Cross Country Set for Big Sky Winter Championships

POCATELLO, Idaho - The Idaho State cross country teams head to Riverdale, Utah, to compete in the 2021 Big Sky Cross Country Winter Championships hosted by Weber State University.

"We are gonna go out there and use everything we've gotten to this point to see where that puts us, but still with the perspective in mind that we're still aiming for May," said Head Cross Country Coach Nate Houle. 

Spectators are not allowed to attend the Championships, but live results for the race can be found on Runner Card, here. The race will be live-streamed on the Weber State track and field/cross country Instagram, @weberstatetrack. 

The women compete first and the race begins at 1:15 p.m. in the 5K race, a map of the course can be found here.

Laura Alicke, Beth Hickey, Haven Lambrite, Mya McKown, Molly Olsen, Haley Schaeffer, Katie Weedn, and Keely Wolf will compete Saturday for the Bengals. Going into the Championships, the women have a solid group of returning veterans leading the team with Alicke, Olsen, and Weedn. 

"I've instructed those three to really locate each other," said Houle. "I think that trifecta there is a very valuable and good one...Those three should provide a pretty good front end of the spear for the team."

The men will compete next at 2:00 p.m. in the 8K race, a map of the course can be found here. 

Caden Byrer, Garrett Condelario, Collin Dylla, Ashton Hysell, D'Artangnan Kilgore, Zak Montoya, Joseph Simmons, and Brandon Walker are competing on the men's side. Idaho State's veteran runners Kilgore, Simmons, and Montoya along with newcomers Dylla and Hysell create a strong combination going into the Championships.

"We're going to be playing more of the team-oriented small gap, all coming in together and trying to go one through five all right across the line," said Houle. "I think that's kind of our strength is to again find your teammates, really key off of them, and see what we can do."

Something to watch out for on the men's side is the top finisher in each conference, not with a team selected to go to Nationals, gets a direct bid to the race. Teams will be selected by the NCAA to go directly to Nationals this year due to the unconventional season. Idaho State has two runners Simmions and Montoya that have a chance to clinch this individual bid to Nationals. 

Race Day Schedule
11:45 a.m. - Course is open for competitors to warm up
1:00 p.m. - National Anthem
1:05 p.m. - Women's competitors must report to assigned boxes
1:15 p.m. - Women's 5k Championship Race
1:50 p.m. - Men's competitors must report to assigned boxes
2:00 p.m. - Men's 8k Championship Race
3:00 p.m. - Awards Ceremony