Wyoming trio aspires to big finish at NXN

By Marlowe Hereford for DyeStat

Although reality sunk in at different times at Nike Cross Regionals Northwest for Wyoming high school cross country runners Sydney Thorvaldson, Mackenzie Marler and Aubrey Frentheway, their elation was the same.

Their top-five finishes in the girls championship race Nov. 11 at Eagle Island State Park in Idaho not only qualified them for Nike Cross Nationals, but etched their names in history.

They are the largest group of individual female runners Wyoming has ever qualified for NXN.

Thorvaldson, a Rawlins High freshman, was the first of the three to cross the finish line of the 5,000-meter course, placing third in 17 minutes, 36.1 seconds. She was aware that Marler, a Cheyenne East junior, placed fourth in 17:37.6, but did not know Frentheway – a senior at Cheyenne Central – took fifth in 17:48.8 until being informed by her mom. 

More than week later, the initial excitement at making history has become intertwined with gratitude.

“It’s never been done before, so it’s really special,” Marler said. “Wyoming doesn’t get a lot of recognition in cross country. Just because we’re all the way out here doesn’t mean we’re not competitive.”

Their coaches share the enthusiasm and also acknowledge the big picture perspective.

Wyoming has not sent more than two runners to a national meet in one year in more than 10 years.

Rock Springs gained an at-large bid to Nike Team Nationals in 2005 and Cheyenne Central coach Sean Wilde was a member of the Central team that received an at-large bid in 2006.  

“It wasn’t a perfect science back then,” Wilde said. “I was really excited that we had three athletes because the last time we had more than one athlete was before we had the regional meets. It’s great that it’s happening.”

Different paths, mutual respect

The running community is often referred to as close knit regardless of location, but Wyoming takes that closeness to another level.

Thorvaldson, Marler, Frentheway and their coaches attribute that to Wyoming’s population, which is the smallest in the union at 585,501 people per the 2016 U.S. Census. That's slightly more people than live in Albuquerque, N.M.

That population makes it that much simpler for coaches and athletes to keep up with the careers of athletes across the state. Competing at some of the same meets has created first-name familiarity between athletes of programs separated by hundreds of miles, as well as respect.

“Wyoming’s like a small town,” Cheyenne East cross country coach Katie Blunn said. “At meets, people are cheering for Aubrey, Mackenzie and Sydney (by name).”

Students at rival schools five miles apart in Cheyenne, Marler and Frentheway are the most familiar with each other of Wyoming’s three 2017 NXN qualifiers.

Although their training grounds overlap – Blunn said she often sees Frentheway out running –they do not train together. Marler, this season’s Wyoming 4A state champion, and Frentheway – the 2015 4A state champion – have raced head to head an average of three to five times for three consecutive years, trading victories along the way.

“We’re pretty competitive out there, but we’ll respect whoever wins,” Frentheway said.

Thorvaldson is a runner they are still getting to know.

Beyond what they had heard from a Cheyenne East runner who transferred from Rawlins his sophomore year and what Frentheway had learned from attending the same BYU camp as Thorvaldson and Mountain View ID sophomore Lexy Halladay over the summer, Frentheway and Marler were not familiar with Thorvaldson or her capabilities until the season began.

Wilde described the freshman as a rare talent who could win state titles all four years, while Blunn first heard of her as the 13-year old who ran an age division-record 38:39 at the May 2016 Bolder Boulder 10K road race in Colorado.

Thorvaldson bettered that time twice this year, running 37:00.9 for 12th in the Bolder Boulder women’s citizen race and a personal-record 35:42 to place eighth among 200 finishers and win the women’s overall title at the Sunrise Stampede 10K in August in Longmont, Colo.

Thorvaldson also completed the 2016 Rock ‘N’ Roll Denver half marathon upon learning the 10K registration had closed, placing fourth out of all women’s participants in 1:21.21.

