University of Idaho Athletics

Travis Floeck enters his 10th year at the University of Idaho.

In his first nine years, Floeck has coached three NCAA All-Americans, six Big Sky Conference Champions, 14 NCAA National Championship qualifiers, numerous All-Big Sky athletes and conference scorers, has seen seven school records broken in the distance events,  dozens upon dozens of Idaho athletes have broken into the all-time top 10 at Idaho in the distance events, and the Idaho cross country teams have consistently placed in the upper echelon of the Big Sky Conference.

The last two years, the ascension of current Idaho student-athlete Lorenz Herrmann has highlighted the distance events at Idaho. Hermmann has broken five school records in the men’s indoor 800m (1:46.90), outdoor 800m (1:47.39), indoor mile (4:03.17), outdoor 1500m (3:41.93), and as part of a record setting distance medley relay team indoors (9:48.41, along with Tim Stevens, Spencer Barrera, and Zac Bright). Herrmann’s 800m outdoor school record is the Big Sky Conference all-time record in the 800m. He has won three conference titles in the men’s 800m. Herrmann’s 2022 outdoor season concluded with him placing 10th at the NCAA Track & Field Championships in Eugene, OR, missing the final by .04 seconds, and earning second team All-American status. 

The 2022-23 school year was also a break-out year for Kelsey Swenson at Idaho. Swenson had a stellar cross country campaign that included placing 11^th at the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational and earning Big Sky All-Conference honors by placing fifth at the conference championship meet. Swenson went on to make a courageous run at a national championship bid in cross country. She placed 11^th at the NCAA West Region Championships, running 19:37 on the 6k course. She missed qualifying for the NCAA National meet by just one place and two seconds. It was the highest placing by an Idaho runner at the regional meet in nearly 20 years. Swenson went on to break the women’s 5000m indoor school record that had stood for 40 years, by running 16:21.44 at the Husky Classic in Seattle, WA. Swenson continued to excel outdoors where she ran personal best of 16:08.63 in the 5000m and 33:21.11 in the 10,000m, both being the second fastest ever by a Vandal in those events. She qualified for the NCAA Championships in both events and placed 33^rd in the 5000m and 39^th in the 10,000m at the NCAA West Preliminaries.

The 2022 cross country campaign also carried other big highlights. Redshirt sophomore Maya Kobylanski had an incredible run at the Big Sky Conference Championships, placing third in a loaded field, running a time of 16:37.4 over the 5000m course. She led an outstanding team effort which saw the Idaho squad placing second in the conference meet with a team total of 69 points, the lowest an Idaho team has scored at the conference meet in Floeck’s career. Kobylanski’s third place event tied Kinsey Gomez’s placing in 2015 and Kara Story’s placing in 2018 as the highest a Vandal has placed at the Big Sky Cross Country Championships since returning to the conference. The women’s cross country team went on to place 10^th at the NCAA West Region Championships, the highest placing by an Idaho team since 2004, they also beat several Pac-12 programs that day in Washington State, UCLA, Arizona, California, and Arizona State. It marked the sixth meet in a row the women’s cross country team placed in the top 15 at the NCAA West Region Championships.

The 2023 indoor and outdoor track & field seasons also saw some incredible performances from Vandals in the distance events. Sophomore Katja Pattis was the 2023 Big Sky Conference Champion in the women’s 3000m steeplechase outdoors and also qualified for the NCAA Championships. She ran a personal best of 10:05.31 in the event, which is the second fastest performance ever at Idaho. Pattis also ran personal bests of 4:23.86 in the 1500m, seventh all-time at Idaho, 4:46.71 in the mile indoors, and 9:40.11 in the 3000m indoors. She also placed fifth at the conference championships in the mile, sixth in conference in the 1500m outdoors, and ran the 1200m leg of the DMR that placed fourth at the conference meet indoors.

