Her high school coach at Seton Catholic in Plattsburgh, N.Y. - who also happened to be her mother – wanted her to check out the University of New Hampshire for college. Like her daughter, Kathy Brandell was a talented runner and UNH worked out well for her, so she thought Meg ought to take a look at the school.
"Initially, I wasn't really that interested," Meg said. "I think I didn't want to just copy my mom."
But her coach/mom encouraged her to take a visit to Durham and she met with coach Robert Hoppler.
"I got to campus and met Hop and talked to him about the program and I really liked everything about it," Meg recalled. "The school had a lot of options for majors and I wasn't sure what I wanted to study yet."
She signed on and proceeded to become an integral part of a line of outstanding Wildcat running teams.
The move paid off nicely for all parties. Meg Champagne winning the gold at the 2020 America East Indoor Championships
At the Senior Showcase Meg Champagne was named the 2021 female winner of the Jim Urquhart Student-Athlete of the Year Award, presented "to the most outstanding senior student-athletes based on athletic success, community involvement and academic achievement."
The Wildcat cross country and track & field teams made it a clean sweep of this year's Urquhart Awards: James Wilkes of Concord was the male recipient.
Then the next day, Champagne capped off her outstanding career by winning the New England Championship in the 10,000 meters. It was her second New England outdoor championships as she won the 5,000 meters at the 2017 meet.
Champagne's Wildcat campaign was marked by consistent, high-end performances in cross country and on the track and she will have collected a degree in English with a Communication minor as well as a Masters in Business Administration from the Peter T. Paul College of Business & Economics in the process, all while developing into a leader on and off the course and track.
"Essentially, her consistency of excellence in her time here has been remarkable," Hoppler said.
She was a major contributor to three America East Conference cross country championships, finishing as UNH's second, third and fourth finisher and inside the top 12 of the race each time and three New England championship cross country teams. She was All-Conference four times in cross country.
Champagne helped the Wildcats to a pair of runnerup America East results on the track, including as a captain this year and scored points for the team in four seasons of indoor and four seasons of outdoor track. She won the America East 3000-meter championship indoors in 2020 and the ECAC indoor 5000-meter title the same season.
"Basically, she was all-conference 12 times," Hoppler said.
Just as notable was the approach she took to competition.
"The thing that impresses me is her mental toughness," Hoppler said. "She always shows up to race. She does an incredible job on that day. When the gun goes off, you know you have a race on your hands, no matter the meet, no matter what year she was. When the gun went off, she ran as hard as she possibly could."
Case in point, one of her final races as a Wildcat, at this spring's America East championships earlier this month.
Champagne ran the 10,000-meter race with a hurting back.
"No one knew that," Hoppler said. "That says a lot about her willingness to put it on the line for the team. Running 25 laps with a hurt back is a long way to go. She was in the lead and basically a few laps from winning the race and kind of ran out of gas and got second. Everything in the conference meet is about the team and she was willing to put herself out there for the team."
Hoppler ranked it high among Champagne's memorable moments as a Wildcat, up there with the race she and Elizabeth Danis and Shannon Murdock put in to lead the team to the 2019 America East cross country championship and her win in the conference 3000-meter race in 2020.
Champagne lists the latter two races as highlights, too.
"The senior year title stands out as probably my favorite just because the team was real strong and I feel we had a good team culture and we were being very supportive and rooting for each other, running together and working hard," she said. "Winning the individual title in the 3K indoors was an amazing experience, too. It was nice to see all the hard work pay off."
There were plenty of other memorable times as well.
"Definitely the years that the team won the cross country championships were real special moments that you'll remember forever," Champagne said. "It's always fun to win with all your friends." The Wildcats won the 2019 America East Cross Country Championship
There was a unique highlight as well. As a freshman, Meg won the 5000-meter run at the New England Championships. Her mother won a New England Championship in cross country nearly four decades earlier.
"My Mom brags about mine," Meg said with a laugh, "She was pretty excited about it."
That win and Meg's career have brought things full circle.
"The fact Meg has been on championship teams and won like her mother did is special," he said. "It was kind of like a homecoming for Meg to come here and have great success as a legacy child. It's really a neat story." Champagne at the 2020 America East Championships
On the track and off.
"She's a hardworking and successful student and on the personal side I've really enjoyed seeing her growth over the five years she's been here," Hoppler said. "She came as a shy freshman seeing if she could make her mark. By the time she was a senior she was a championship runner and team captain and really expressing her opinion on issues important to her and raising money for social justice issues. She's a great role model for young women who are interested in athletics."
Champagne has an internship that runs through mid-July and is looking into marketing jobs in the Boston area. She plans to join a running club and probably compete in some road races this summer.
"I'm definitely going to miss my teammates and being able to go race with my friends every weekend," she said. "I feel like the people really made the experience for me." WATCH THE 2021 SENIOR SHOWCASE
