Don’t be deceived.
Even though Idaho State cross country practice officially begins on Wednesday, the real training season for the Bengal harriers actually started after a short respite following the end of outdoor track season in May.
That’s why it’s so important to new Bengal cross country coach Zach Kughn that there is a solid enough “culture” surrounding his new team that they have taken it upon themselves to continue training, even after longtime coach Nate Houle resigned his position in late May.
“Summer is so important — the training cycle runs from June to November,” said Kughn, who joins ISU after serving as an assistant coach at Tiffin University in Ohio. “From an outside perspective, the season is just beginning, but really I’m coming in the middle of the season. If I would have implemented my training program from the get-go, typically they would take a break after track season is over, and then that’s where the training season (for cross country) would begin.”
Instead, Kughn is relying on the veteran runners returning to the program to have taken it upon themselves to get in shape for the upcoming cross country season, which begins Sept. 1 for the Utah Valley Invitational in Orem, Utah. Based on the introductory phone calls he’s been able to make with team members since his hiring, Kughn is confident the program still has that strong culture that Houle talked about when he decided to leave the coaching profession to spend more time in his family business.
“What you put in to it is what you get out,” Kughn said of his athletes’ offseason training. “Their summer (training) before I was even hired will be a large determination of how they do. I think the culture is in a good spot — I’m not inheriting a broken team or a mess. Certainly, a lot of jobs that get posted are a mess. Coach Houle is still in town and will be a supporter. I think the team is in a good spot, about as well as you could ask for going a few months without a coach.”
A positive indicator of the team culture is the fact that no Bengal athletes with remaining eligibility left the program after Houle’s departure.
Kughn brings Big Sky Conference experience to his new job, having competed for four years in both cross country and track and field at Montana State University. His coaching experience includes starting the Montana Tech program from scratch, and leading the Ore Diggers to three straight Frontier Conference championships in track and field, and coaching 20 NAIA All-Americans.
He coached Becca Richtman to four national titles in four different events for the Ore Diggers, and was named Frontier Conference Coach of the Year three times.
Kughn’s other coaching stops including serving as head cross country coach at Winona State and coaching at Dakota Wesleyan, where he earned his master’s degree.
While competing at Montana State, Kughn was part of the Bobcats’ Big Sky championship medley relay team. He graduated in 2016 with a degree in Health and Human Performance.
Kughn was attracted to the ISU job because of his familiarity with the Big Sky Conference and Idaho State.
“I absolutely love the indoor track (at ICCU Dome),” Kughn said. “I believe it’s one of the fastest tracks in the country.”
The opportunity to coach a school in the mountains, which offers runners the advantage of training at altitude is also appealing, he said.
“There are only so many of those jobs available,” he noted.
It’s been a while since ISU has been competitive on the conference level in cross country. The Bengals’ best finish on the men’s side under Houle was fourth in 2016, and the Bengals haven’t won a men’s conference championship since 1982.
It’s even bleaker on the women’s side, where the Bengals have never won a team title, although Erica Wendt-Richardson took the individual championship in 2010.
Kughn acknowledges the dominance of Northern Arizona, a national contender every year on both the men’s and women’s side of the competition. He also notes that his old school, MSU, has pretty much created a niche for itself in second, and then Weber State is largely all alone at third in the conference hierarchy.
“But beyond that, I think everything is up for grabs,” he said. “Idaho has a strong program, but their coach has left as well. The conference is really tight. If a few things go right, we could probably slip into fourth or fifth place. If they go wrong, we could finish tenth.
“But even coming in late, I hope to have enough things go right that we are finishing in the top four or five.”
Kughn got some validation for his training methods during the recent Olympics, when his former high school teammate, Grant Fisher, coached by his former high school coach Mike Scannell, won bronze medals in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races. Kughn was in Paris to see his old Grand Blanc, Mich. teammate mount the podium after his 10,000 meter race.
“To be in Paris and celebrate his medal is validation that the system I was brought up in is not just good enough with high school, it’s good at the highest level,” said Kughn.
The Idaho State men finished seventh in last year’s conference meet, with sophomore Seth Babbel as its highest finisher at 31st. He was followed by junior Brandon Walker 37th, sophomore Gavin Pollock 38th, senior Eric Christen 40th and sophomore Sunny Gunn rounded it out it in 45th. All but Christen return to this year’s squad.
On the women’s side, ISU finished ninth last season. Its top finishers were junior Cassandra Vasquez 44th, junior Sulette Ferreyra Serna 53rd, senior Madi Kenyon 54th, senior Presley Timmons 57th, freshman Annabell Gossell 58th, freshman Olivia Kendell 59th and freshman Allie Lemons 60th.
Vasquez, Serna, Gossell, Kendell and Lemons all return this season.
Kughn believes there is enough talent on this ISU roster to be competitive, if not this season then down the road with some coaching and experience.
“With my own coaching experience, I’ve had a few athletes, even though they were at small schools, who would be competitive in the Big Sky,” said Kughn. “I’ve had to take some athletes who were not recruited at this level and develop them to where they’d be competitive at this level. So I look at the roster we have now, they are talented, and they are starting at a higher starting point.”
Most Popular
Comments / 0