Sophomore Zac Bright also put in some big performances. He came charging in behind teammate Herrmann at the conference championships in the men’s 800m, giving Idaho a energized 1-2 finish. He placed fifth in the conference meet outdoors in the 800m and ran a personal best time of 1:49.80 during the season, ranked 10^th all-time at Idaho. During the Big Sky Indoor Track & Field Championships, the men’s DMR team of Lorenz Herrmann, Deyondre Davis, Tim Stevens, and Shea Mattson placed second holding off with Mattson holding off conference power NAU over the final 1600m leg. Mattson also placed eighth in the mile at that championship meet. RS Sophomore Leah Holmgren ran a personal best of 2:10.99 in the women’s 800m and placed sixth at conference indoors and eighth outdoors. Other conference scorers during the track & field season included Swenson placing fifth in the 5000m in both indoors and outdoors and seventh in the 3000m, Junior Sam Fulbright placing seventh in the 3000m steeplechase, Sophomore Gage Zanette placing seventh in the men’s 800m outdoors, and Nathalia Campos placing 10^th in the women’s 10,000m, marking the second year in the row the women’s distance group placed in all distance events at the conference meet.

Beyond Herrmann’s ascension, the 2021-22 school year included some other massive highlights. The cross country season included a fourth-place finish by the women and a hard fought fifth place finish by the men at the Big Sky Conference Championships, the women would go on to place 13^th at the NCAA West Region Championships. Freshman Katja Pattis placed 10^th at the Big Sky Conference Cross Country Championships earning her All-Conference honors and she also was awarded Big Sky Freshman of the Year for the 2021 season.

The 2022 indoor season was highlighted by Herrmann’s conference title in the 800m and the school record setting performance by the men’s DMR as well as the women’s DMR team of Pattis, Aaryanna Kurucz, Anna Pecha, and Nell Baker placing third at the conference championships, three Vandal women placing in the finals of the women’s 800m indoors in Holmgren in fourth, Pattis in fifth, and Senior Makenna Schuler placing seventh, three Vandal men also placing in the men’s 800m final with Herrmann in first, Senior Ben Shaw in fifth and RS Sophomore Tim Stevens in sixth, and the men’s DMR (Herrmann, Davis, Jenner Higgins, and Stevens) placing fifth at the conference meet.

The 2022 outdoor season produced some outstanding results among the distance squad. During the season, Herrmann broke the men’s 1500m school record by running 3:42.11at the Bryan Clay meet shortly after RS Sophomore Tim Stevens ran the third fastest time ever by a Vandal in the 1500m at 3:43.95. At the conference meet in Pocatello, Sophomore Maya Kobylanski won the Big Sky Conference title in the women’s 3000m steeplechase. It capped a stellar season by Kobylanski that saw her run huge personal bests of 10:18.81 in the 3000m steeplechase, now sixth all-time at Idaho, and 4:22.73, also sixth all-time at Idaho. She qualified for the NCAA Championships in the steeple, but due to an ankle injury sustained in the water jump, was unable to compete. Freshman Katja Pattis placed third in the women’s 3000m steeplechase and also qualified for the NCAA Championships, where she went on to place 21^st at the West Preliminaries, the highest finish by any freshman. Herrmann won the men’s 800m, but again three Idaho athletes were in the men’s 800m final with Bright placing seventh and Shaw placing eighth. RS Sophomore Stevens placed eight in the men’s 1500m at conference to round out the scoring on the men’s side for the distance athletes. The women’s team placed in every distance event at these championships with Pattis coming back to place sixth in the 1500m along with Baker in seventh, Kelsey Swenson placing fifth in the 10,000m and eighth in the 5000m, and Leah Holmgren placing eighth in the 800m.

A year of navigating the Covid-19 crisis in 2020-2021 still brought some very positive results for the distance group. It was an outstanding year for Senior Malaina Thacker. She started off by having her best cross country campaign. She won the lone regular season meet for the Vandals in the winter 2021 cross country season with a win at the Idaho Orchards meet over other athletes who were nominated to attend the national meet that winter. She ran 16:53 over the 5000m course. She placed ninth at the Big Sky Winter Cross Country Championships. During the outdoor season she ran a personal best time of 4:25.09 in the 1500m, now ranked eighth all-time at Idaho. In her primary event, the 3000m steeplechase, she placed second at the conference championships in that event and qualified for the NCAA Championships. She placed 17^th at the NCAA West Preliminary meet in a highly competitive year running at personal best of 10:10.04 in extremely hot and humid conditions in College Station, TX. That time now ranks fourth all-time at Idaho.

