Junior guard Anna Florzak wants to live a double life in the sports world of Iowa State.

A constant contributor to the ISU women’s basketball team, Florzak saw minutes in 22 games last year, but all the while she had a secret ambition.

“I think in the back of my head, ever since freshman year, I wanted to run, and I wanted to do both [basketball and cross country],” Florzak said.

In high school, Florzak was three-sport athlete, participating in cross country, basketball and track for Notre Dame de Sion in Kansas City, Mo. While she emerged as star on the hardwood, Florzak excelled off the court as well, winning the Missouri Class 3 cross country in 2003 and helped her team win two state titles — one in 2002 and another in 2005.

Initially, Florzak said Iowa State recruited her in both basketball and cross country, but ended up choosing to shift her attention solely to basketball.

“I never really looked into [running cross country in college], because I traveled for basketball and put all my time into it,” Florzak said.

When she arrived at Iowa State her focus remained on basketball, but the desire to run still remained.

Every day Florzak said she would wake up and think, “What if I did try running?”

She finally decided to act on those thoughts this year and approached women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly with the idea.

“We talked about letting her try it, and if she made it, obviously we would have to come up with a plan of doing both, which is borderline impossible,” Fennelly said. “Obviously, it puts her behind in basketball, but it is an unique opportunity, one she wanted to do, and we [coaching staff] tried to help in any way we could in trying it.”

From there, the next step was to talk to cross country coach Corey Ihmels, who succeeded Dick Lee, the coach who recruited Florzak.

At first, Ihmels was skeptical.

“To be honest, I didn’t think she would last past two weeks,” Ihmels said. “But we gave her the opportunity and she has run with it.”

Florzak’s impact on the young cross country team has already been noticeable. After only two races this season, Florzak has become a sound middle-of-the-pack runner for the squad. In her debut at the ISU open, three weeks ago, she finished fifth out the 13 Cyclone runners and helped the women to a tenth-place finish at the Roy Griak Invitational on Sept. 25.

“The greatest thing she brings to our group is the fact she is a tough competitor,” Ihmels said. “She brings that from the basketball court to the cross country course.”

By taking on cross country, Florzak has accepted the fact she won’t be able to fully commit to one sport.

“I wouldn’t say it helps me, but I wouldn’t say it really hurts me either,” Florzak said. “I’m trying to do two things at once, so obviously they’re not going to be at 100 percent.”

The biggest difference between the two sports, Fennelly said, can be seen in the type of conditioning required.

“Basketball is such a skill-oriented game combined with a team concept and she not getting hardly any of that now,” Fennelly said. “She will be behind and she knows that. Hopefully she can get it done, but it does put her in a tough spot.”

This fall, Florzak has worked on keeping up with both sports, which has resulted in a jam-packed schedule.

She joins the basketball team each morning for 6 a.m. workouts, before heading to class. Once school is done for the day, she goes to individual workouts for basketball, eventually ending the afternoon at cross country practice.

“Right now, [juggling the two sports] is not as bad because we are only working out a short amount of time,” Fennelly said. “The challenge becomes when we start practice Oct. 17 and you’re trying to put your team together.”

Ihmels said he understands that cross country comes second, in terms of importance for Florzak.

“We’re kind of the cherry on top,” Ihmels said. “I don’t want to do anything to inhibit what [the basketball coaching staff] are trying to do.”

While she has enjoyed her time with the cross country team, Florzak is also mindful of where her main focus should be.

“Basketball is my main priority and the reason I’m here, but I wanted to try cross country and hopefully it all goes well,” Florzak said.

“If at the end of the day it doesn’t work out, I know I am here for basketball.”

As basketball season approaches, the difficulty balancing the two sports will increase, but for now, Florzak is content living the double life.