Photo by: CUSA
Amazing Grace
5/26/2020 2:00:00 PM | Women's Cross Country, Women's Track & Field
With a single tweet it was over.
After an indoor season that saw unparalleled success by a Rice freshman, distance runner Grace Forbes was left wondering "what if?". The Wallingford, Pa. native had already accomplished so much, but to have her stellar debut season halted so abruptly on the cusp of competing on the grandest stage was hard to digest.
Just 13 days had passed since the Strath Haven High School graduate punched her name in the record books by recording the second-fastest 3000m time (8:56.82) by a freshman in NCAA history at the Boston University Last Chance Meet. With a new school record in her back pocket, along with C-USA titles in both the 3000m and mile, Forbes now had her eyes set on the NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, N.M.
That was the case until the afternoon of Thursday, March 12 when life and the sports world had its axis tilted.
"We were actually boarding the plane when we found out the NCAA Indoors were canceled," Forbes said. "We had been so excited prior to that. Literally minutes before I was talking with my teammate Michelle (Fokam) and we kept saying how excited and ready we both were. We had seen a tweet earlier that day from the NCAA saying that family was no longer able to attend because of the global pandemic and I was pretty upset because my mom was already in Albuquerque. I tried to remain calm because at that point the meet was still on. But then maybe five minutes later, Michelle got a notification on her phone and I remember her distinctly saying "it's over". The meet had been called. Group "A" had just boarded, and we were standing in line in Group "B". As you can imagine we were really upset, and I remember just getting quiet."
Veteran Rice women's track and field head coach Jim Bevan, the 2020 C-USA Indoor Coach of the Year, consoled both Forbes and Fokam and then met with the team the following day to discuss the season and the good days ahead. In his meeting with Forbes, Bevan stressed the importance of staying positive and that time was still on her side.
"Honestly, it was a life savior knowing that I did have three more years and that I could recover from this," she said. "Jim does such a good job of always looking towards the future and not dwelling on the past and I think I needed that message at that time."
Although Forbes had seen her season cut short, the impact she had on both the cross country and track field teams was profound. Despite suffering a hip injury a week before coming to Rice, Forbes returned from the rigorous rehab and made an immediate impact that would be felt over the next five months.
After months of cross training and working with assistant athletic trainer Kizzy Omoruyi, Forbes had a new-found comfort level which eased her mind allowing her to make her collegiate cross country debut on Oct. 19 at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational. With the pain gone Forbes shined spectacularly, placing third overall in a field of 204 runners with a time of 20:26, surprising even herself at the performance.
"I was really surprised by that," Forbes said. "I PR'd by like 30 seconds through the 5k portion of the race and I was like, "Oh my goodness this is crazy". I attribute some of that to the weather in California, but it just goes to show how much Coach Bevan's training really benefits me. I was just pleasantly surprised and really happy how well it went."
Forbes carried that momentum over to the C-USA Championships in Bowling Green, Ky., where she earned first team all-conference by placing fifth (17:09) in the 5k race and earning Freshman of the Meet honors. Two weeks later, Forbes joined Marissa Daniels (2004) as the only Owls to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships as a freshman by placing sixth at the NCAA South Central Regional. Forbes closed out the cross country season by placing 87th at the NCAA Championships and the 10th-fastest time by a freshman despite temperatures in the low 30s.
"It was the perfect way to end the cross country season," Forbes said. "My parents and uncle came to see me at nationals and that was an amazing surprise, the first time I had seen them since I left for college. It just made everything 10-times better, I was very happy."
After claiming three victories during the early stages of the indoor season, Forbes and the Owls made their way to Birmingham, Ala. for the C-USA Championships in late February with their eyes set on accomplishing big things.
"Coach Bevan told me that going in they were races more to win rather than to get specific times, so I went in with some strategy and I was a little bit more confident than usual," she said.
Brimming with confidence, Forbes blew away the field in every way imaginable, capturing both the mile (4:40) and 3000m (8:56.82) titles while helping lead the Owls to their first C-USA Indoor team title since 2009. Forbes would later be named the Track Performer of the Meet and Freshman of the Meet after becoming the high point scorer. While Forbes cherished the individual awards, helping her team and particularly the senior class accomplish something they had never done before was even more rewarding.
"Winning the championship was by far the best moment of the weekend," Forbes said. "When we all came together and celebrated it was just so much fun. It was a little stressful because we only had about five minutes before we had to leave to get to the airport, but I was so happy to see all the seniors because they were elated they had finally won."
A Kinesiology major on the track towards Pre-Med, Grace is not the first member of the Forbes family to make an impact with the Rice track and field program. Her older sister Maddie just completed her junior season with the Owls and perhaps may have given Coach Bevan and company an advantage when it came to convincing Grace to choose Rice as her academic destination.
"I initially contacted a lot of colleges, probably way too many," Forbes said. "But then during the fall of my senior year I started narrowing it down and I realized Rice was such an amazing school academically and athletically it had a ton of potential. I knew that I would be happy there because my sister (Maddie) is so happy there. After looking at the pros and cons it became so clear that Rice was the place for me. The people here are amazing and everyone is so nice. Rice is just super supportive in whatever you want to do."
These days the former high school soccer player-turned track aficionado is back home in the Keystone State, enjoying precious moments with family and friends. When the times comes to return to campus and compete once again, she'll be more than ready to make up for the opportunity that was lost.
"I don't think about myself in terms of ranking and awards, I'm just always wanting to get better," she said. "It motivated me to keep trying and working harder and if anything, it makes me a little sad because I really, really wanted to perform at nationals. But I still have time for next year."