Other highlights of the 2021 Outdoor Track & Field season included RS Freshman Tim Stevens qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 1500m after placing eighth in a loaded Big Sky Championships, being the only finisher in that race that wasn’t already an All-American. Stevens would place 42^nd at NCAA West Prelims. Freshman Lorenz Herrmann placed fifth at the conference championships in the 800m along with Junior Ben Shaw in eighth place. Junior Anna Pecha placed sixth in the women’s 800m at the conference meet along while RS Freshman Nell Baker placed seventh in the 10,000m.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic the Idaho distance group was humming during the 2020 indoor track & field season. The women’s distance group scored in every event at the Big Sky Conference Championships. Freshman Kelsey Swenson placed second in the 5000m and fifth in the 3000m and was named Big Sky Freshman of the Year for the season. Junior Malaina Thacker placed third in the mile and eight in the 800m. Two other Vandals made the 800m final and placed high with Sophomore Anna Pecha placing fourth and Senior Krista Story placing fifth. The women’s DMR team of Faith Dilmore, Aaryanna Kurucz, Erica Pecha, and Nell Baker placed seventh at the conference meet to complete barrage of scoring from Idaho in the distance events. On the men’s side, the highlight was the second place showing and extremely close finish for a conference title by Senior Dean Ellenwood, who was beaten by less than .01 a second for the conference title in the men’s 800m after an outstanding effort. The men’s DMR team placed third for a podium finish after well executed carries by Ben Shaw, Kaiser Gillespie, Josiah Anderson, and Tim Stevens.

The 2019 cross country season was another milestone for Floeck’s distance group. The women’s cross country team placed second at the Big Sky Conference Championships with a complete team effort by seeing Freshman Kelsey Swenson place 13^th, Senior Kara Story place 16th, Sophomore Nathalia Campos placing 18^th, Junior Malaina Thacker placing 19^th, and Senior Krista Story coming at 24^th to round out the scoring five. It was then the highest finish by any Idaho team cross country team since rejoining the Big Sky Conference. The women would finish 14^th at the NCAA West Region Championships. The regional meet is where the men’s team would shine placing ninth as a team, which at that time was the highest finish a Big Sky team had ever finished in the West region. The effort was led by Senior Dwain Stucker placing 44^th and Senior Drew Schultz in 60^th.
The 2019 track & field seasons saw Senior Andie Condie qualify for the Outdoor NCAA Championships in the 10,000m after running a personal best of 34:28.42, which sits her at number four all-time in Idaho history, she would finish 43^rd at the West Preliminaries in the event. Senior Kaleala Bass capped off her career with two top third place finishes at the Big Sky Championships in the 800m, both indoor and outdoors, earning All-Big Sky honors. Her personal best time of 2:09.95 from the outdoor season ranks ninth all-time in the Vandal record book. Other highlights during the outdoor season included a fourth place finish in the 1500m by Junior Kara Story and a fifth place finish in the 800m at the Big Sky Championships. At those same championships, Andie Condie finished fourth in the 10,000m, two Idaho men were in the 800m final with Jenner Higgins finishing seventh and Nathan Burton in eighth. It was an outstanding meet for Junior Dwain Stucker, who would finish fifth in the 10,000m and eighth in the 5000m.

Andie Condie had an exceptional indoor Big Sky Conference meet in 2019 placing fourth in the 3000m and eighth in the 5000m. The women’s DMR team of Krista Story, Aaryanna Kurucz, Nathalia Campos, and Malaina Thacker placed fifth at the Big Sky meet. On the men’s side, the meet was highlighted by the DMR team of Caleb Seely, Mack Baxter, Dean Ellenwood, and Ben Shaw placed second earning All-Big Sky honors. Jenner Higgins would place seventh in the 800m to round our the scorers in the distance group.

