Kelsey Klettke’s memory of last year’s National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics cross country national championships at Fort Vancouver National Site can be summed up in one word.
“Mud,” said the Lewis-Clark State College junior, a Prairie High School graduate and one of about 700 runners from across the country who will be competing for NAIA titles Saturday on the same course.
“Before the race, we taped on our shoes with athletic tape up to our ankles because people were losing shoes left and right,” Klettke said. “So, muddy is the name of the course. It’s in Vancouver, Washington, and it rains there every day now, pretty much. Hopefully (there will be) no rain, but I’m going to dress warm.”
With a forecast calling for daily rain and highs in the 40s, this will be Klettke’s first meet run in adverse conditions this season, she said, but that may be true of many of the runners. She said she had been anticipating snow for the Frontier Conference championships in Great Falls, Mont., but it was 75 degrees that day.
After finishing 77th overall last year in what NAIA bills as “The Finish at the Fort,” and 53rd among runners from schools fielding full teams, Klettke knows what to expect.
“I’m more focused and I’m more confident than I was last year, for sure,” she said. “I’m surprising myself every race, pretty much, and it’s an exciting thing. I feel like I’m a lot more confident and a lot more excited than I was last year, for sure.”
She also knows she will have to develop race strategy — literally — on the run.
“I know it’s a big field, so you’ll really have to go out hard for the first mile-and-a-half, and stick with those top runners if you can,” she said. “It’s going to be a race to the finish, like any other 5K race. I think that I’m just going to go out there and race. My game plan will come out when I’m out there, because you never know with a field like that if somebody’s going to go out or if a group’s going to go out or if nobody’s going to go out because the course is run in mud. It’s not a fast course, so it’s going to be just whatever happens in that first mile, then I’ll make that decision at that time.”
Klettke is the Frontier Conference champion, won conference runner of the week honors after every race this fall and two weeks ago garnered attention as the NAIA national runner of the week. Her individual goal is to earn All-America status as one on the first 25 finishers in a loaded field.
“I like being a front-runner, but this race is going to be so competitive,” she said. “I mean, it’s nationals. I’m not sure if I’m going to stay back or go out front. We’ll see how it goes.”
Under pressure
Klettke credits “a really good summer training this year” for her improvement and better focus this year, including altitude training in McCall, Idaho.
But there’s a story behind that.
Actually, two stories.
At the NAIA outdoor track and field nationals in Indiana in late May, Klettke found herself overwhelmed.
“Last year during track season, I had a really good season all year long and at nationals, I just choked,” Klettke said. “I got scared and I underestimated myself in the race and the heat got to me and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground after the second lap in the prelims of the 1,500. I think that was almost like another stepping stone for me and I realized, ‘Hey, you don’t need to freak yourself out over a race. Life will continue to go on.’
“I kind of made a pact with myself that I wasn’t going to let that happen again — I’m going to go out and race hard and give it all I’ve got every race. I think that was definitely a trigger point for me — that no matter how good or how many people there are in a race, I’m still running. It doesn’t matter.”
The second story is the help she had in coming to that realization.
Through a family connection, she consulted with Alberto Salazar — only one of the greatest American distance runners in history — and Darren Treasure, a sports psychologist who works with Salazar consulting runners. The client list of world-class athletes includes former NCAA champion and Olympian Kara Goucher.
“I just sat down and talked to him,” Klettke said of Treasure. “My aunt works with them, so I was able to connect with him and talk. He just kind of made me realize why I run again and the enjoyment I get out of it. This season, I just was enjoying it. I was looking forward every day to going out the door and going on my run, and I was enjoying every hard workout whether I was dying or not. I was just enjoying it again. It’s something I’m good at.”
Back at nationals
Klettke said her NAIA national runner-of-the-week award is the highlight of her junior season so far, as much for the recognition it brings the Lewiston, Idaho school and coach Mike Collins as for the personal honor.
Ranked No. 20 in NAIA, the Warriors — who received an at-large bid to compete this week after Carroll College claimed the Frontier Conference team title and automatic bid to nationals by the narrowest of margins — are rebuilding quite well, Klettke said, after losing five runners from last year’s nationals team.
Waiting for the announcement of the eight at-large team bids was nerve-racking, she said, but ultimately brought relief.
“It was probably the worst week ever when we got second at conference, because we didn’t know if we were going to get to go as a team or not,” she said. “It was a heartbreak. We were upset. We were hoping and praying until we found out (Nov. 8, the following Monday) that we got the eighth at-large bid to get into nationals. Oh my gosh, it was tough. There’s a reason why we’re going as a team. I’m pretty excited for the girls, and the girls are all excited. …
“It’s been a great year. It’s been a fun year, and I still have one more year to go — and I still have two more seasons of track. I’m training hard and still looking for more goals to reach. I’m excited for nationals, and I’m excited to race.”
And excited to race so close to home.
“I’m excited to go back to Vancouver,” Klettke said. “It’s my home place. Family gets to come, and friends get to come. Not a lot of people get to watch a big race like this, especially when I’m running, because I’m usually running up here. It’s nice that I get to go down to Vancouver, especially for nationals, and race.”
