Zach Kughn didn’t know exactly what to expect from his new Idaho State cross country team in its first meet under his tutelage last week.
But the Bengals’ new head coach was happy with what he saw in Orem, Utah.
“We had a great meet,” said Kughn of ISU’s performance in the Utah Valley Invite on Friday. “Really exceeded expectations on the men’s side, which was great because we already had a pretty high bar set. We also had some breakthroughs on the women’s side. Overall, the women showed improvement as well, but we’ve still got some pieces to work out.”
Kughn just took over the ISU cross country program on Aug. 2, and didn’t begin practice with his athletes until the middle of the month.
“Altogether, I’m definitely happy,” said Kughn of his team’s first meet. “I think it really has our spirits high, so we should be able to keep this momentum rolling. From a training standpoint, we really have barely done anything, so we just have to keep putting in the work and keep our focus on November.”
That’s when the Bengals will host the Big Sky Conference cross country meet at Pocatello’s Riverside Golf Course. In the meantime, they are working on gradual improvement under Kughn’s tutelage.
On Friday, the ISU men finished third among eight teams, placing behind Utah Valley (23 points) and Southern Utah (48) with 74 points. ISU finished ahead of Salt Lake Community College, Utah Tech, Snow College, College of Southern Idaho and Oregon.
On the women’s side, the Bengals finished fifth with 116 points, behind Utah Valley (26), Weber State (65), Utah (84) and Southern Utah (113). ISU finished ahead of Salt Lake Community College, Utah Tech, College of Southern Idaho and Snow College.
The Bengal men were led by Seth Babbel (14 minutes, 32.5 seconds), Sunny Gunn (14:40.9) and Cade Smith (14:45.8), who all finished in in the top-20 among the 118 runners. Babbel, a junior from Caldwell, finished seventh, Gunn, a junior from Chubbuck, was 12th, and Smith, a senior from Soda Springs, was 17th. Other Bengal finishers were Brandon Walker (22nd), Gavin Pollock (33rd), Jacob DeTemple (37th), Sam Jeppsen (54th), Jared Harden (82) and Brody Burch (98th).
“Our top five all reached their goals today, which is quite rare, but a sign of good things to come,” Kughn told the ISU web site. “Sunny Gunn and Brandon Walker really shined today and showed the jumps in fitness they took over the past year.”
The ISU women were led by Alivia Johnson, a sophomore from Idaho Falls, 28th (17:46.8), Reagan Borg, a freshman from Spokane, 32nd (17:51.7), Sulette Ferreyra Serna, a senior from Pocatello, 33rd (17:56.2) and Cassandra Vasquez, a senior from Nampa, 35th (17:56.9). Other ISU finishers were Allie Lemons (43rd), Saylor Erickson (48th), Grace Stewart (92nd), Gabby Johnson (98th) and Hailey Renzello (99th).
“Alivia just continued to move up,” Kughn told the ISU web site. “I’m proud of how hard she raced today.”
The Bengals now have a couple of weeks off to train in advance of their next meet, the Big Sky Preview at the Riverside Golf Course on Sept. 20.
“We are certainly improved, but more important than that, will be where we go from here,” Kughn said. “We will dial in the training based on today’s results for each individual and continue to add elements that will help us be successful in November.”
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