Doubling up: Standout Flathead runner Rumsey Eash added soccer to her duties this fall

Lilli Rumsey Eash is a good-bordering on-great cross country runner who came into 2023 with three All-State finishes to her credit.

Yet for the Flathead senior, something apparently was missing.

“I think it’s pretty obvious in both cross country and track, Lilli struggled a little bit last year with the mental side of running,” her mom, Flathead cross country coach Jesse Rumsey, said. “I think she was looking for a little break.”

Fast-forward to the summer and a conversation with Flathead soccer coach Zach Brenneman. Before long, the former club soccer player was back on the pitch.

“I’ve always kind of had it in the back of my mind,” Rumsey Eash said. “I’d told him I kind of missed it, and I ended up playing in some open fields this summer and really enjoyed it, and started wondering if I could do it. People have done it before.

“Everything worked out and here we are.”

Rumsey Eash isn’t the first to double up like this, of course, but it’s usually not an 11th-hour decision, and certainly doesn’t always work out this well.

Just Tuesday she notched a playoff goal in Flathead’s 2-0 win over Glacier; it was her second goal this season. On Saturday at Rebecca Farm, she’ll be working on All-State finish (top 15) No. 4.

*

Rumsey Eash estimates she was 4 or 5 years old when she first ran a cross country course for the Highlanders Track Club, and so running has been a near-constant.

This is no surprise since her mom was a runner.

“I was lucky to be on two state-winning track teams (1991-92) and one state cross country-winning team (1991),” Rumsey said. “Paul Jorgenson was the cross country coach, and Debbie Rauk coached girls track. It’s been really fun to be back coaching with Paul and Dan Hodge, all those guys that helped raise me.”

Rumsey moved her daughters — Emery ran Montana’s fastest two-mile race as a seventh-grader a year ago — back to the Flathead in 2007 and has been teaching business classes and coaching at her alma mater since.

Lilli Rumsey Eash spent as much time in youth soccer as running up through seventh grade. So when she did join the soccer program this fall, there were a lot of familiar faces.

“I knew most of them and played with most of them on the club team,” she said. “They were all super excited, super welcoming. I couldn't have asked for better, just the way they welcomed me and were so supportive of me doing both.”

Brenneman was just as excited.

“It's been awesome having her this season,” he said. “She’s been a huge asset for our team. She kind of gave us some firepower on that left side with that big left foot she's got.

“She’s been a really great part of our team and we're definitely gonna miss her on Saturday.”

*

That’s the bad news: Flathead’s quarterfinal playoff game at Bozeman is at 3 p.m. Saturday; the final race of Rumsey Eash’s cross country career is set for 12:20 p.m. the same day.

“(Flathead activities director) Bryce Wilson worked really hard to push that soccer game back,” her mom said. “I envisioned her finishing her race and getting in the car and getting to Bozeman in time for a 7 p.m. game, but we couldn’t get the time changed.”

“It’s a little disappointing,” Rumsey Eash said. “But I’m still so glad that we made it. That’s the best that we can ask for, I guess.”

It seems clear that this diversion — for lack of a better word — helped.

“I definitely struggled last year,” Rumsey Eash said. “It kept me from focusing too much on one thing, or putting too much pressure on myself. In soccer, there wasn’t a lot of pressure on me coming in and it was just fun to do. Being able to shake it up and kind of keep things kind of light, and also appreciate the smaller wins in each sport, have really helped me.”

*

A year ago Rumsey Eash finished fifth at state, but her time of 19 minutes. 26.3 seconds was nearly a minute slower than the personal-best of 18:31.7 she ran a year before while finishing fourth (she was seventh as a freshman).

Her senior season times aren’t overpowering, but she’s been good enough to schedule an official visit to Boise State next week. Montana State, since she’s interested in architecture and engineering, is another possibility.

Typically, she says, each fall Rumsey Eash starts out running 30 to 40 miles a week before tapering off to 20-25 as the state meet gets closer. She says soccer — a lot of skills and drills — has added a mile or two per practice.

Soccer is over, but there’s still some goals left.

“I think right now she’s focused on running this final race at state, and then moving ahead to what she’s going to do in college,” her mom said.

“There’s definitely some nerves for sure,” said Rumsey Eash. “It’s kind of a full-circle, because state was here my freshman year, at Rebecca Farm. I feel like there’s not a ton of pressure; I’m just excited to just get out there and perform our best and surprise people with what we can do.”