MISSOULA — For the first time in a long time, Elise Stearns has enjoyed a healthy and truly full year of racing.
Stearns benefited off that newfound health to send her track and field career to new heights as a member of Big Sky Conference and national running powerhouse Northern Arizona. It all came together for the former Missoula Hellgate Class AA team champ and all-state runner just a few weeks ago at the Big Sky outdoor championships in Pocatello, Idaho, with a gold in the 1,500 and a bronze in the 5K.
But where did she start her rise?
Going back to her time in Missoula at Hellgate, one of the pillars in town for distance running, Stearns had a resume full of high finishes. She took fifth at the 2018 AA cross country title meet, fifth in the 1,600 at the 2018 AA state track and helped lead Hellgate to the 2018 team cross country title.
But right around then is when her injuries started.
"I feel pretty old now compared to where I was in high school," Stearns said during a recent phone interview. "Coming from Missoula to Flagstaff, it's not even totally that different. I mean, the altitude is a lot different for sure — that is a big adjustment. But, my years at Hellgate really helped. I kinda came into NAU being a little injured off my senior season and I wasn't able to do a lot heading into college."
One of those injuries was a stress fracture that she battled through her senior track season, which in hindsight probably kept her from getting the marks she hoped for.
"I think I had pretty great training for a high schooler going into college," she said. "I just never realized you just do a lot more in college. The training becomes a lot more regimented and there's almost like a purpose to every run you do."
That sentiment that each workout has a purpose plays right into the philosophy of NAU director of cross country and track & field Mike Smith. He trains some of the best runners outside of NAU in addition to his duties as the lead man in Flagstaff. He also makes runners do things they aren't totally comfortable with, like when he had Stearns run an 800 right before the Big Sky outdoor title meet so she can work on her closing speed in prep for the 1,500.
She had a similar experience running at Hellgate under Anders Brooker. At Hellgate she became infatuated with the sport.
"I kinda fell in love with distance running and the culture around it," she said. "So, coming to a place like Flagstaff where there is so much distance running and the pros we see on the track and everything, it's pretty crazy. Hellgate definitely helped me fall in love with all of that."
Stearns, a redshirt freshman in track and a true sophomore in cross country, admitted she had a difficult cross country season her first semester of college coming in injured. She planned to run outdoor track, but that was axed because of the pandemic and the ensuing cancellation of the spring sports season.
Come the next fall, she still dealt with nagging injuries and racing was difficult. Then, something clicked.
Her strength picked up, she was consistently healthy and had one of the best training blocks she ever has had in college — only for an Achilles injury to halt that momentum in winter 2020 and into the early months of 2021.
She was able to compete in the '21 outdoor season and had a few solid races as she again recovered from injuries to rebuild the lost momentum. Her times were looking up, and mentally she made a shift in her approach.
"It was like, the end of the semester and there wasn't a lot I could do with that timeline," she said. "I got a few OK races, and it made me realize that I really wanted to do this. I had to scrap to even get those races so I got to go into the summer and I was like 'I am gonna give this a real shot and hopefully I don't get injured.'"
Back to strength, again
Stearns turned that strong summer training block into an even stronger 2021 fall cross country season. She ended it by with a sixth-place finish at the Big Sky Conference title meet and she competed at regionals and nationals.
"I was like 'Oh my God this is working out for me,'" she said.
Stearns remembered talking to Smith around then, right after cross country ended with indoor and outdoor coming up. Smith saw her potential and told her that she was ready to take another leap, so it was time to ramp things up.
It was the start of Stearns' breakout winter and spring. She podiumed in each race she competed in at the indoor Big Sky title meet as she continued to roll into outdoor, where she took another leap.
That brings us back to Pocatello earlier this May.
Stearns ran the 1,500 and the always daunting 5K. Her main focus was seeing how she could do in the 1,500, then, she said, Smith just wanted her to get as many points as possible in the 5K.
Stearns torched the track in the 1,500. She ran a 4:24 to take first ahead of her teammates as the Lumberjacks swept the top three spots in the event, and snagged fourth and eighth place.
That group, which included Bigfork graduate Bryn Morley in third, totaled 30 points for NAU.
"I thought I was going to be strong contender for that," she said of her feelings heading in. "It's been me and Bryn, then like a two-second drop off and then another two-second drop off to the next girls."
She ran loose once the 5K rolled around. She had no real goal of winning the event, she just needed to go out and run the best time she could and earn some points for NAU.
She ended up posting a 17:00 flat to take third as her team, again, swept a distance race podium. The Lumberjacks went on to sweep the men's and women's titles, setting a new program best in team scoring on the women's side at 244 — which is also a new Big Sky Conference record.
"It was coming down to the NAU women getting the record, so I was thinking I would hold on to third — I can do that pretty easily," she said, even though she wasn't running on fresh legs coming off a strong 1,500-meter performance.
Getting that chance though, to run a 5K after a grueling 1,500, shows her growth. Stearns was able to overcome those injuries, keep her strength and fitness and turn her skills into a multi-time conference title winning year in indoor and outdoor.
"Smith will tell you too, that is the first piece that has to come with any of this: a consistent base," she said.
Montanans at regionals
NAU is also sending former Bigfork star Morley to this week's NCAA West Regionals as she and Stearns are two of the program's current leaders in the women's distance events.
They are also two of four Montanans for NAU, along with Stearns' former Hellgate teammate Piper Pfister — who placed seventh in the javelin at the conference meet — and Belgrade graduate Pipi Eitel.
"It's awesome having Bryn and Pipi — Bryn being from Bigfork and Pipi from Belgrade-Bozeman," Stearns said. "It's really nice having that home state connection."
Montanans set to compete at the NCAA regionals are: Eastern Washington's Katrina Terry (Billings West), Nebraska jumper Ashley McElmurry (Missoula Sentinel), Montana's Evan Todd (Kalispell Glacier), Colorado's Noah Bouchard (Huntley Project), Colorado State's Dawson LaRance (Billings Senior), Minnesota's Carter Hughes (Sidney), Montana State's Ben Perrin (Kalispell Flathead), MSU's Derrick Olsen (Helena High), MSU's Duncan Hamilton (Bozeman High), MSU's Levi Taylor (Laurel), MSU's Cantor Coverdell (Fairfield), MSU's Cooper Hoffman (Dillon), MSU's Elena Carter (Helena Capital), MSU's Morgan Evans (Great Falls High), MSU's Lucy Corbett (Bozeman) and MSU's Angellica Street (Columbia Falls).