The Idaho cross country teams competed at the NCAA Regional Championship Friday in Seattle.
The women’s team placed 17th with Idaho senior Kinsey Gomez leading the way with a 17th place individual finish.
“She ran really well,” Idaho assistant coach Travis Floeck said. “We’re in the best region in the country and to be 17th is way higher than she’s ever finished. It’s heartbreaking for Kinsey. She came up just short of qualifying for nationals.”
Gomez finished with a time of 21 minutes, 5.6 seconds. She was a few seconds behind the time needed to qualify for the NCAA Championship Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky.
“She performed great,” Floeck said. “I couldn’t be prouder of her and I just feel for her because it was her big goal out there, and to not reach it is hard. But it’s about the process and I’m really proud of what she did this season and how she led this team.”
The Idaho women’s team finished 21st at the NCAA Regional Championship last season, and Floeck said he’s proud of the 17th place finish this season.
Three of the seven Idaho women runners were freshmen – Krista Story, Andrea Condie and McCall Skay. Floeck said they all did really well in their first NCAA Regional Championship appearance.
“Krista came on big time in the end of the season from being our fifth girl at conference and being our third finish today,” Floeck said. “She ran close to her P.R. (personal record) in some of the worst conditions and she ran phenomenal.”
Idaho junior Nathan Stark represented Idaho on the men’s side. Stark finished in 127th place with a time of 33:52.3.
“He was hoping for a little more but I couldn’t be happier with his season,” Floeck said. “I’m really excited for what he can do in the track season in the steeple chase. He got in there and competed tough and gave it everything he had.”
The Vandals will take a short break to regain their energy and then they begin training for the track and field season.
“I’m going to give them 10-14 days off and then get them working for the track season,” Floeck said. “I have to give them some time off. They really deserve it.”
Mihaela Karst can be reached at [email protected]