Freshman Cecilia “Cece” Villagomez Edvalson makes a dashing start to her cross-country season. While the transition from high school to college athletics can be challenging, Villagomez Edvalson is progressing both in practice and on the course.
Villagomez Edvalson started racing unattached, competing as an individual rather than an official representation of the Western team at the Bill Road Classic in Ferndale, Sept. 27. She finished 12th out of 96 racers, marking a flying start to her season and college career.
“My legs felt pretty good, the whole time I felt pretty confident,” Villagomez Edvalson said. “Then the very end, all I could think about was just maintaining, because that's when I started getting tired, and I was just like, ‘Oh my gosh, just hang in for a little bit longer and just maintain.’”
Western Washington cross-country prides itself on being a developmental program, meaning the primary focus for its freshman athletes is to adjust to collegiate-level training. While they never demand results from their freshmen, Villagomez Edvalson’s scores have been a bonus to her smooth transition to the team, said Western Distance Coach T.J. Garlatz.
“At our home meet this year, she had a really good performance. She got out pretty assertively and was near the front of the pack for a long time for the whole race,” Garlatz said. “She's in a position where if she has similar performances at our conference championships that she'll hopefully be running at regionals and nationals.”
While racing can be physically tough on the body, Villagomez Edvalson says it’s just a matter of mentally preparing herself to get through it.
“You just have to mentally prepare yourself a lot, and just think a lot about how you're gonna get through the pain because it does hurt,” Villagomez Edvalson said.
During a race, she’s able to continuously motivate herself, even in periods of struggle, by focusing on the community of runners surrounding her. She’ll look at the runners who are also pushing themselves and remind herself of the hard work her teammates' racing has put in and strive to perform well for them rather than just herself, Villagomez Edvalson said.
“Everyone around me is struggling, it's not just me,” Villagomez Edvalson said.
As a collegiate-level athlete, Villagomez Edvalson has begun training at a higher intensity, with new workouts at a higher volume than ever before. Villagomez Edvalson practices almost every day of the week, often twice a day, except on her rest days, Sundays. Although the training is demanding, her teammates cultivate a motivational and fun environment in practices, Villagomez Edvalson said.
“I feel like all the other girls are really good with keeping it intense, but also, keeping the fun in there,” Villagomez Edvalson said. “Then I also like how the older girls really normalize mental health as well, not just physical health, and I feel like that's helped a lot, and that just makes me feel a lot more comfortable.”
Early on in the recruiting process, one thing that made Villagomez Edvalson stand out, besides her talent, was her excitement for the sport. When she’s in a race, she runs assertively and with eagerness, and you can tell she's really in her element in a race, Garlatz said.
“I will say the very first impression that was kind of shared by a lot of us was when she came on her recruit visit before she was actually on the team,” said senior Western cross-country athlete Jill Philbin. “She went on a run with us, and she was so funny. She was making so many jokes and making everyone laugh.”
Although Villagomez Edvalson has been adjusting well to college athletics, which is apparent in her performance times, the coaches have no intention for any of their athletes' best season to be their freshman year, Garlatz said.
“With endurance running, it's one of those things where the results aren't instant. It's one where you build up your fitness for years and years and years. It takes the commitment of putting in the work in the summers, in the winters, during the season, all that time,” Garlatz said. “There's really no downtime for the guys and gals. It's so important that they really do like it. That's what I think is going to give her a really good chance.”
On Oct. 25, Villagomez Evalson raced attached to Western for the Women’s 6k GNAC championships in Billings, Montana. Villagomez Evalson placed 23rd out of 86 racers, and the women’s and men's teams took home first place in the championship meet.
“I love cross-country because I feel like even outside of my team, in the sport itself, everyone's really nice to each other, and I feel like there're always people talking at the start line from different teams, always encouraging each other and saying good luck before a race, and I really like just the kindness in the sport,” Villagomez Edvalson said.
Katherine Konicke-Dunlop (she/her) is a Sports and Recreation reporter for The Front. She is in her second year at Western, majoring in News and Editorial Journalism. Katherine can be spotted out hiking or with her eyes glued to a book in her spare time. You can reach her at katherinekonickedunlop.thefront@gmail.com.
