Deep, talented Flames begin cross country campaign Saturday
OMAHA, Neb. – In cross country, a "pack mentality'' is easy to proclaim, but extremely difficult to achieve.
To those who are unfamiliar, it's the desire to run as a pack and work together to reduce the time between the first and fifth runners to the smallest margin possible.
The College of Saint Mary program has reached a point where it's taking that strategy to heart, and the results could be monumental.
The Flames enter the 2025 season Saturday at the Sunflower Open hosted by Dordt University in Sioux Center, and expectations have never been higher. CSM was pegged second in the Great Plains Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, its highest preseason placing in program history.
Dordt is again the clear preseason favorite, receiving 11 of the 12 first-place votes, with CSM getting the other vote.
Coach Derek Fey's crew is also starting to garner national attention. In the NAIA preseason national poll, the Flames received 11 votes, tied for sixth-most among those outside the top 25.
"We are going to be really deep this year,'' said Fey, who is starting his 12th season and was CSM's Coach of the Year in the athletic department for 2024-25. "I project that our pack time (time between first through fifth runners) will be under 40 seconds. We have a lot of veteran runners who know how to race at the college level, and that will benefit us greatly this fall.''
Leading the returnees are sophomores Kara Muller and Carly Henderson. They finished 11th and 12th, respectively, at last year's GPAC Championships, qualifying them for nationals and leading a program-best, runner-up team finish at the conference meet.
Other key returners include seniors Corinne Mead and Kiley Craft, junior Mira Fosmer and sophomore twins Josie and Becka Karnik. In addition, sophomore Olivia Elbert has joined the cross country program for the first time. She earned All-America honors during the indoor track and field season by placing fifth in the 4x800 relay at nationals along with Muller, Henderson and Fosmer.
That "pack mentality'' already has been evident in preseason workouts, Fey said.
"During our mile repeat and shorter interval workouts, I've seen a group of six or seven develop into pack runners like I've never seen before,'' he said. "The entire group is one second apart in most workouts. This will be crucial if we can translate it to our meets.''
The primary athlete CSM will need to replace is Brooke Wigdahl, who was a consistent No. 4 or 5 runner last year as a senior.
"My biggest concern is getting everyone to buy into what we can do as a group,'' Fey said. "Focus is going to be crucial and I'm not sure we are there as a full group yet.''
Dordt enters the season ranked ninth nationally and has been in the top 25 for an NAIA-best 97 consecutive polls, dating back to 2012. The Defenders return their top 10 runners, including GPAC champion Corinne Braun. In all, Dordt had five of the top six runners at last year's GPAC meet, and they're all back as they seek their sixth straight conference title and 12th in the last 14 years.
"I expect CSM to be closer to Dordt this fall,'' Fey said. "I would like to see our top runners break into their top five more this fall than we did last year.''
It has the potential to be an exciting fall for the Flames.
"I think we have a really strong group,'' Fey said. "Our expectations have risen every year I've coached at CSM. And the runners have risen to the challenge every year. We set a goal at our summer camp in Wyoming to crack the top 30 national rankings and qualify as a team for nationals.
"We have the potential to be a top 25 team, I think. If we take on the "pack mentality'' and agree not to leave a teammate behind in our races, I have no doubt we can reach that goal.''