Libby cross country opens season with hometown invitational
Libby’s cross country team kicks off its season this weekend with the Cross County Libby Invitational, facing off against 13 teams in the first meet of the year.
First-year coach Rodd Zeiler said since the team began practicing on Aug. 12, the anticipation has been building for the first race.
“We’re very anxious,” Zeiler said on Tuesday. “They’re thrilled to see [the course]. A lot of them haven’t seen a race in a while and they’ve been training.”
Zeiler said some of the athletes, 12 so far, still have to break some of the rust off their legs as the season approaches, but he’s confident there may be some success in the team’s upcoming season.
Another person expressing confidence in this year’s cross county team is last year’s head coach Rod Tempel. He stepped down this season to allow Zeiler to take the reins and is hoping the team finds new potential under a new head coach.
“I felt it was a good time to quit, we had a very good boys and girls team last year,” Tempel said. “I felt I should leave when it’s working. He’s got a pretty good group of kids to work with, and I think he can take them to the next level.”
The girls’ team claimed third place in the division last season and Tempel said the boys could have placed in the top three, but some runners missed the post-season meets due to prior commitments. Tempel, who took the head coaching spot in 2009, said he believes the team has a chance to compete in the post season. He also hasn’t entirely severed his duties with the cross country program. He said he still shows up to help out at practice and layout the running course.
“I’m excited about the way things are going,” Tempel said.
Zeiler said he’s looking forward to the opportunity to propel the team this fall.
“I’m thrilled to coach cross country,” he said. “(Tempel)’s been here forever and he’s been doing a great job with the kids. He’s very intense in terms of care, very personable and we’d like to keep that going.”
Zeiler said the team has been meeting outside of practice to bond over gatherings like spaghetti feeds. This won’t be Zeiler’s first outing as a cross country coach. He ran cross country and track at Mt. Baker High School in Washington State, he ran for the former Eastern Montana College and trained with the University of Montana indoor track team. He’s coached junior high track and girls’ soccer. This weekend, he’ll officially begin his tenure for the Logger cross country squad.
Zeiler said a handful of runners are already going back and forth to determine who is the fastest on the team. Several seniors have begun to show leadership qualities for the team this year, including Tim Goodman and Lauren Thorstenson. He said they both have exhibited the moxie Zeiler looks for in runners, drawing inspiration from the famous quote from Steve Prefontaine: “I run to see who has the most guts.”
“Who has the most guts can sometimes be different,” Zeiler said. “Sometimes its in terms of consistently being there. Lauren has definitely been training all summer. She’s always concerned about training. She’s got a lot of guts doing that training throughout the summer.”
Some of the kids, Zeiler said, are showing guts by splitting their time between sports. Some runners are doing football, others are in soccer and a few are cheerleading in between cross country and schoolwork.
But for right now, Zeiler and his squad are looking to the weekend ahead. Thirteen teams, potentially more than 200 runners, will arrive at J. Neils Park this weekend ready to see who’s done the most work in the past summer.
“We’re excited. They have the ability to see what they’re made of and the surprise that goes along with that is what hooks them,” Zeiler said. “That’s very important for the first meet.”
The girls kick off the Libby Invitational at 11 a.m. on Saturday at J. Neils Park; the boys’ race will follow.
Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.