Idaho cross-country jump starts the fall 2018 season on its home turf with the Clash of the Inland Northwest Friday on the University of Idaho Golf Course.
Tim Cawley, Director of Track and Field/Cross-Country, said the team trained as a strong unit throughout summer in one of the most successful camps he has experienced.
“They’re hungry,” Cawley said. “They had some good success last year and we are returning most of the team on both sides, so I am excited to see what we can do this year.”
Idaho came in ranked No. 5 in the Big Sky Conference on the men’s side, and the women No. 4. Sitting at the top of the conference for the men is Northern Arizona, a unanimous favorite. The Montana State women hold the top position on the women’s side, with four first place votes and 111 total votes, just one more vote than No. 2 ranked Northern Arizona with 110 votes.
Both squads are ranked 14th in the preseason West Region Rankings, a region in- cluding over 40 programs. The region holds teams from the Pac-12, Mountain West, West Coast Conference, Big West Conference, and Western Athletic Conference.
Both the men and the women’s team return the majority of the 2017 squad, losing just a single runner on each side.
The women’s side returns seniors Andrea Condie, Erin Hagen, and McCall Skay as well as juniors Krista and Kara Story. The men’s team returns seniors Skylar Ovnicek and Austin Fred, and four juniors.
In the tight-knit group of athletes, Cawley said the collection of upperclassmen has taken on leadership roles in the early weeks of the fall season
“They’ve kind of grown into some leadership roles, which is why I think we’ve seen this close knit group,” Cawley said. “We have some kids with solid character, they are just good, well-rounded individuals and when you have that leading a team, that puts us in a good place.”
As the majority of the team returns for another season of cross-country, the volume of runners working and improving will likely present a number of challenges when it comes to determining the conference-competing team, Cawley said.
“There is a lot of options in there, it’s just going to be figuring those out,” Cawley said. “There is going to be a lot of tough choices come who’s on the conference team, and I hope they make it tough for us.”
The season starts with the Clash of the Inland Northwest, where the athletes will get their first chance to put their summer training to the test.
“They (the athletes) are ready to kind of put it together,” Cawley said. “The first meet of the year kind of gets them excited, to see, ‘Where am I at, how am I doing?’ but also having it at home where you can have your friends to watch and sleep in your own bed, not traveling. It should be good.”
Idaho cross-country will compete in four regular season meets this season, before traveling to the Big Sky Conference Championships Oct. 27 in Sacramento, Calif. On the path to the Conference Championship, Idaho will compete with neighbor’s Washington State in the Cougar Classic Sept. 14, followed by the Montana Invitational (Sept. 28) and the Bronco Invitational (Oct. 13) in Santa Clara, Calif.
Runners will take their marks for the Clash of the Inland Northwest 6 p.m. Friday (Aug. 31) on the UI Golf Course.
Meredith Spelbring can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @mere0415