Runners for NIU women’s cross country didn’t expect to be midseason without a coach.

But after former cross country and track and field coach Shantel Twiggs took a head track position at the University of Nevada-Reno in mid-September, they decided to make do.

“It’s been different,” senior runner Alicja Czajka said. “Some things will change, but I’m positive about changes. A new coach will be good for the team.”

Since Twiggs’ departure, assistant coaches Gretchen Folck and Dave Jennings have filled in the head spot until another head coach is chosen.

“I really like it,” Folck said. “It’s a great opportunity to learn, and it’s a different approach from the job.”

Folck was the distance coach under Twiggs, so cross country runners said they haven’t seen much of a difference.

“Right now it’s hard to say what’s different, because Gretchen was the distance coach,” senior Bonnie Miller said. “It’s not as if we’ve lost a coach, but it was still a shock.”

When Twiggs took over NIU’s track program in the winter of 2000, the team hadn’t competed in 18 years. Twiggs coached the Huskies to 14 school records and the team’s first Second-Team All-MAC selection in shot-putter Ashley Morrow last spring.

“She’d been coach since my freshman year, so we were surprised when she said she’d be leaving,” Czajka said. “That’s just how it is though. We listened to what she told us and we understood her decision, but obviously it was hard.”

Twiggs’ move will affect throwers and jumpers more, Folck said. Several candidates have been interviewed for the head track job and the position is supposed to be announced soon, said Folck, who would not comment on whether she is a candidate for the job.

Led by Czajka, who recently placed second overall in NIU’s first-place finish at the Benedictine Eagle Invitational, the Huskies runners feel this could be their best season, even without their former coach.

“We’re on the way up,” Czajka said. “We get better every year, and everyone wants to get better.”

Without knowing who their coach may be for track, or even by the end of the season for cross country, the Huskies are just concentrating on running, Miller said.

“We’re just trying to make the best of what we’ve got,” she said. “It’s a first instinct to step up and help, especially to the freshmen. This is a Division I sport – you can’t have anyone holding your hand anymore.”