After an indoor season that saw unparalleled success by a Rice freshman, distance runner Grace Forbes was left wondering "what if?". The Wallingford, Pa. native had already accomplished so much, but to have her stellar debut season halted so abruptly on the cusp of competing on the grandest stage was hard to digest.
Just 13 days had passed since the Strath Haven High School graduate punched her name in the record books by recording the second-fastest 3000m time (8:56.82) by a freshman in NCAA history at the Boston University Last Chance Meet. With a new school record in her back pocket, along with C-USA titles in both the 3000m and mile, Forbes now had her eyes set on the NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, N.M.
That was the case until the afternoon of Thursday, March 12 when life and the sports world had its axis tilted.
"We were actually boarding the plane when we found out the NCAA Indoors were canceled," Forbes said. "We had been so excited prior to that. Literally minutes before I was talking with my teammate Michelle (Fokam) and we kept saying how excited and ready we both were. We had seen a tweet earlier that day from the NCAA saying that family was no longer able to attend because of the global pandemic and I was pretty upset because my mom was already in Albuquerque. I tried to remain calm because at that point the meet was still on. But then maybe five minutes later, Michelle got a notification on her phone and I remember her distinctly saying "it's over". The meet had been called. Group "A" had just boarded, and we were standing in line in Group "B". As you can imagine we were really upset, and I remember just getting quiet."
Veteran Rice women's track and field head coach Jim Bevan, the 2020 C-USA Indoor Coach of the Year, consoled both Forbes and Fokam and then met with the team the following day to discuss the season and the good days ahead. In his meeting with Forbes, Bevan stressed the importance of staying positive and that time was still on her side.
"Honestly, it was a life savior knowing that I did have three more years and that I could recover from this," she said. "Jim does such a good job of always looking towards the future and not dwelling on the past and I think I needed that message at that time."
Although Forbes had seen her season cut short, the impact she had on both the cross country and track field teams was profound. Despite suffering a hip injury a week before coming to Rice, Forbes returned from the rigorous rehab and made an immediate impact that would be felt over the next five months.
After months of cross training and working with assistant athletic trainer Kizzy Omoruyi, Forbes had a new-found comfort level which eased her mind allowing her to make her collegiate cross country debut on Oct. 19 at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational. With the pain gone Forbes shined spectacularly, placing third overall in a field of 204 runners with a time of 20:26, surprising even herself at the performance.
"I was really surprised by that," Forbes said. "I PR'd by like 30 seconds through the 5k portion of the race and I was like, "Oh my goodness this is crazy". I attribute some of that to the weather in California, but it just goes to show how much Coach Bevan's training really benefits me. I was just pleasantly surprised and really happy how well it went."
Forbes carried that momentum over to the C-USA Championships in Bowling Green, Ky., where she earned first team all-conference by placing fifth (17:09) in the 5k race and earning Freshman of the Meet honors. Two weeks later, Forbes joined Marissa Daniels (2004) as the only Owls to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships as a freshman by placing sixth at the NCAA South Central Regional. Forbes closed out the cross country season by placing 87th at the NCAA Championships and the 10th-fastest time by a freshman despite temperatures in the low 30s.
"It was the perfect way to end the cross country season," Forbes said. "My parents and uncle came to see me at nationals and that was an amazing surprise, the first time I had seen them since I left for college. It just made everything 10-times better, I was very happy."
After claiming three victories during the early stages of the indoor season, Forbes and the Owls made their way to Birmingham, Ala. for the C-USA Championships in late February with their eyes set on accomplishing big things.
"Coach Bevan told me that going in they were races more to win rather than to get specific times, so I went in with some strategy and I was a little bit more confident than usual," she said.
Brimming with confidence, Forbes blew away the field in every way imaginable, capturing both the mile (4:40) and 3000m (8:56.82) titles while helping lead the Owls to their first C-USA Indoor team title since 2009. Forbes would later be named the Track Performer of the Meet and Freshman of the Meet after becoming the high point scorer. While Forbes cherished the individual awards, helping her team and particularly the senior class accomplish something they had never done before was even more rewarding.
"Winning the championship was by far the best moment of the weekend," Forbes said. "When we all came together and celebrated it was just so much fun. It was a little stressful because we only had about five minutes before we had to leave to get to the airport, but I was so happy to see all the seniors because they were elated they had finally won."
A Kinesiology major on the track towards Pre-Med, Grace is not the first member of the Forbes family to make an impact with the Rice track and field program. Her older sister Maddie just completed her junior season with the Owls and perhaps may have given Coach Bevan and company an advantage when it came to convincing Grace to choose Rice as her academic destination.
"I initially contacted a lot of colleges, probably way too many," Forbes said. "But then during the fall of my senior year I started narrowing it down and I realized Rice was such an amazing school academically and athletically it had a ton of potential. I knew that I would be happy there because my sister (Maddie) is so happy there. After looking at the pros and cons it became so clear that Rice was the place for me. The people here are amazing and everyone is so nice. Rice is just super supportive in whatever you want to do."
These days the former high school soccer player-turned track aficionado is back home in the Keystone State, enjoying precious moments with family and friends. When the times comes to return to campus and compete once again, she'll be more than ready to make up for the opportunity that was lost.
"I don't think about myself in terms of ranking and awards, I'm just always wanting to get better," she said. "It motivated me to keep trying and working harder and if anything, it makes me a little sad because I really, really wanted to perform at nationals. But I still have time for next year."
Players Mentioned
Distance
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