Youth-packed team bodes well for future of program

Although the only cross country meet in Libby this season has come and gone, Head Coach Rod Tempel insists the runners have just begun.

Without a well-established summer cross country program, nearly every season is a surprise for Tempel and for the athletes themselves.

“There are two types of athletes out here,” Tempel said. “Competitors, those people ready to run, and participants. Participants might be out here for some other reason – stay in shape for another sport, the social aspect, whatever. My goal as a coach is to make participants into competitors.”

Tempel boasts 28 middle-and-high schoolers this season, with a full 15 in eighth grade or younger. The one senior on the high school team is a former football player and has never before run competitively, leaving the team holding a big question mark.

Eli Miller, the senior, along with juniors Cody Barrick and Caleb Hooper, likely will be leading the boys this season, says Tempel. 

Barrick ran mid-20s last season, and Hooper broke into 22 minutes at state, but the actual high points of this season may be due later.

“We’re just trying to build a base under us,” Tempel said. “The first month I don’t push very hard.”

The team travels to the Silverwood meet this weekend, and with a special fund Tempel has set aside from fundraising, the team members get half-price tickets to the amusement park. At the meet in Coeur d’Alene two weeks from now, the runners get to race Go-Karts after they finish, giving the runners a chance to build a running base and to have fun.

The girls team is led by freshman runner Krysten Mossburg, whose first time at the Libby Invite was the second fastest by a Libby female runner in five years, Tempel said.

The lack of experience on the team has not gone unnoticed by the coach, however.

“We’re looking at a rebuilding year,” Tempel said. “But if they’re 25- and 45-years old and still running, I’ve succeeded as a coach.”