The 2018 cross country season was another successful one for the Vandals. The women’s team opened the season with a 15-point perfect scoring effort at the Clash of the Inland Northwest against other division one teams. The women’s team would place fourth at the Big Sky Championships in an effort that would see two athletes earn All-Big Sky honors. Junior Kara Story had a remarkable finish placing third at the championship meet, running 16:44.9 over the 5000m course. Senior Andie Condie would be the second Vandal in the top ten, placing ninth at the Big Sky meet. The women would also finish 14^th at the NCAA West Region Championships this season seeing Kara Story placing 35^th in the region.

The 2018 track & field seasons were highlighted by the continued remarkable improvement from junior Andie Condie, who placed in two races at the Indoor Big Sky Championships (fifth in both the 3000m and 5000m) and in two races at the Outdoor Big Sky Championships, nearly winning the 5000m title by placing second (she was also eighth in the 10,000m). Condie also qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 5000m running at the West Preliminary Rounds. Her personal bests of 16:22.44 in the 5000m and 34:48.08 in the 10,000m are ranked fourth all-time in Idaho history and she has come a long way from her high school personal best of 19:15 in the 5000m.

The 2018 track & field seasons also saw multiple conference scorers among the distance squad under Floeck’s guidance. During the Big Sky Indoor Championships freshman Faith Dilmore placed fifth in the mile, junior Kara Story placed eighth in the 3000m, junior Kaleala Bass placed eighth in the 800m, and the women’s DMR team placed fifth, which along with Condie’s two fifth place finishes, was a strong showing for the women’s distance squad.

The Outdoor Big Sky Championships hosted in Moscow was another successful championship meet for the Idaho distance runners.  Beyond Condie’s two finishes in the 5000m, and 10,000m other scorers included a fourth place finish by junior Erin Hagen and fifth place finish by redshirt sophomore Krista Story in the 1500m, and a seventh place finish in the 800m by junior Kaleala Bass on the women’s side. The men were highlighted by two freshman placing in the middle distance events, Jenner Higgins ran strongly to finish fifth in the 800m, while Caleb Seely placed fifth in a loaded 1500m field.
The 2017 cross country season was the best overall performance from both the men’s and women’s teams since Floeck’s arrival in Moscow to that point. The women continued to excel with a third place finish at the Big Sky Conference Championship meet and 14th place finish at the NCAA West Regional Championships. Junior Andrea Condie won three races throughout the season and placed 45th at the West Regional meet. Redshirt sophomore Krista Story placed seventh at the Big Sky Championships earning all-conference honors. The men had a breakthrough season, they again placed fourth at the Big Sky Conference Championships, but vaulted themselves from a 21st place finish in 2016 at the NCAA West Regional race all the way up to a 12th place finish in 2017, beating the 13th place team by over 130 points.


During the prior year the 2016 cross country season was highlighted by the women’s team earning three wins during the season at the Clash of the Inland Northwest, the Idaho/Gonzaga Dual, and the Inland Empire Championship meets. The women’s team also continued its climb up the West Region rankings, placing 13th in 2016 at the NCAA West Region Championships among 35 teams, improving on its 2015 finish of 17th and 2014 finish of 21st. The 2016 finish tied the highest finish by an Idaho team in the West Region meet in a decade and the women’s team has not finished outside of the top 15 in the region since this showing. The women’s team placed fourth at the Big Sky Championships. Kara Story led the way with a ninth place finish and earned the Big Sky Freshman of the Year award. The men also had a solid 2016 campaign during the cross country season by placing fourth at the Big Sky Championships in Moscow.

The success of 2016 in the fall continued onto the track in 2017. Senior Nathan Stark concluded his career as a Vandal by placing third in both the 3000m Steeplechase and 1500m at the Big Sky Championships. He ran personal bests of 8:56.54 and 3:46.94 in those same events during the season, which were seventh and eighth on the Idaho all-time lists at that time. He qualified for and represented Idaho at the NCAA Championships in the 3000m Steeplechase.

