The ISU women’s cross country team starts their season this weekend backed by experienced athletes and an injury-free squad.

“We were struggling toward the end of the season last year because we were missing three of our top five runners,” head coach Dick Lee said. “It’s possible to lose one of your top four or five, but losing three takes a big time hit on the team.”

“Last year everyone was hurt,” senior Cara Van Eck said. “Our main goal for this year is to stay injury free.”

Both the women’s and men’s cross country teams kick off their seasons this weekend on home turf. The women will be racing against UNI and Truman State, but will not be keeping track of team scores, Lee said. He said that this is a way to keep the pressure off during the first meet and to give red-shirted runners a chance to race.

“The first meet is a way to get us back into the racing mindset,” Van Eck said. “Next week we have a big meet in Minnesota so this will help us to prepare for that.”

Senior Kelly Brinkman agreed.

“It’s good for the new people to get a feel for the course and for racing against their teammates,” she said. “Everyone can get the season jitters out of the way.”

Lee said he’ll use the first meet to determine which runners are in the best shape.

“This meet will help us judge where everyone is at conditioning-wise,” he said. “It will be an educational experience for them and for me.”

Runners have been working on individual training regimens all summer, and Lee said that this summer training will be crucial to the fall season.

“Each member of the team had their own mileage goals for the week during the summer,” Lee said. “We have been practicing as a team since the first day of classes, and we are ahead of where we were at this time last year.”

Van Eck said Lee gave the team the option of whether or not they would like to do weight training.

“Cara and I worked on a weight training program this summer,” Brinkman said. “We ran four to six miles a day and lifted weights.”

Returning runners this season include Brinkman, Van Eck, junior Jessica Huff and junior Monica Erickson. Also on the roster is a new recruit from California.

“Jessica Dahlberg is joining the team this year out of Cal-Poli Slo,” Lee said. “She’s a first-year vet student and placed 27th in regionals last year. She will bring some big meet experience to the team.”

Lee said that one goal for the team is to finish the season in the top four in the conference.

“We try to concentrate on upcoming meets rather than looking too far down the road,” Brinkman said. “But we are optimistic and hope to surprise people by the end of the season.”

Van Eck said that this year’s team is the strongest she’s seen since she has been at Iowa State.

“We hope to qualify for nationals by being one of the top two teams in the region, but that is a long ways away from now,” Lee said. “Right now we are concentrating on keeping a positive attitude. We just have to keep that carrot out there and stay motivated.”