EUGENE, Ore. Nicole Blood only wanted to compete.

She had selected her dream school in the University of Oregon and arrived in the fall ready for cross country. An untimely injury, namely a fracture in her sacrum, halted those plans and left her a spectator.

The sacrum is the triangular segment of the spinal column that forms the back side of the pelvis. The Royal High graduate says the injury "almost feels like a pinched nerve."

"I worked really hard all summer," Blood said. "I was in great shape probably the best shape of my life and then to come and get that news the first day was tough, but (the coaches) were great with it and they kept me motivated."

Blood took six weeks off to recover.

Now fully healthy, Blood is deep into the outdoor season and headed for the NCAA Championships in Sacramento in two weeks. She finished in third place in the 5,000-meter race in the NCAA West Regional Championships at Hayward Field on Friday. The top five finishers advanced to Sacramento.

All outdoor season Blood has dabbled in different races the 800, 1,500 or 5,000.

"It keeps it exciting so you're not just too focused on one event," Blood said. "Sometimes that just gets tiring."

Blood, who ran the 1,500 and 5,000 two weeks ago at the Pacific-10 Championships, focused on the 5,000 this time, figuring it'd be her best chance to reach the NCAA Championships. She was right.

The Saratoga Springs, N.Y., native ran a steady race Friday and stayed within the front five runners for much of the race.

On the last lap, Blood sped around Bowerman curve and blew past Washington's Anita Campbell in the last 20 meters for third place. Blood crossed the finish line in 16 minutes, 19.15 seconds. She bettered her personal best by eight seconds.

"I was trying to be as patient as I could," Blood said. "Coach wanted me to wait. I know (Campbell's) a great runner, so that just gave me confidence. I knew I was going to have a big time so I just tried to keep my form good and finish as hard as I could."

Blood chose Oregon over Providence, North Carolina and Villanova.

"I could have went to any of them and been happy, but when I came here, it's just the energy that surrounded running and just all the fans and the way the coaches were really optimistic. I really got the feeling that this is where I wanted to be," she said.

Blood rehabbed with another injured teammate, Bria Wetsch, in the fall and the pair made it back for the Pac-10 Cross Country Championships. Blood placed 28th in 21:42.79.

Oregon coaches entered Blood in slower heats during the indoor season, which allowed her to regain her confidence, and be fully ready when the outdoor season arrived.

After gaining national attention during her high school running days, Blood has had to adjust to college competition.

"You're kind of the underdog again," Blood said. "It was kind of like when I was younger, seventh, eighth grade, no one expects you and then that one day you're just going to come out of nowhere. Until then, you just work hard for that one day, so it's nice."