship in Fayetteville, Ark.

It marked the first time she competed in the 5,000 at the NCAAs. She was fifth in the 3,000 in 2002, and third in 2004.

"This time I was not so focused on winning, and I had a pretty hard time leading up to the championships," said Nilsson. "I can't tell you anything about this race, It's blank in my mind. All I remember was that coach (John) Hayes was happy since he was the new coach at NAU."

Nilsson won in a time of 15:50:20, more than two seconds ahead of Columbia's Caroline Bierbaum.

After her career at NAU, Nilsson attempted to keep running. Injuries plagued her, and a stress fracture in her hip joint suffered in 2009 forced her to stop. Her hip finally healed this past summer.

Nilsson currently works at a mountain resort in her native Sweden where she started a program to become a wilderness and adventure guide.