Saving her best for last, the 2017 Big Sky Outdoor Championships was a coming out party for senior Halie Raudenbush, in her last meet as a Vandal, she ran personal bests and placed in three events at the meet. She placed fourth in the 3000m Steeplechase with an 11-second personal best in 10:36.11, then eighth on the all-time list.  She also place fifth in the 1500m in an eight-second personal best in 4:29.40, also number eight on the all-time list at that time, and placed seventh in the 5000m in a 10-second personal best of 17:05.46.

Other scorers at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships among the middle distance and distance crew were sophomore Dwain Stucker and freshman Grayson Ollar in the 10,000m placing sixth and seventh, seniors Blake Gerling and Ian Middleton in the 800m also placing sixth and seventh, freshman Krista Story placing seventh in the 1500m, and sophomore Kaleala Bass placing eighth in the 800m.

Joining Nathan Stark and Halie Raudenbush on the top ten all-time lists at Idaho during the 2017 outdoor season were sophomore Andrea Condie running the ninth best time in school history at that time in the 5000m in 16:54.48 and 10th best in the 3000m Steeplechase in 10:46.53 at that time, and freshman Krista Story earning the ninth all-time best effort in the 1500m in 4:30.76 to that point in history of Idaho track & field.

Senior Kinsey Gomez had a year to remember under the tutelage of Floeck during the 2015-2016 school year. She took third at the 2015 Big Sky Cross Country Championships, helping the team to a fourth place finish. The squad competed at the NCAA West Regional, where Gomez would place 17th overall, earning all-district honors, narrowly missing a NCAA Nationals birth. Gomez followed that performance up by winning the Big Sky title in the Indoor 5000m and placed second in the mile during the indoor season. Other highlights for the distance group during the 2016 indoor season included the women’s DMR team of Erin Hagen, Kaleala Bass, Krista Story, and Ally Ginther placing fourth at the Big Sky Championships.

The outdoor season was much of the same, as Gomez was the top ranked runner in the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m heading into the Big Sky Championships. She should just race the 1500m at the meet, finishing second. She earned a spot in the NCAA Championships in Eugene by placing fourth in the 10,000m at the NCAA West Preliminary meet. Kinsey would go to earn NCAA Second Team All-America honors in the 10,000m by placing 10^th at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, OR. Her time at the championship meet of 33:18.0 was a personal best and an Idaho school record. She also ran 16:11.17 in the 5000m and 4:22.10 in the 1500m during the season, which rank third and fourth all-time in Idaho history at that time.

Other highlights of the 2016 Outdoor Big Sky Championships included a runner-up finish by junior Marquita Palmer in the 800m, running a personal best time of  2:10.24, ninth best on the Idaho all-time list at that time, junior Nathan Stark placing third in the 3000m Steeplechase for All-Big Sky honors as well, and freshman Sierra Speiker placing sixth in the 10,000m.

In his first year coaching at Idaho Floeck guided senior Alycia Butterworth to NCAA All-American Honorable Mention status and an NCAA Championships berth in Eugene, Ore., in the 3000m Steeplechase during the 2015 track & field season. Butterworth went on to finish fourth in the 2015 Canadian National Track & Field Championships in the 3000m Steeplechase with a season best time of 10:10, while continuing to be coached by Floeck. Butterworth also finished second at the 2015 Big Sky Conference Championships in the 3000m Steeplechase.

Senior Holly Stanton finished fourth in the 2015 Big Sky Championships in the 3000m Steeplechase after running a personal best of 10:20.35, for fifth all-time on the Idaho list at that time.

Floeck also oversaw a seventh-place finish from junior Valerie Mitchell in the Big Sky Championships in the 10,000m, after a 2015 season that saw her run a personal best of 36:44, an improvement of 65 seconds from her previous best. Mitchell also ran personal bests of 17:28 in the 5000m and 10:00 in the 3000m in 2015. Her teammate junior Alex Sciocchetti, finished ninth in the Big Sky Championships in the 10,000m after running a personal best of 36:32 during the season, an improvement of 98 seconds from her previous best.

