These runners own a piece of Idaho prep history. They hope to do the same at Boise State.

Andrew Rafla and Elijah Armstrong each started their Boise State cross country careers by winning the Mountain West men’s freshman of the year award.

The former Idaho high school standouts were part of coach Corey Ihmels’ first two recruiting classes, but their names haven’t been mentioned much over the past two years.

For Rafla, a series of stress fractures in his foot, fibula and femur forced him to miss the majority of two seasons. Armstrong left Boise State after his freshman year to serve a two-year Mormon mission in London.

Both runners are back in the mix for the Broncos’ cross country team this fall, adding depth to a group that finished 19th at the 2017 national championship and returns all but two of its top seven from a year ago. Boise State will split its squads this weekend, sending one group to the Nuttycomb Invitational on Friday in Madison, Wisconsin, and another to the Charles Bowles Invitational on Saturday in Salem, Oregon.

“I think the men, as good as the women have been, the men have been to nationals the last three years. They’ve been top 20. They won a conference championship,” Ihmels said. “The women haven’t won a conference championship, so they’ve done some things that the women haven’t, but they’ve kind of been in the back seat a little bit.”

The Boise State women made headlines last season with a program-record sixth-place finish at nationals. The women were ranked fifth in the most recent national coaches’ poll, and the men 26th.

“I think we’ve grown and matured and strengthened a lot since my freshman year. I’ve seen us as a group mature a lot. I think all the silly stuff is kind of behind us,” Rafla said. “We’re all super focused on the same goals and my class was the first class to come to Boise State under Coach Ihmels, so we want to get the business done that we came here to get done.”

The Broncos hit the ground running in their first meet of the year, garnering a perfect score of 15 by claiming the first seven spots in the field at the Sundodger Invitational at Lincoln Park on Sept. 8 in Seattle.

“I just think having people around you to push you every day, it gives you an opportunity to see truly how good you can be, but also how good your teammates can be,” Armstrong said. “I’ve always thought that when you lift others, you kind of lift yourself, so in that aspect my teammates are always encouraging me, lifting me up, which then makes them better and vice versa.”

Armstrong had to be self-motivated throughout his mission. He woke up early to go running each day and occasionally checked in with Ihmels for workout suggestions. He estimates that he averaged 60 miles per week.

He returned to Boise in July with the aim of getting back to where he was in the Broncos’ lineup before he left. Armstrong was the top finisher for Boise State — and the fifth freshman overall — at the 2015 national meet, coming in 70th.

“He came back better than probably I would have expected and maybe even he would have expected,” Ihmels said. “But I think he’s somebody that you knew he was going to come out the other end of the mission better than when he started.”

Armstrong, a 2015 Pocatello High graduate, joined Boise State after one of the best prep distance careers in Idaho history. He is the only four-time state cross country champion, and he swept the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters his junior and senior seasons.

Armstrong still owns the overall state meet records in the 1,600 and 3,200.

Rafla enjoyed a similar level of success during his senior year at Timberline High. The 2014 graduate won the 5A state cross country title and the 1,600 and 3,200 in track. His time in the 1,600 remains a 5A meet record.

That success carried over to his first season with the Broncos. Rafla qualified for nationals individually, taking 83rd and finishing as the second freshman overall.

Then the injuries began to derail his progress. He redshirted his freshman season of track and missed his sophomore year of cross country. Last fall, he ran with a stress fracture in his fibula.

The unexpected down time helped Rafla graduate with a bachelor’s degree in computer science this past spring, and he plans to complete his master’s in computer science by the end of this school year.

But he’d still like to add his most successful season in a Boise State uniform to that list of accomplishments.

“I think he’s just got to get a little bit of confidence back. This is the reality of how good we are right now. He’s our eighth guy, and he was an individual qualifier for the national meet as a freshman,” Ihmels said. “... So if he’s our eighth guy, we’re going to be in good shape, because I think by the end of the year, Andrew is going to get to the point where he’s doing what we thought he was going to do when he came here.”

Mountain View, Halladay back in win column

After an injury-plagued sophomore year, Mountain View High junior Lexy Halladay appears to be feeling like herself again.

A stress fracture in her shin limited Halladay over the summer, but she’s steadily regaining her strength this fall. The two-time 5A state cross country champion won the Nike Battle for the 509 over the weekend in a course-record 17 minutes, 25.80 seconds, helping the Mavericks take the team title at Fairways Golf Course in Cheney, Washington.

Halladay, senior Camryn Pritchard (6th, 18:46.50), senior Adelynn Rosin (8th, 19:06.4), freshman Brooklyn Lowry (10th, 19:22.90) and junior Morgan French (12th, 19:35.50) teamed up for 33 points and a 59-point win over second-place Coeur d’Alene (92).

Halladay is the only Idaho runner to eclipse the 18-minute mark over 5,000 meters so far this season, according to athletic.net.

This story was originally published September 25, 2018 at 3:04 PM.