Cross country wraps up season filled with obstacles
Adversity has been present all season for the Idaho cross country team.
In the beginning of the year, the team had to persevere the loss of longtime coach Wayne Phipps to Washington State. By the end of the year, the Vandals were suffering injuries, including senior Abby Larson being hit by a car right before the regional championships. Idaho coach Travis Floeck said Larson’s injuries included bruises and swelling in her knees, but she was determined to run in her last race as a Vandal.
“Three days before (the regional meet), Abby Larson got hit by a car on her bike,” Floeck said. “She got on the line in what was going to be her last collegiate race because she is graduating this term and she ran for her team. Probably a situation, had it not been literally her last collegiate race, I wouldn’t have run her.”
As a team, both Vandal squads finished 21st at the NCAA West Regional Championships. The usual Vandals led the way with senior Cody Helbling finishing 66th on the men’s side with a time 30 minutes, 47 seconds on the 10-kilometer course. Freshman Sierra Speiker finished first for Idaho on the women’s side crossing the finish line in 21:52 to finish 84th on the 6-kilometer course.
“Clearly Sierra and Cody have been our No. 1 runners all season,” Floeck said. “I know Cody was a little disappointed with his race, but he had a really solid season. I’m really proud of the season he had. Definitely seemed to be doing better than all of last year.”
Floeck said Speiker had been dealing with a quad injury the last few weeks, so she wasn’t at 100 percent.
“I know she wasn’t really at her best, but it just speaks volumes of how tough she is and how consistent of a racer she is,” he said. “Seasons to come, I’m going to do a better job of managing her efforts a little more throughout the season, but she also had a very successful season. I think she’s just going to get a ton better each year and do some special things at Idaho.”
Overall, Floeck said he was content with his team’s performances considering the circumstances. Last year, the Vandals didn’t even finish with a complete team on the men’s side. The women’s team dropped two spots from last year, but also only returned one top five runner since junior Halie Raudenbush redshirted this season.
“I thought we ran good races. I didn’t think we ran anything amazing, but at the same time I was happy that they did compete very hard,” Floeck said. “Am I happy with 21st on both sides? Obviously the competitive part of me as a coach isn’t, but you also have to keep perspective … We’re only losing one on each side and I think those are places we’re going to improve vastly on in a year.”
With cross country over, the Vandals have a brief break before turning their attention to the indoor track and field season. Next year, Idaho will return to cross country with a familiar coach and four of the top five runners returning on each side. Idaho might also see the return of top runners Raudenbush and Nic Boersma, who didn’t compete this season.
“It’s never going to go 100 percent as you hoped,” Floeck said. “I think there were a lot of ups and downs, but overall I’m really happy with it. I think there were a lot more ups than downs. I feel like this is a team that learned a lot this season.”
Stephan Wiebe can be reached at [email protected]