During the 2014 cross country season, the men’s squad exceeded its conference ranking and finished fourth as a team in its first year in the Big Sky Conference. Sierra Speiker was the top freshmen in the conference on the women’s side, earning 13th place in the Big Sky.

Floeck previously coached at Oregon State University, from the fall of 2010 to the summer of 2014, before joining the Vandal staff.

In 2013, Floeck helped coach Kinsey Gomez to 23rd at the Pac-12 Conference meet and to 47th at the NCAA West Regional in cross country. Gomez also set a school record in the 10,000m (34:37.82) during the 2014 track & field season.

In 2013, Floeck worked closely with freshman Emily Weber, who had a stellar first-year campaign in Corvallis, running a personal best in all but one race. Her best of 4:29.46 came at the OSU High Performance Meet, cutting 14 seconds off her high school personal best in the event. Weber also finished 19th overall in the 1500m at the Pac-12 Championships with a time of 4:33.76 and ran the 5000m on two occasions, putting up a PR of 16:57.67 at the Oregon Relays.

Floeck, also coached Oregon State alumna Laura Carlyle during her first post-collegiate season in which she ran for Bowerman Athletic Club. He assisted in guiding Carlyle during her junior and senior seasons in 2011 and 2012 as well, when she broke five OSU school-records, qualified for three NCAA Championship meets and was a three-time NCAA All-American.

He worked very closely with senior Hayley Oveson, helping her to a fifth-place finish in the 5000m at the 2011 Pac-10 Championships. She also qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 5000m.

Before arriving in Corvallis at OSU, Floeck was the Head Cross Country and Assistant Track & Field Coach at Lane Community College from 2007-2009. During that time, he coached 18 distance junior college All-Americans, two USATF junior national qualifiers, and an NWAACC champion in the 1500m (Jeremy McAllister). Floeck was honored as Southern Region Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2008, when both Lane squads swept the regional titles.

The Canyonville, Ore., native also served as an assistant coach for Marnie Binney at Southern Oregon University in 2006, helping coach an NAIA national runner-up in the 1500m (Trevor Palmer). He's gained valuable experience working at one of the nation's premier running camps, Steens Mountain Running Camp, over the past 23 years.

Floeck also worked in other avenues of the sport, working in sports marketing for Nike's running department (for two cross-country seasons driving the Nike XC truck) and as one of the first staff members of RunnerSpace.com. He's also coached at the middle school and high school levels for the Siuslaw School District, helping coach an Oregon State Champion in the 1500m.
Coach Floeck has also coached numerous post-collegiate and professional runners during his career. Idaho Alum Kinsey Middleton (previously Gomez) qualified and competed at two IAAF World Championships representing Canada under his guidance. She placed 50^th at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2018 and 26^th in the IAAF World Marathon Championships in 2022. She also won an IAAF Gold Label Marathon in Ottawa in 2022, running 2:30:08, a then personal best in very warm conditions, she was the first Canadian to win the race in 15 years. Current Idaho Assistant Coach Samantha Lewis has also competed at World Championship events representing the United States under Floeck’s coaching. She has twice competed in the World Mountain Running Championships and has also won a USATF Half Marathon Trail National title. She was named the USATF Sub-Ultra Trail Runner of the Year in 2019 as well. Floeck has coached several Olympic Trials Qualifiers in the women’s marathon during his career.

During his time as an athlete at Southern Oregon, Floeck was a two-time national qualifier in the 800m. He was on four conference championship teams, including the 2005 track & field team that finished sixth at nationals and the 2004 conference and regional champion cross country team that finished 12th at nationals. Floeck was also an Oregon State Champion in the 800m while at South Umpqua High School.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication with an emphasis in Journalism from Southern Oregon University and also carries a USATF Level One Coaching Certification and a Level Two Certification in Endurance.