Race before the race

Helbling became a father right before historic 2013 WAC Championship

With Dads’ Weekend upon us, Idaho star runner and father Cody Helbling had his best finish in a race last weekend since the week his daughter, McKinely, was born last November prior to the WAC Championships.

Helbling earned Idaho’s first Big Sky Athlete of the Week honor for cross country after his 24-minute, 58-second first-place finish at the Big Sky Conference Triangular Meet Saturday in Portland.

Last fall, Helbling finished second in the WAC Championships in Seattle, just two days after being with his wife Nicole and newborn daughter McKinley in a hospital in Spokane.

“The team left and we were going to spend two days in Seattle before the WAC (Championships),” Helbling said. “The morning before we were supposed to be getting on the bus at 7 (a.m.), at 4 in the morning, my wife rolled over and said ‘Cody, I think I’m going into labor.'”

At the time, Helbling said he was thinking it couldn’t be worse timing. After texting then Idaho coach Wayne Phipps to say he wouldn’t be getting on the bus, Cody and Nicole drove to Spokane where McKinly was born that evening at 5 p.m.

Helbling said he was texting Phipps worried that he might not make it to the WAC Championships, since he needed to be with his family. The next day, the day before the championship race, Nicole and McKinley were discharged from the hospital and went to stay with Nicole’s parents, Helbling said. Then, Cody took a flight out to Seattle to compete in the WAC Championships where he helped lead Idaho to a second-place finish.

“It kind of sucked because I felt bad Nicole had to spend her second night as a parent alone, but it worked out … I felt committed to the team and to Phipps because I knew conference was important,” Helbling said.

During the race, Idaho went in as underdogs. While the Idaho women’s team went in as favorites to win their fourth straight title, which it did, the men’s team was young and inexperienced in 2013. Helbling, a junior transfer student at the time, was one of the few bright spots on the team.

The Vandals exceeded expectations with freshman Nic Boersma winning the race, Helbling finishing second and sophomore Santos Vargas finishing third. Despite the gold, silver, bronze sweep for Idaho, the Vandals finished second as a team five points behind Utah Valley.

“My only goal was to make sure I didn’t let the team down,” Helbling said. “I just wanted to make sure I was there so when Nic was ahead of me, it didn’t really even matter because I knew we had Idaho one and two at that point.”

After the race, Helbling went straight back to Spokane to be with his wife and newborn daughter.

Now almost a year later, Helbing makes sure to balance family life, academic, and running for the Vandals during his senior season.

Helbling said he doesn’t consider himself to be a vocal leader, but he can be an example and a resource to the younger athletes who don’t have as much life experience. In addition to being a father, Helbling had already gone through a collegiate coaching change after transferring to Idaho from BYU.

“Running has been a tool for me and has given me a lot of confidence,” he said. “I know that Nicole has experienced that with the sports she’s competed in, too. That’s a valuable thing, we just hope McKinley has something that she has talent with and she can enjoy it and spend time with it.”

Helbling, a computer engineering student, has a minimum of three races left in his collegiate cross country career. And while he isn’t one to brag about his accomplishments, there are three more chances Vandal fans might see an Idaho runner earning more Big Sky Athlete of the Week honors.

Stephan Wiebe can be reached at [email protected]