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Siblings look to help Weber State cross country to nationals

Hailey Ricks running in the NCAA Mountain Regional Cross Country meet last fall.  (Lauren Crest / The Signpost)
Hailey Ricks running in the NCAA Mountain Regional Cross Country meet last fall. Ricks hopes to contend for the number one spot this year.
(Photo by Lauren Crest / The Signpost)

The Weber State men’s and women’s cross country teams are both looking for success in the upcoming fall season. This year the Wildcats have two players who are looking to help bring success to both teams, siblings Trevor and Hailey Rick.

Hailey and Trevor grew up in the state of Wyoming where they both fell in love with the sport of cross country, saying that it was a family sport.

“Our mom was a runner back in college, and she got me started on it back in high school,” Trevor said.

Hailey added that their mother was their assistant cross country coach in high school.

“You know in high school you want to be playing basketball and football not running five miles a day,” Trevor said. “But my mom kept me doing (cross country) and I grew to love it.”

Over the weekend the cross country teams were in action up at BYU. Both teams finished third in the race, with Trevor finishing 10th in the men’s competition while Hailey finished 14th in the women’s competition.

Trevor said the race was all right, but not great. He added that it’s early in the season and it was good meet to learn from, even though it was rough. Trevor thinks it’s nothing the team can’t bounce back from.

“I still have a lot of improvement to make,” Hailey said. “The way we race is promising and it bodes well for the future.”

Trevor Ricks running at the NCAA Mountain Regional cross country meet last fall.  (Lauren Crest / The Signpost)
Trevor Ricks running at the NCAA Mountain Regional cross country meet last fall. Last season Ricks was named team MVP.
(Lauren Crest / The Signpost)

Last season Trevor was named the team MVP for the Wildcats and this year as a senior he is looking to be a leader on the team one more time.

“I know there are a lot of younger runners on the team,” Trevor said. “And I try to set a good example: train, work out right and do everything I need to do to make sure they get the right image of what is it to be an athlete at Weber State.”

Both players are looking to exceed what they have done in the past and Hailey is looking at some team goals for this upcoming season.

“We would like to continue the streak of three straight years as Big Sky Champions,” Hailey said. “And I definitely would like to be a contender for that number one spot with Jamie Stokes and Ellie Child, whom I will be working with this year.”

As for the men’s team, Trevor is excited for the success that he feels the team is capable of having this year.

“We haven’t been as deep as we are this year, we have a lot of good runners on the team and we are hoping to make it to nationals,” Trevor said. “We just need to bring the team together and we will be looking good.”

On Sept. 27 the Wildcats’ cross country teams will be traveling to Minnesota to race in the Roy Griak Invitational. Trevor remarked that this is a pretty important meet and it’s important to beat the big teams. He added that if the Wildcats can beat some of these teams, it will give them a better shot for nationals in Minnesota.

Hailey agreed with her brother, saying that both teams need to start working hard as nationals approach.

 

 

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