UAF Cross Country Prepares for The 2025 Season

Photo courtesy of Alaska Nanooks

University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Assistant Cross Country Coach Conrad Haber. 

In preparation for fall athletics, University of Alaska Fairbank’s Assistant Cross Country Coach Conrad Haber sat down with The Sun Star to recap the previous season’s highlights and a look at what is to come with this season. 

Conrad Haber was a division one collegiate runner who initially volunteered as a coach in 2004, and later coached at a school in Philadelphia for seven years. Three years ago, when he became interested in coaching at the college level, he became involved with UAF athletics. Alongside the Head Coach Eliska Albrigtsen, they coach the men’s and women’s cross country teams.

Last season was marked by success with the women’s cross country team qualifying for Nationals for the first time since 2011, and two runners finishing in the top ten individually. Kendall Kramer took second and Rosie Fordham took eighth overall. The women’s team took 13th overall at nationals, a defining moment for UAF athletics in recent years. 

While making it to nationals was a milestone for women’s cross country, Haber said that one of the most significant aspects of the teams’ development over the past season was their cohesiveness.

Though cross country may seem like an individualized sport, Haber believes that a unified group of athletes is vital to the success of the team. Star athletes are important, but it takes a team to win a meet and perform well in a season. 

  “Whenever we have practice, people are laughing, and it's something they're looking forward to, which to me is like the cornerstone,” Haber said. 

Haber said there are not usually concrete goals for end results of a season. It’s through the process of teambuilding and training together that results are achieved.

It is through cultivating an atmosphere of friendship on and off the track that allows the team to further develop and push itself. Even outside of training, the team is hiking and going on fat tire bike rides together.

Haber says it’s the “little things that stand out”, such as the team making him a scrapbook at the finals banquet, making mixtapes for the team, or everyone painting their nails blue and yellow before a big race. Though the team faced many challenges this past season and had countless moments of triumph, he says it's almost hard to highlight individual moments because of how special they are in their own way. 

Moving forward to this season as summer training comes to a close, Haber is hopeful that they can continue the upward trend of last season. Summer training always represents an unknown, as athletes’ training shifts due to vacations and plans. However, the team has been putting in the work, keeping in contact, and staying aware of the expectations. Seasons can be won or lost based on the dedication athletes have during summer training.

 “Cross country is all about the summer,” said Haber. 

Additionally, athletes can change dramatically over the course of a season and summer training so there are bound to be new players at the high level every year. The same holds true for the competition, as it is impossible to truly tell where the team stands in the broader conference until the season is underway. However, Haber feels confident that the team is in a position to perform at a high level.

Though on paper the women’s team has lost two of its top runners who graduated, Kendall Kramer and Rosie Fordham, Haber doesn’t feel that the team has taken any major steps backwards because of how the culture and attitude of the team has developed over the past season. He sees several returning athletes such as Luca Duke, Teegan Silva, and Tabitha Williams taking a more decisive role on the team with the experience they have gained in the coming season.

Haber also sees UAF in a position to hold its ground in its long-standing rivalry with University of Alaska Anchorage. In women’s cross country, UAF and UAA have spent years trading off which team has the competitive advantage. UAA has historically held a lead over the men’s team, but in the previous season the team was able to win a meet against them. He also hopes that within the broader conference, UAF will be a more consistent player against universities such as Western Washington and Seattle Pacific. In the past, the team has been more of an apparition, with some years being disproportionately better than others. Haber sees the developments over the past year as part of a greater trajectory that the whole program is on, and with that success comes the promise of attracting new athletes and furthering expansion. 

Haber also outlined the developments in the men’s cross country, as well as the expansion of the team. “The top guy on the team when I arrived would have been our like 10th or 12th runner this past year," Haber said. On the men’s team there are ten incoming freshmen this year, a group that will likely set the stage for the next four years. With the amount of new faces on the men's team comes with a degree of uncertainty, there is also a lot of untapped potential. Haber described the men’s team as “the most talented class we've ever had”, full of hungry and motivated athletes. 

Haber is especially confident in the  work ethic and drive that he has seen in both cross country teams moving into the coming season. “You know, if we can run in the snow and the ice, it's pretty easy to run on some manicured dirt,” Haber said. 

For him, providing athletes with everything they need for their success and fostering a positive attitude is paramount. At practice, he sees athletes enjoying themselves, laughing together, and looking forward to training. Focusing on this team building process is his primary goal, and the results naturally follow. 

Even in the span of a few years, the cross country program has dramatically transformed. When Haber first became a coach, there were only six athletes on the women’s team and six athletes on the men’s team—now there are eighteen athletes on both teams. Though Haber acknowledged there will likely be growing pains in the coming years, UAF cross country is performing at an unprecedented level.

Now is a great time to stay tuned to the Nanooks as they navigate the coming season. “We're gonna be very competitive on the men's and women's side and, you know, the ceiling, especially on the women's side, is very high,” said Haber.