By MAYAN PAZ Photos by MAX BOWYER
Tiger Media Network
Throughout the entire season, Emily Diercks established herself as a dominant athlete on the FHSU cross country team, leading the women to finish third at the MIAA Conference meet and sixth at the Central Region. Diercks, a junior transfer from Colby Community College, won the MIAA individual race and finished seventh in the Central Region. For all of her effort, she was selected to compete in the National Championship race in Sacramento, California, on Saturday.
“Emily had a great race up there at the top,” said FHSU Head Coach Jason McCullough of Diercks’ Central Region championship race.
Diercks herself was somewhat critical of her performance but was still content with the outcome of the race.
“I think that my performance was good, but I definitely had higher expectations to finish in a higher spot individually,” she said. “It was a hard course, but I was able to come away with a personal record in the 6k.”
The women’s team entered the regional race with hopes to finish in the top five as a team and qualify for the national meet. Despite their efforts, FHSU’s women finished sixth and fell short by a small margin of being selected to compete in the national championship race.
“On the women’s side, I thought we ran well. We just almost had it. We didn’t quite have a couple of our athletes up as far as we needed to be in order to qualify,” McCullough said.
The women’s team finished the season ranked No. 25 team in the nation, the highest-ranked team not to be in the national championships. FHSU competed in the highly competitive Central Region, where five teams qualified for the national race. Other regions sent only two or three teams.
Diercks also mentioned the team effort and the hope that this season will make the team stronger for next year.
“I think our team performed really well,” she said. “It’s a little disappointing that we were the first team not to get picked for nationals, but I think that because of that, it gives us more drive and motivation for next year. Even though we didn’t make it, I think being so close to qualifying has given all the girls a good insight into what we can accomplish when we work together as a team and has given us a good goal to reach for next year.”
The FHSU men finished 12th in the Central Region. Jaret Pfizenmaier finished 33rd overall, Brady Stegman finished 56th, and Ethan Fisher finished 57th to lead the team.
“I think the men had a chance to be in the top eight,” McCullough said. “Christian (Darrah) had a side stitch and wasn’t able to finish where he should have. That might have put us in the top eight, but we ended up 12th, which is about where we probably were scheduled to finish. Jaret had a great race. And then, of course, Brady and Ethan both had really good races as well. So good performances on the men’s side.”
Looking forward to the national championship race, McCullough has high expectations for Diercks, saying he thinks she has a great opportunity to be an All-American.
“I know that she wants to be in the top 15 because the top 15 get trophies, and so she’s really focused on that,” McCullough said. “I think she can if she races well. I think this course is suited for her. It’s on a golf course, and it’s fairly flat, so she just needs to get out pretty quick and stay in one of those front packs, and I think she’s got a good chance to do that.”
Diercks set similar expectations for herself, as she is aiming to become an All-American performer.
“For nationals, I am aiming to finish as an All-American, as well as finish the race with a personal best,” Diercks said.
Diercks and McCullough will be traveling to Sacramento, and McCullough is ready to assist her in any way he can to make her the best version of herself on Saturday.
“I just take care of whatever she needs,” he said. “If she needs a certain type of food, I’ll take care of it. If she needs a running partner, thankfully, I’m in shape so that I can run with her.”
Diercks will step on the course at 1:15 p.m. CST on Saturday in Sacramento. Live coverage and streaming can be found on the official FHSU Athletics and the NCAA websites.
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