LARAMIE – Most people ease into running.
 
Eowyn Dalbec started with a marathon at age 11.
 
Wyoming's senior cross country standout tagged along on training runs with her mother, Heather, which eventually led to the two running the Revel Rockies Marathon together.
 
"I was just curious what she was doing, and she's like, 'I'm about to go run seven miles, you want to join me?'" Dalbec recalled. "I just went with her seven miles out of nowhere one day. I was super sore, but I really enjoyed it."
 
Dalbec, who was the youngest entrant in the race, and her mother separated at about the 13-mile mark. Dalbec eventually ran with a pacer who happened to be the oldest participant, and the two finished the second half of the 26.2-mile grind together in roughly four and a half hours.
 
"I think she was in her 80s, and since everyone she was pacing left her, she decided she'd run with me the rest of the way," Dalbec said. "She's just talking to me the whole time, and it was really nice, and we ended up finishing together as the oldest in the race and the youngest."
 
A decade later, Dalbec is setting the pace for the Cowgirls.
 
At the Wyoming Invite on Sept. 4 in Cheyenne, Dalbec won the women's 5K in 17 minutes, 37.97 seconds. She easily beat runner-up Ella Hagen (17:57.64), the touted Colorado sophomore who won the event in 2025.
 
"She's in phenomenal shape. She's at another level, there's no doubt," UW head coach Scott Dahlberg said of Dalbec. "Going into the race, she was probably a little hesitant. She knew she was in good shape, but we were talking about race strategy, and she was kind of wondering if she should go out more conservatively and feel it out. We talked about it, and I said, 'Trust your instincts, and whatever's handed to you, go with it.'
 
"Early in the race, you could tell that she took control of it, and she felt like she was in the right place energy-wise, and so she just rolled with it."
 
At the Gans Creek Classic hosted by Missouri on Sept. 25, Dalbec posted a personal best in the 6K, finishing 18th in 20:03.1. Her team-leading finish moved her to No. 2 in the program's cross country record book.
 
It was also Dalbec's first 6K under 21 minutes, breaking her previous best by more than a minute.
 
"Before the race, I just remember being ready to go fast. I was so excited to run fast," Dalbec said. "We've been doing a lot of controlled workouts, and I really wanted to break away from those and have a really good run that day."
 
Dalbec grew up in rural Peyton, Colo., where she dominated many of her races in a smaller classification but posted times that were slower than those of the best runners from larger high schools.
 
She wanted to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point, but during the application process she determined she wanted more freedom. Dalbec talked to former Cowgirl distance runner Kaylee Kearse, who is also from Peyton, Colo., about the ROTC program at UW.
 
"I thought that was perfect," said Dalbec, who has been balancing athletics, ROTC and graduating with a degree in psychology. "I want to become a behavioral health officer in the National Guard."
 
Dalbec balances cross country, track, ROTC and finishing her psychology degree by adhering to detailed to-do lists.
 
"I have everything in order, written down, either on a sticky note or my planner in checklists," she said. "If I need to do something for one of those activities, like something for ROTC, I make sure I have all the materials that I need for that. Then as I go through the day, I just check off boxes."
 
Dalbec and teammates Madelyn Blazo and Hailey Uhre even planned their redshirt year together. The trio decided to sit out last season with a shared goal of graduating together and finishing their cross country careers with a special 2026 campaign.
 
The Cowgirls ended Colorado State's seven-year run of winning the Wyoming Invite by beating the Rams in the event to open the season. Junior Muriel Jones (fifth), sophomore Claire Engelhardt (sixth), Uhre (seventh), junior Hanan Aldelemy (eighth) and junior Brionna Holson (10th) all finished in the top 10 individually.
 
UW finished seventh in the 29-team Gans Creek Classic, with all five scorers posting personal-best times. The Cowgirls finished ahead of eight programs from Power 4 conferences and also beat former Mountain West rivals Utah State (10th) and CSU (13th).
 
"We were so much faster as a group than we've been in the past," Dalbec said. "Turning around and seeing everybody come through right after me was really cool. … We're all starting to realize that maybe as a team this year, we could potentially go to nationals, which would be the first time since I don't know when."
 
The Cowgirls have never qualified for the NCAA Championships as a team. UW has had eight individuals qualify over the years, the last being Katelyn Mitchem in 2022.
 
Dalbec and the Cowgirls will compete against 44 other teams in the Pre-National Invitational on Friday at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind.
 
"I think it's going to be really fun to see where we're at," Dalbec said. "Racing all these big schools and seeing where we fit in, that will be the most interesting thing about it."
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.
 
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