BELMONT, N.C. – It doesn’t take much for Miranda Wilkerson to get into the Christmas spirit this time of year.
 
When the street where you grew up intersects Santa Claus Lane and your hometown features candy cane light poles year-round, you’re conditioned to embrace one of America’s favorite holidays.
 
And one more thing.  Wilkerson, a promising sophomore cross country and track student-athlete at Belmont Abbey College, was born and raised in North Pole, Alaska.
 
That’s 4,203 miles northwest from Belmont Abbey, a small private Catholic college founded in 1876.  As one might imagine, Miranda’s teammates and coaches are curious about her upbringing–which leads to some funny speculation.
 
“Yeah, I get a lot of questions,” admits Wilkerson.  “Some of my teammates think I lived in an igloo and rode polar bears to school!  They get a big kick out of it.”

The distance between the North Pole and Belmont is much more than mileage, however.  Climate and living conditions are literally night and day.
 
“In winter, it’s dark most of the time,” she shared.  “We get about two hours of light a day.  It’s just the opposite in summer, when the sun’s out most of the time.”
 
Ranked among the 10 coldest cities in the world by the popular online travel site, The Discoverer, the average winter temperature is under -30 degrees Fahrenheit with an all-time record-low of -67.
 
Due to such freezing conditions, Wilkerson trained in a unique way as she blossomed as an elite runner at Monroe Catholic High School.
 
“We did a lot of cross-country skiing to stay in shape,” she said.  “Our winters are pretty long and our summers pretty short.  Since coming to Belmont, I went from running with walls of snow around me to 80 degrees in North Carolina.”

 While the warm weather certainly was enticing, Miranda said the primary reason for considering a college like Belmont Abbey was its nationally known nursing department.
 
“That was a big piece for me,” she said.  “When I looked into the school, it was a priority.  And on my campus visit, I got to meet a lot of people in the program, which has a 100 percent board passing rate.”
 
Perhaps declaring a pre-nursing major at Belmont was destiny for Wilkerson.  Miranda’s mother, Tammy, has been a registered nurse for much of her adult life and served as a true role model for her daughter.
 
“I grew up in my mom’s clinic.  She made a point to involve me in all of that and it really exposed me to a healthcare career path.”
 
Beyond her class work during the school year, Miranda also logged valuable clinic experience and earned a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) credential at nearby University of Fairbanks during last year’s summer break. 
 
For the past three summers, she has also held a merchandise sales job for the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks, the storied semi-pro baseball team that has operated since 1960.

 While the young Alaskan’s academic career has progressed nicely, her early running performances at Belmont also were noteworthy.
 
Establishing herself as a future star as a freshman, Wilkerson placed sixth in the 3000m steeplechase at the Davidson Relays, seventh in the 800 meters at the Mountaineer First Chance at Appalachian State and eighth in the 3000m steeplechase at the Conference Carolinas Track & Field Championships last season.
 
In addition, she was a member of Belmont Abbey’s 4x400m relay team that earned a runner-up finish at the JDL College Team Challenge in Winston-Salem and also ran on the Crusaders’ 4x800m relay team that placed second at the Bast-Cregger Multi-Invitational at Roanoke, VA last season.
 
As a cross country runner, Wilkerson was the team’s sixth-place finisher at this year’s Conference Carolinas Championships held in Kernersville, NC Oct. 24.
 
Belmont’s Cross Country and Track & Field Coach Dan Finanger is bullish about Miranda’s potential in both sports.
 
“Even as a freshman, she’s been an important scorer for us,” said Finanger, who celebrated his eight-year anniversary as head coach this month.  “She established herself as part of the core leaders on the team.”
              
However, a hip injury suffered this fall was difficult to diagnose for a time, slowing her progress momentarily.
 
“The injury was to her high hip, glut area and for a while we couldn’t figure it out,” said the coach.  “There was some fear of a stress fracture of the femur.  It started wearing on her mental strength, but an MRI and x-rays proved negative and she’s a lot better now after rehab.”
 
While Wilkerson has successfully navigated her challenges at Belmont, both academically and athletically, her adjustment living far away from North Pole, Alaska is still a work in progress.
 
“It’s a lot different than Alaska,” she readily admits. “I really felt homesick as a freshman.  My teammates and coach have made it (the adjustment) a lot easier.  It also helps that Belmont is a small community.  It probably would be much harder if I had gone to a large school.”
 
With Charlotte only 14 miles from campus, Miranda does get exposed to a big city life absent from her home state of Alaska. 
 
“There’s always something going on in Charlotte,” she said wide-eyed.  “My teammates finally took me to a Chick-fil-A.  I’m still getting used to cafeteria food.  There’s such a different array of food, almost anything you can think of.”
 
In the North Pole, food is not purchased.  It is fished and hunted.

 “Typically, my dad (Derrick, an environmental specialist), mom and I go out together to do our own hunting and fishing for dinner,” said Miranda, an only child.
 
She said it is not uncommon to see deer and moose walking down the middle of the street at home. 
 
“We do a lot of salmon fishing and hunting for moose, caribou and even bears,” she said.  “Moose meat and moose burgers are a staple for us.  When I go home, I always eat a lot of it.  It’s a delicacy.”
 
The North Pole’s most famous resident (excluding Santa) was the late Bob Ross (1942-1995), the popular TV painter who lived in the small town for more than a decade and used the surrounding scenery as an inspiration for much of his work.
 
Now the greatest attraction in town is the famed Santa Claus House which features a Christmas store with walls covered in children’s letters to Santa and a huge Santa statue outside.
 
“They also have reindeer in front of the store and sell all kinds of Christmas decorations,” adds Miranda.  “It’s been around a long time and it’s a pretty good attraction.”
 
When thinking of all the out-of-state visitors that descend on the North Pole, she had to chuckle.
 
“They all visit during the winter.  They have no idea how cold it gets here.  When it’s that cold, you really can't do anything.”
              
Coach Finanger marvels at how far Miranda has come, both literally and figuratively, during her short time at Belmont.
              
“Her transition has been rather remarkable,” he said.  “She’s such a sweet person and a natural leader.  She’s the one that steps up.  She really encompasses our school mantra of body, mind and soul.  She’s very humble and has become a fine young woman.”
 
But there is one lingering question that inquiring minds want to ask Miranda Wilkerson:  what condiments do you put on your moose burger?
 
“Only ketchup, pickles and tomatoes.  Plain and simple.”
 
As for leaving the frozen wilds of Alaska for a small college in North Carolina, there is nothing simple for Belmont Abbey’s North Pole adventurer.

Bob Rose is a longtime sports public relations executive who has worked for the San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, the NFL Cardinals, Cal, Stanford and other organizations. Bob works with the Conference Carolinas office to help tell the stories of the tremendous student-athletes, coaches and administrators in Conference Carolinas.