“(My mom) said, ‘If there isn’t another race to run, I guess you can. Just go slow if you have to. Walk or take a rest and stop if you need to,’” Thorvaldson said. “I had a Gatorade energy gel with me. I took that about midway through. I didn’t have to stop. I just remember running and feeling so good.” 

After her initial reaction of ‘what on earth?’ to Thorvaldson’s road racing accolades, Blunn said she felt thankful Cheyenne East is a 4A school and not in the same postseason classification as Rawlins.

“We’re happy she’s 3A,” Blunn said with a laugh. “She runs like a gazelle.”

Thorvaldson not only went undefeated and broke the 18-minute barrier three times during her freshman season leading up to the 3A individual state title, but won every meet by margins ranging from 14 seconds to 2:45.

Her two closest races? The annual Michelle Ludwig Memorial Invitational on Sept. 9 in Sheridan, Wyo., where she beat fellow NXR Northwest participant Tiahna Vladic of Billings MT by 14 seconds and the Leroy Sprague Invitational on Oct. 6 in Cheyenne where she beat Marler by 23 seconds (Frentheway was third).

Arguably the person most familiar with Thorvaldson other than her parents Kris and Wendy, and her sister Alexis, is Rawlins cross country coach Nancy Steinberg, currently in her 31st year of teaching and 25th year of coaching.

Rawlins’ population as of 2014 city-data.com numbers is 9,772 – compared to 63,845 for Cheyenne for the same year – and Steinberg has known the Thorvaldsons for years. Middle school runners join the high school runners for practice in Rawlins, and that is when Steinberg began working with Thorvaldson. By then, Thorvaldson had been running with Wendy since age 8. 

Steinberg said she has never seen another freshman like Thorvaldson in all her years coaching in Wyoming. Thorvaldson entered NXR having not lost a cross country race her entire career dating back to sixth grade, and NXR was the first meet her parents and coach felt nervous for her. Within the first mile, Thorvaldson was in second in between eventual winner Camila Noe of Bozeman MT and Halladay.

“This was the first time really besides when she’s run half marathons that she’s had people neck and neck with her,” Steinberg said. “I think we were all kinda like on pins and needles. She was thrilled to place third.”

Although their backgrounds differ, the three girls share a source of inspiration.

Wyoming’s tight running community is to credit for that, too. Age and 134 miles of Interstate 80 separate them, but they all know Anna Gibson. A 2017 Jackson High graduate, Gibson battled anemia and shin injuries for two years before competing at the 2016 New Balance Nationals, placing fourth last year at NXN, receiving Wyoming’s Gatorade Player of the Year awards for cross country and track and signing with Brown.

Thorvaldson, Marler and Frentheway described Gibson as a household name in Wyoming who showed them what is possible. Marler said Gibson put Wyoming on the map, and she was happy to run a time at NXR within three seconds of Gibson’s fourth-place regional effort last year.

“I definitely do look up to her,” Marler said. “I want to aspire to be as fast as her. It’s cool to follow in her footsteps in a way.” 

Frentheway followed Gibson’s career and health setbacks and was particularly impressed with her senior year accomplishments. 

“I took that for me personally as anyone is capable of anything,” Fentheway said. “She paved the way for us.” 

Four years younger than Gibson, Thorvaldson said her mom first shared her story with her. Thorvaldson made the 121-mile trip to Casper to watch Gibson at Wyoming’s high school state track championships in May, and seeing her run a state-record 4:48.14 to win the 1,600 in less than ideal conditions remains a vivid memory.

“The weather was so bad,” Thorvaldson said. “It was snowing and freezing. Watching her do that, I was like, ‘Wow, that is so cool.’ I was really inspired and impressed with her.”

Not finished yet

Big goals also provide common ground for Wyoming’s three NXN qualifiers.

For Thorvaldson, her early season goal was to finish in the top three of each meet. That was what she wrote down on her ‘goal sheet’ Steinberg distributes to every Rawlins athlete before each meet. As the season went by and her win streak continued, Steinberg said Thorvaldson began writing: “I hope first.”

