The significant growth that junior Kyla Eisman demonstrated between her first year and sophomore seasons on the cross-country team was nothing short of remarkable.
From Fall 2022 to Fall 2023, Eisman improved her 6k personal record from 24:54.30 to an impressive 21:52.60, a time that earned her an individual bid to the 2023 NCAA Division III Cross-Country Championships. At nationals, then-sophomore Eisman recorded a time of 22:46.9 for the 6k event, placing her in 137th place out of 293 participants. This season, Eisman said she expects herself to make nationals again, but is approaching the course differently.
“If I make it to nationals, that’s when I will make more goals of what my goal is at nationals,” Eisman said. “Last year once I made it to nationals, it was kind of like, ‘Alright, I made it, like that was the goal. This year, if I make it, it’s kind of like, ‘What’s the goal now?’”
Growing up in an athletic family in Lancaster, New York, Eisman said she began her sports journey with soccer, dance and lacrosse. She said her passion for running took off after she joined the varsity indoor track team in seventh grade and the varsity cross-country team in eighth grade, competing alongside the high school team.
“If I’m told to take a day off, I don’t like to take a day off,” Eisman said. “I spend a lot of time doing it and that’s where my best friends were made.”
Morgan Staskiewicz, current head track and field coach at Depew High School, was Eisman’s head coach while she was at Lancaster High School. Staskiewicz said Eisman stood out as a talented runner from a young age.
“One of my first memories of Kyla was [when] we ran a time trial on indoor track, and she’s a little seventh grader,” Staskiewicz said. “I think she ended up winning that. … I was like, ‘This girl is going to be a good athlete for us,’ because she’s 12, and she just showed up here, and she’s already hanging with our seniors.”
When Eisman first got to Ithaca College, she said that she did not have an immediate impact and that it was a long process. Eisman attributed her success in qualifying for nationals in 2023 to her intense dedication. Despite facing plateaus and hardships her senior year of high school and first year of college, she said she remained committed to her training, focused on visiting the athletic trainer and made a concerted effort to improve by increasing her mileage. On top of all this, Eisman said her mindset shifted between the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
“I would start getting nervous on, like, Tuesday and we race on Saturday,” Eisman said. “Sophomore year, I was like, ‘OK, I just need to be confident and fake it ’til you make it.’”
As of now, the junior is off to a strong start this season. At the SUNY Brockport Alumni Classic on Sept. 7, Eisman came in 3rd place. She followed up her performance with a 12th place finish in the University of Rochester Yellowjacket Invitational on Sept. 21 — a race that included Division I competition. In the Bombers’ most recent race Oct. 5 — the Fredonia Pre Regional — Eisman notched another top three finish.
Around this time last season, Eisman said she had already faced two injuries — a hamstring sprain in early September and an ankle roll that left her in a boot during early October. However, she said it was her hard work ethic that brought her to the national stage a little over a month later.
“I spent hours a day in the training room because I just was like, ‘I’m going to do every single recovery thing that I possibly can in order to get out of this boot,’” Eisman said. “Then [I] showed up to regionals, and I was like, ‘Alright, we’re going to go for this thing.’”
Junior teammate Jessica Goode said Eisman’s composed demeanor is what drives her so far on the race course.
“She’s very cool, calm and collected,” Goode said. “I don’t see that she’s ever jittery or nervous. …She’s fearless.”
Erin Dinan, head coach for the men and women’s cross-country teams at Ithaca College, said Eisman shines off the course as well.
“I think she is someone who is just so endearing to her teammates,” Dinan said. “She really does a good job at checking in with everybody and making sure they’re feeling okay.”
As far as being a top performer on the squad, Eisman said she feels pressure within the role, but the fulfillment makes up for it.
“There’s so many girls who are working toward [being a top performer] as well,” Eisman said. “I think helping other people reach their goals and having them push me, too, is an exciting thing. There is pressure, but as much of it is as an individual sport, it’s also a team sport, so we all are in this together.”
