Northern runner Field Soosloff competes in NAIA nationals

It had been quite the wait for Montana State University-Northern cross country runner Field Soosloff. After he finished third in the Frontier Conference Championship last fall, he had to wait until other conferences in the NAIA played their spring seasons.Now he knows that he has qualified for the NAIA National Meet in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

“It feels really good. Ever since I was a freshman it’s been me and my teammates’ goals to make it to nationals and it feels good to achieve the goal,” Soosloff said.

Soosloff qualifying for the national meet is a watershed moment for the MSU-N cross country program. While several women’s cross country runners have qualified for the national meet over the years, Soosloff is the first male MSU-N cross country runner to do so.

“It’s exciting,” said MSU-N head coach Chad Spangler. “This really shows that we’re moving in the right direction with the mens team having a national qualifier.”

As a trailblazer for the MSU-N men’s cross country program, Soosloff hopes that he makes the program proud in their first time out in nationals.

“It gives me some pride to represent the school, the community of Havre and the team,” Soosloff said.

As a team, the Lights failed to qualify for the national meet after finishing third in the Frontier Conference Championship last fall. The two teams ahead of them, conference champion Rocky Mountain College and Carroll College, both qualified for nationals.

Soosloff finished third in the Frontier Conference Championship with a time of 26:42.9 behind Jackson Wilson and Elijah Boyd of Rocky Mountain. Throughout the season, Soosloff has finished in the top 20 of every meet. Soosloff credits his strong season to his training regiment that he has been on since last summer.

“Mostly had to do with consistency in training,” Soosloff said. “You run a lot, you just do well. And you got to be a little bit competitive.”

Soosloff will be competing with 95 other runners at the meet this Friday. Some other Frontier Conference runners that qualified for the meet as individuals include Luke Lutz and Matt Wilson, both from Montana Western.

Soosloff will be competing against runners from schools from across the country. Olivet Nazarene from Illinois has the most individuals competing with seven runners. UC Merced from California and Jarvis Chrsitian from Texas each have four runners competing.

As he competes against the best runners the NAIA has to offer, Soosloff hopes to finish in the top 50 in order to be in position to compete for an All-American status. However, he also hopes to enjoy his time competing in Cedar Rapids.

“I hope to be an All-American,” Soosloff said. “That would be a very good goal of mine but just to compete well and have a good time.

Competing on the big stage can be daunting for some, but Spangler believes Soosloff will be prepared for the moment as they have practiced on the course before the meet.

“This kind of thing is always so big that it can sometimes surprise you a little bit,” Spangler said. “We just got done practicing on the course and he’s seen it, he knows what to expect and I think he’s very prepared.”

Soosloff runs in the NAIA national meet Friday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.