“She’s very humble and very sweet,” Steinberg said. “I give all the credit in the world for Sydney’s work ethic to her mom. A lot of kids by the time they get to state, they’re beat. Sydney is the type of kid where it doesn’t matter if it’s after the season, she’s gonna run anyway.” 

Thorvaldson spent the three weeks between Wyoming’s state meet Oct. 21 and NXR collaborating with Steinberg on workouts. They have had to get creative with venues in the small town, running at the high school track and on the city streets, cemetery and golf course on days when snow and ice didn’t keep her inside to the treadmill. 

“The front nine is three miles and the back nine is three miles,” Thorvaldson said. “We don't have any trails or anything that are meant for running. Mostly just for dirt bikes. We try to choose a course that has a hill.”

Before the season began, Marler wrote down her goals and displayed them where she could see them every day: win state, break 18 minutes, break 17:45 and qualify for NXN. She not only accomplished them all, but did so as a newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetic.

Blunn said Marler’s mother is diabetic and started having Marler tested in seventh grade. She was diagnosed in June, less than a week before she was scheduled to attend a cross country camp in Oregon.

“She may have been running as an undiagnosed diabetic for as much as four years,” Blunn said.

Also a competitor in indoor track and soccer, Marler said she didn’t have to make major changes to her diet because she was already eating well from working with a nutritionist. The biggest adjustments for Marler have been the additions of checking her blood sugar and taking insulin to her daily schedule.

“I think a lot of people have negative associations with it,” Marler said. “I want to prove to people you can still run fast.” 

Frentheway attained two goals at NXR: running sub-18 for the first time and qualifying for NXN. Those accomplishments were especially rewarding in a season of off and on leg injuries. NXR was not the only meet this season that the 2017 New Balance Nationals competitor sported KT tape on her left leg.

“Occasionally on the colder days if we don't warm up properly, the legs will bother her,” Wilde said. “She’s doing good right now. She’s a tough girl. She’s in really good shape.”

While Thorvaldson has had to create many of her courses in Rawlins, Marler and Frentheway share some common venues in Cheyenne. Both Central and East use Lions Park, located less than two miles south of Central High, while Central runners also use Mylar Park directly east of their campus. Marler said she also runs through the city for her longer workouts, as well as on golf courses and soccer complexes.

Thorvaldson, Marler and Frentheway followed similar schedules in the three weeks before NXR, participating in harder workouts the first week and a half and tapering the final week and a half. They are repeating that process in the three weeks leading up to NXN, alternating between running on their own and with coaches and teammates who are starting to train for indoor track.

With many of their season goals reached, the three girls gained the opportunity to make new ones upon qualifying for NXN. Thorvaldson said this season was already historic, as this is the first time in 30 years Rawlins has had enough runners to field a girls cross country team, and she returned from NXR to several congratulations. She has studied the NXN layout at Glendoveer Golf Course and said she is both nervous and excited for the Dec. 2 race.

“I really wasn’t expecting to go to nationals my freshman year,” Thorvaldson said. “I want to enjoy it. I want to stay up with the front people. That’s a pretty tough goal. I want to take it all in and make the next few years even better.” 

Frentheway, who has narrowed down her college choices to three Division 1 schools, said she was pleased to run sub-18 at NXR and qualify for NXN the same day. She aspires to improve her personal best even more for NXN.

“I just want the best place that I can and leave everything on the course for my last high school cross country race,” Frentheway said. 

Marler said a phrase often repeated by her coaches and parents is “shock the world.” That’s exactly what she hopes to do in Portland on her own and with Thorvaldson and Frentheway.

“Wyoming is underdogs in this,” Marler said. “I really hope we can all do well and people will be like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s Wyoming.’ It’d be awesome to go and place. My main goal is to do my hardest and my best.”

Marler, Thorvaldson and Frentheway all aspire to represent their home state proudly a year after Gibson’s All-America performance at NXN. All three know there are several talented Wyoming runners who didn’t qualify for NXN, and they want to run strong to inspire them.

“I hope it can open up other doors and they can realize what they can do,” Frentheway said.