Now that the cross country season has come to a close, seniors are left looking at what was as coaches and underclassmen try to focus on the future.

Senior Grant Shadden can look back on the season and be thankful that he was able to run.

Throughout his career, Shadden has suffered from a dislocated bone, dislocated knee, a viral infection, a bone evulsion, a sciatic nerve and, this year, from arthritis in his back.

“With all of the injuries and everything else, it was a blessing for me to be able to run again,” he said.

Now, Shadden will prepare for track season and said he will probably compete at some level even after he’s done competing at the collegiate level.

“I love running and competing, and I’m sure I’ll do that,” he said.

Men’s head coach Corey Ihmels said that the team still isn’t where he wants it to be — a top-three team in the conference — but he did see an improvement from last season.

“We made some strides this fall,” Ihmels said. “We’re better than last year at this time. We made some progress, finishing in the top half of the conference, and we have a good nucleus.”

The men’s team took first place at the Midwest Collegiate Open in Kenosha, Wis., on Sept. 18.

The Cyclones were led by Shadden and junior Dan Taylor, who took first place and second, respectively.

Ihmels said in order for the team to achieve the goal of being toward the top of the Big 12, he said he also needs to do a better job recruiting and have the returning runners improve more.

Ihmels said he is now looking at the track season to provide momentum for next fall.

“We have to use the progress we make in track to carry over to the cross country season,” he said.

Taylor and freshman Alfred Singoei return next season as front-runners for the men’s team.

Taylor led the pack of Cyclones who took 11 of the top 12 places at the ISU 6K on Oct. 1.

Singoei took 35th place at the Big 12 Conference Championship, the second-highest finishing Cyclone.

Women’s head coach Dick Lee said that he didn’t measure the women’s team’s success by team placings.

“This is one of the funnest groups I’ve had. They were positive,” Lee said.

“We weren’t as strong of a team, but we didn’t let that diminish their excitement, dedication and motivation.”

To improve the team for next season, Lee said the returning runners have to keep working on their conditioning and the team needs to be strengthened with recruits.

Three of his top runners — sophomores Meredith McKean, Krysta Metz and Jenny Mockler — will be back as juniors next year, Lee said.

“They’ll see as much improvement from this year to next as they did from last season to this year,” Lee said.

“They’ve been in those big meets before. They’re leaders. They’ll help the newcomers understand the big meets. It always helps to have that experience.”

Metz and Mockler took eighth and 13th place, respectively, at the ISU Open on Sept. 10.

The team will be losing senior Lindsey Nye, who took 12th place at the Jim Drews Invitational in LaCrosse, Wis., on Oct. 16.

Lee said that although experience is good to have, sometimes the newcomers come into meets without knowing what to expect and do well because they don’t know they aren’t supposed to do well.

“They have no preconceived notion of what’s going on,” he said. “Sometimes they just run hard.”