MORGANTOWN — Technically speaking, Ceili (pronounced Kay-lee) McCabe is still in a track frame of mind, courtesy of her steeplechase race she’ll be competing in on July 16 at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Oregon.
As any competitive runner knows, though, time waits for no one, and in a matter of a few weeks, McCabe will begin her daunting quest to switch from track back to collegiate cross-country training.
With that comes a journey, one that could lead WVU’s star distance runner to a platform never before reached by a Mountaineers runner — a cross-country national championship.
“Just talking about winning a national championship seems something like a dream,” McCabe said. “I know it’s out there, but I also know there’s so much that factors into it. It’s on my radar, and I try to leave it right there for now.”
In the fall, McCabe will begin her junior year with so many eyes in the running world on her to see if she can build on the momentum she created as a sophomore.
It was just last November in Tallahassee, Fla., when McCabe took third overall in the cross-country national championships.
She missed out on second place by just two-tenths of a second, which was where 2021 champ Mercy Chelangat of Alabama finished.
Both runners were just four seconds behind BYU’s Whittni Orton, who has since graduated and turned professional.
That would seemingly leave the door open for McCabe and Chelengat to duel once more for a shot at a national championship, but it’s never that easy.
“The one thing Ceili understands is she may run four or five seconds faster, but finish further back,” WVU cross-country and track coach Sean Cleary said. “That’s kind of how the field looks right now, with about six to eight runners all with a great shot to win and they’ve all improved through the spring.
“Obviously, it’s still very early and a lot of things can happen, but she understands that she can be better and still finish fifth or sixth, which motivates her even more.”
“I didn’t like it”
An interesting nugget to how McCabe developed into one of the nation’s top distance runners is her backstory is rather unique compared to her peers.
A native of Vancouver, British Columbia, McCabe grew up as a sort of jack-of-all-trades when it came to athletics.
“I was really big into field hockey and soccer,” she begins. “Basketball was a big part of my life. I ran some track, but I did it more for fitness back then. I played baseball until the ninth grade. I also liked tennis.”
As she got into high school, soccer appeared to be the sport McCabe would gravitate to, and her play had earned her a scholarship offer from Notre Dame.
That was until a knee injury the summer before her senior year sort of took soccer out as a future option.
She began searching for another outlet, something that would keep her in shape.
McCabe had previously run cross-country, but she admits she only went out for the team initially “for fun.”
“My first race, I was not very good,” McCabe said. “I didn’t like it.”
This is not a phrase spoken by the majority of future runners.
“It’s not,” Cleary said. “It kind of shows you just how unique she is. She didn’t initially set out to be a runner. Ceili probably would be at Notre Dame playing soccer, if not for her injury.”
With soccer out of the picture, McCabe went back to cross-country. She began to take the sport more seriously, began to understand the science and strategy behind each race.
“I started getting more workouts,” she said. “Things got smoother from there. I began to put more emphasis into running and I began to get more comfortable. It’s funny thinking about it now, because it’s not what I thought I’d be doing in life. It’s definitely not the most common way people get into the sport.”
Rising to the top
McCabe was not a celebrated recruit when she first enrolled at WVU in 2019, but Cleary said there was definite potential.
“I can’t say I thought she would become one of the best in the country, maybe even the world, but she had a lot of positives going for her,” he said. “She had proven leg speed and a lot of that came from her just being a natural athlete. She had proven to me that she had built up enough endurance. Honestly, the ball was in her court on how good she could be. It was up to her and how hard she would work.”
WVU didn’t advance out of regionals in 2019. A year later — after a lengthy pause due to COVID-19 — she finished 42nd at the national championships.
2021 NCAA CROSS-COUNTRY MEET RESULTS
Just eight months later, McCabe became the first WVU runner to win an individual Big 12 cross-country championship, which turned into a regional championship and then her third-place finish at nationals.
“The results came quickly,” McCabe said. “It really just shows how consistent effort can pay off. Winning those races weren’t always on my radar, but once I reached a certain level of fitness, I kind of saw how bigger goals could be met.”
Shooting for history
There is a certain uniqueness to the sport of cross-country that sets itself apart from the world of track.
Track has numerous options for distance runners. McCabe likes to focus on becoming one of the best in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
But, there’s also the 1,500-, 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs, not to mention the 10,000 meters during the outdoor season.
“Just talking about winning a national championship seems something like a dream. I know it’s out there, but I also know there’s so much that factors into it. It’s on my radar, and I try to leave it right there for now.”
Ceili McCabe
The top distance athletes are essentially spread out among those events at national competitions.
In cross-country, there is no spreading out. All the top runners from all of those different track events have one day and just one race to prove who is the best.
“That’s why I consider cross-country nationals to be the semifinals to the world championships or even the Olympics,” Cleary said. “It’s all of the top distance runners all competing at the same time and you only get that one shot.”
The NCAA cross-country championship is scheduled for November at Oklahoma State. What would it mean for McCabe to make history by winning that meet?
“To win the cross-country championship, with everything that goes into that race, I would put it as one of our school’s all-time athletic achievements in history,” Cleary said. “It would really be hard to say otherwise.”
McCabe admits letting herself dream a little of winning a national title.
“I’ve seen how I’ve progressed over the years,” she said. “That’s built up my confidence, but there’s still a lot to accomplish before I can even really put all of my focus into thinking about doing something as big as that.”
That confidence also has McCabe dreaming of a running life after college. The 2024 Olympics in Paris is also on her wish list.
Not bad for a soccer player.
“If I hadn’t been injured, that’s a good question,” McCabe said. “I may have stayed in soccer, but I doubt the opportunity to compete at a national level would have presented itself.
“It’s weird, though, you think you’re going to do one thing and then you end up doing something completely different.”
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