So, going into this season, my intention was to write a race report following every race, and I started off pretty strong. Then I had, in my opinion, a bad race at conference and got hit with a case of the depressies over it. Then I got wildly ill due to some fun side effects of a medication and raced terribly at regionals. Then nationals actually went well and I was just too lazy to do a writeup. So, here I am over a month out from my last post to fill you all in on how the season wrapped up and where we're headed going forward.
For the first time in USU history, we sent a cross country team to nationals. Not only did we qualify our first time ever, we also qualified both the men's and the women's teams at the same time on at-large bids. There is no group of people that I would rather have gone to cross country NCAAs with for the first time than these guys. Last year at this time, I was extremely upset with the way my season finished and the fact that I missed qualifying for nationals after coming in with such high expectations. Now, looking back, I'm grateful for having the struggles I did because they are what led me to this school, my amazing team, and my favorite coaches.
Not everyone had their best race at nationals and there were some unavoidable conflicts that are simply a part of racing with so many people, but our women managed to come away with a fourteenth place finish, making top fifteen in the nation at our first ever appearance at nationals, and the men with a twenty-seventh place finish. I personally finished in twenty-fifth, which meets the qualifications for all-American. I was certainly happy with the progress I have made since last year's cross country season, and after the hiccups leading up to nationals this season, I was glad to still finish well, though I will certainly be pursuing a much higher finish in my final cross country season. Next year, we plan to build on the tradition we've begun by returning to nationals and aiming for a top-ten finish.
Immediately after nationals, I started scheming with my coaches about what my plan would be going forward. I told Coach Gulden that next time I race the 10k at nationals I would like to improve on my previous finish, so over Thanksgiving break he and Coach Matt chatted about what my schedule would look like for the next three years and how I would get there. As of right now, we are planning on having me race indoor and absolutely get after it this year. I will be redshirting outdoor and spending that block of time training and getting ready for cross country, so we aren't concerned about me getting burned out before NCAAs in the spring, and as a result, I'll be hitting workouts hard this winter. There are no words for how excited I am to get back on the track. I've been separated from my one true love for far too long, and I can't wait to be reunited with the consistency and reliability of track season.
