Bill Steyer, head coach of Lane’s cross country and track and field teams.
Women take first, men take second in the northwest
Lane’s cross country program has a lot to be proud of. For the first time since 2005, the women’s team brought home first place at the Northwest Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships on Nov. 18. following a consistently dominant season, including a perfect score at the Southern Regional Championships just weeks before. The men’s team, having been on top for the last several years, competed brilliantly against Spokane and placed second overall.
Athletic director Greg Sheley praised both teams attributing the success of this season to the talent and work ethic of the athletes, as well as the dedication and skill of Head Coach Bill Steyer and Assistant Coach, former Olympian Bridget Franek.
“We have outstanding staff in Bill and Bridget, which presents a really good opportunity for runners to come to Lane and to get better, to attend a great community college and to be supported by quality people.”
Coach Steyer, now in his third year, has been building up the women’s team since 2017.
“We have a super-strong men’s team and an incredible group of athletes on the women’s team as well. A phenomenal group with a lot of depth that really became a true team,” Steyer said. “Cross country is a team sport when it comes to competing.”
In developing a successful cross country team, recruiting is key and the legacy of Track Town has been a huge draw for athletes. “Lane has one of the best tracks in the state, which is used as an official practice track for the Olympic trials as well as the World Championships,” Steyer said. “A lot of phenomenal runners have competed at Lane and have then gone on to compete at D-1 or D-2 schools.”
Cross country isn’t just a sport, it’s a discipline. “Work ethic is the number one thing I look for when recruiting. Performance obviously matters but, more than anything, I’m looking for runners who are willing to do the work.”
This work ethic crosses over into the athletes’ academic work as well; helping athletes develop mental toughness across the board. “You have to eat right, you have to keep your body fueled, and you have to dedicate so much of your time to resting,” Anthony Stone, the top runner on the men’s team at the NWAC Championships with a time of 26:17, said. “Towards the end of the season, I was sleeping twelve hours a day, eating about 4,000 calories, and I was still tired.”
Jazmin Chavez, a first-year student and top runner on the women’s team with a time of 19:08 at the championships, said that the welcoming atmosphere of Lane as well as the coaching staff was a major draw in choosing LCC. She described the coaching styles of both Steyer and Franek as more of a mentorship that has helped her develop discipline and tenacity on and off the track.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to be coached by an Olympian, someone who has been where I am and has experienced all of the emotions that come with this sport,” said Chavez of Franek. “Having her as a coach is an amazing part of this experience.”
“In high school, I didn’t have a competitive girls team to run with, it was always just my training by myself, running for myself,” Chavez said about her transition from high school to college-level cross country. “Coming to Lane, training with girls who love the sport just as much as I do, has been amazing.”
She added, “In the middle of a race, when you’re going through pain and you want to give up but you know that you have your entire team there, going through the same pain, thinking the same thoughts, it’s motivation to keep going and to keep bettering yourself,” Chavez said.
After a stellar recruiting year for both the men’s and women’s teams, Coach Steyer says he’s looking forward to expanding them as well as continuing to nurture and support the talent of the athletes here at LCC.
