Career honors
- Honorable Mention All-American - 800 Freestyle Relay (2007)
- Second Team All-Big Ten (2006)
- Honorable Mention All-American - 400 IM, 200 Butterfly, 800 Freestyle Relay (2006)

Summer 2007: Kelly competed in three meets on the summer circuit and kept quite busy in all three of them. At the Grand Prix series Charlotte Ultraswim, she swam in eight events and qualified for the finals in all six of her individual events while also finishing in third place as a part of the 400 freestyle and medley relay teams. She placed 23rd in the 100 free, 20th in the 200 free, 13th in the 400 free, sixth in the 200 fly and 14th in the 200 and 400 IM. She also had a strong meet at the Mid-Atlantic Senior Championships, qualifying for the finals in all five individual events and also setting meet records as a part of both the 400 medley and 800 free relay teams. At Mid-Atlantic's she also finished third in the 200 free, fourth in the 100 fly, second in the 200 fly, fifth in the 200 IM and seventh in the 400 IM. Finally, at U.S. Nationals, she swam in the 100 and 200 fly and 200 and 400 IM and 200 free.

2006-07: Kelly capped off her sophomore season by making her second career appearance at NCAA Championships after a season in which she swam to a team-high 10 NCAA qualifying times, including nine NCAA `B' cuts and one NCAA `A' automatic qualifying time. She swam in the 500 freestyle, 400 IM, 200 butterfly and on the 400 medley and 800 freestyle relay teams at NCAAs and earned honorable mention All-American status for the second straight year with a 14th place finish as part of the 800 free relay team. She also just missed out on scoring in the 400 IM, finishing 17th. At Big Ten Championships, she showcased her versatility, swimming in six events, including three individual events and three relays and scoring points in all six events. She placed third in the 200 free, sixth in the 200 fly, 11th in the 200 IM, and was on the third place 800 free, the third place 200 medley and the fourth place 400 medley relay teams. Kelly had a remarkable 13 first place finishes on the year, five in individual events and eight in relays, in addition to eighth second place finishes and 10 third places. Equally as remarkable, she swam at least an NCAA `B' time in nine out of her 10 swims of the year in the 200 fly and also swam `B' times in all four of her swims of the year in the 200 free, which she holds the school record in. She earned Big Ten Women's Swimmer of the Week recognition twice during the season and on the year had the fastest time of the year on the team in the 200 free, the fourth fastest in the 100 free, the second fastest in the 100 and 200 fly and the 400 IM, and the third fastest in the 200 IM. Additionally, she swam her career fastest times in the 500 free, 200 fly and 400 IM during the season.
Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Placed third in the 200 fly, sixth in the 50 free in her only appearance in that event on the year, and was on the third place 400 medley relay team at the season-opening meet at West Virginia....Came in second in the 100 fly, third in the 200 fly, sixth in the 200 IM and was on the second place 400 free relay team and the winning 200 and 400 medley relay teams at the Clemson/Virginia/Virginia Tech/Penn State quad-meet....Won the 200 fly, finished second in the 200 IM and placed seventh in the 100 back at the Big Cat Invitational....Picked up points for the Nittany Lions in the 100 fly (6th place, 5th in the prelims), 200 fly (3rd place, 2nd in the prelims), 400 IM (7th place) and as a member of the 400 free relay (6th place) and 400 medley relay (7th place) teams at the Bell Grand Prix....Won the 500 free in an NCAA `B' cut in her first swim of the year in that event in the dual meet vs. West Chester....Won the 500 free and was part of the first place 200 free relay team and the 200 medley relay team that tied for first place in the dual meet vs. Ohio State....Finished third in both the 100 and 200 fly and was on the second place 200 medley and first place 400 free relay teams at the dual meet vs. Rutgers....Won the 200 free in an NCAA `B' cut and her second-fastest career time in her first swim of the year in that event and also won the 200 fly, placed sixth in the 200 IM and was a part of three first place relays teams -- the 200 free, 400 free and 800 free -- and was also on the second place 200 medley relay team at the Shamrock Invitational.

2005-06: Kelly was one of four freshmen to qualify for the NCAA Championships and one of 12 swimmers overall. She mainly swam in short distance freestyle events as well as both the 100 and 200 butterfly and 200 and 400 IM throughout the year while also seeing quite a bit of action on relay teams. She swam her best times of the year in three of her four main events, the 200 butterfly and 200 and 400 IM, at Big Ten's. She was a second team All-Big Ten selection after finishing fourth in the 200 butterfly and third in both the 200 and 400 IM at the Big Ten Championships. At Big Ten's, she also swam in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays and on the second place 800 free relay team. At the NCAA Championships, she competed in the 200 butterfly and 200 and 400 IMs, as well as the 800 free relay, with her best finish being 11th in the 400 IM, earning her honorable mention All-American honors. She also placed 12th in the 200 butterfly. For the year, she was a part of two first place relay teams and also won two individual events.
Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Placed third in the 200 IM and 100 fly, fifth in the 200 fly and 400 IM and was on the second place 400 free relay team at the Indiana/Ohio State/Penn State tri-meet....Came in third in the 100 free and second in the 200 free at the dual meet vs. Rutgers....Finished second in the 100 back in the dual meet vs. St. Bonaventure, one of only two times she swam in that event on the year....Placed third in the 100 fly and was on the first place 200 free relay team in the dual meet at Florida....Gained points for Penn State in the 500 free (13th place), 400 IM (5th place), 200 free (11th place), 100 free (11th place), and was part of the 200, 400 and 800 free relay teams, all of which finished second, at the Ohio State Invitational....Finished third in the 1000 free in the first time in her career she swam in the event, and also came in second in the 100 free in the dual meet with West Chester....Won the 200 free and also placed fourth in the 200 IM and was on the first place 400 free relay team at the Arizona State/UCSB/Penn State tri-meet....Won the 200 fly and was on the third place 200 free relay team at the Arizona/Wisconsin/Penn State tri-meet....Finished second in the 200 IM and 100 free in her first collegiate meet (vs. West Virginia).

High School: Kelly was a three-time Pennsylvania State Champion in the 100-yard fly, claiming the crown in 2002, 2003 and 2005. She also won the 500-yard free state crown as a senior, in a Pennsylvania AAA State all-time record time of 4:49.54. She swam for West Chester East High School with head coach Danny Reichert. She also swam for the Suburban Swim Center club team under coach Charlie Kennedy.

Personal: Kelly is the daughter of William and Mary Nelson. She has two older sisters, Kristin and Kathleen. Her oldest sister, Kristin, graduated from and swam at Penn State. Nelson lists scrapbooking as her favorite hobby. She was a 2004-05 NISCA Academic All-American, with a cumulative GPA of 4.2.

Why I chose Penn State: "The reason I chose Penn State was due to its academics and athletics. I felt there was a balance between the two and that I would have the chance to excel at both. Also, it is just far enough away from home to still be close!"