The Idaho women’s cross country team took fourth at the Big Sky Conference Championships and the Idaho men’s team finished 11th Saturday in Cedar City, Utah.
Idaho senior Kinsey Gomez took third on the women’s side with a time of 18 minutes, 1.1 seconds, which was five seconds behind the second-place finisher.
Junior Valerie Mitchell was the next to cross the finish line for the Vandals as Mitchell finished 25th with a time of 19:07.4.
“Valerie passed the majority of the field throughout the race,” Idaho assistant coach Travis Floeck said. “As a group, we executed the race plan well, going out a bit more conservative and coming on later in the race. There were times when gut checks came up and they all responded well. They ran for each other and dug deep. It’s what you want to see as a coach.”
The Vandals beat Montana State this time. Idaho previously placed behind the Bobcats in the Montana Invitational Oct. 3. The Idaho women’s team also beat Sacramento State, which it had lost to earlier in the season.
For the men, Idaho junior Nathan Stark showed improvement from his race last year, leading the men with a time of 26:15.1 and taking 14th.
“On the men’s side, we took 11 out of 12, but with the plan to redshirt the majority of the team this year, it was expected,” Floeck said. “I was proud of the efforts despite this fact and I think they represented the university and the program well. We will build on this season and get better.”
For those who qualify, the NCAA West Regional Championship will be Nov. 13 in Seattle.
Faith Evans can be reached at [email protected]