Coaching is in Bucknam’s Blood

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Kate Bucknam rode a wave of success into Manhattan when Travis Geopfert hired her as Kansas State head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach earlier this month. Bucknam, a former student-athlete at Minnesota who graduated with a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology in 2015, comes to K-State after a seven-year stint at Belmont, where she helped the women's cross country team to the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference title and the 2023 Missouri Valley Conference title.

Now Bucknam is at K-State and is hard at work preparing the Wildcats cross country runners — 13 men and 10 women — for competition this season.

Track and field and cross country has been in Bucknam's blood since birth. Her father is Chris Bucknam, who is in his 16^th season as the head coach of the nationally-dominant Arkansas men's cross country and track and field program.

"Being able to watch him and the importance he puts on treating people right and treating people well is big," Kate says. "He always tells me, 'Love them up and put your arm around them and make them feel good.' Being able to have witnessed that and see him actually live up to those words my whole life breeds that success in the winning and in the want-to because you have people who want to win for you."

For now, Kate Bucknam is building a foundation for success for the Wildcats.

"We're going to get there," she says. "I know now being here, it's the same thing I've done, it's just at a higher level. Stay true to yourself and trust your gut. If you believe in yourself, they're going to buy in really quickly."

The season gets underway with Bob Timmons Classic on Saturday in Lawrence. The men's team races at 9 a.m. and the women's team races at 9:45 a.m. It's the first of three cross country meets before the Big 12 Championship on November 1 at Cottonwood Golf Course in Waco, Texas.

Bucknam spoke with K-State Sports Extra's D. Scott Fritchen about life, her passion for cross country and track and field, and her desire to help the Wildcats attain success.

D. Scott Fritchen: You were announced as head cross country coach and an assistant coach for distance at K-State on August 2. What was your first order of business following the announcement?

Kate Bucknam: First order of business was contacting all the athletes. I FaceTimed pretty much all of them just so they could put a face with a name. I tried to get a little background on where they're at training and just check their vibe and see how they were feeling about everything. That was the first thing that I did, which honestly, was just really helpful to get to know them a little bit before I got to campus. I felt like I knew them a little bit more. We have 10 women and 13 men.

Fritchen: How would you describe these past few weeks since your official hiring? Take me back to these first few weeks and all that the days encompassed?

Bucknam: The first couple weeks it was really just me and one other assistant coach here trying to get settled. Everybody else was in Paris. It was a good time for me to just kind of get settled a little bit and figure out where things are and just start working on the cross country season and ironing some things out for meets. It was a good time in the office just to be there. Right now, the energy is so high with everybody there. It's a really fun vibe. Just a lot of good energy in the office. It's more fun that everybody is here. It's really fun.

Fritchen: You come from Belmont where you worked with the men's and women's cross country/track and field teams. What was your official coaching capacity?

Bucknam: I was assistant cross country and track. I primarily worked with the women's team. Our director of the program was the men's distance coach. The girls obviously gravitated toward me, and that became more of my role, coaching them, and recruiting, and training them. That was good to do. I got an opportunity to not just recruit or not just train, I really got to do all of it.

Fritchen: How exciting does that make this opportunity to serve as head coach for a Big 12 Conference program?

Bucknam: It was nice to have that under my belt. Especially the stuff we accomplished there was good. I knew when Travis called me, I knew I could do it because I did it at Belmont, and we got pretty good. Both the recruiting side, having a lot of autonomy in that and bringing in the girls that I wanted to bring in and the vibe was really good. It'll be at a higher level here, but I have a good instinct, and I've done that for the last six years and to see the success we had there was really encouraging for me and validating.

Fritchen: You mention "vibe" a couple times now. Describe your personality and how your personality shapes the personality of your teams?

Bucknam: Most cross country runners are pretty tough on themselves. They want to do good, and they want to get better. Especially with the women, my role has been to keep things loose and keep things fun and enjoy the process. Yeah, we want to be good and get ready and prepare, but let's also have fun doing it. Life is too short not to do it this way. The runners are hard on themselves, so I haven't had to instill that a ton. These athletes know that they have to get their runs in over the summer and put in the work and do something for the team. I haven't had to be this mean person.

One of the things that I really learned at Belmont was you have to love them up and put your arm around them and they're free to fail, and at the same time progressing and instilling that motivation and dedication to what we're trying to do without being too soft on them. At the same time, they're pretty dang hard on themselves. It's fun to come in and say, "You're OK. Everything is going to be good." That's my vibe. I just try to put my arm around them up and make sure we're creating an environment that's going to push them physically and do so in a fun way.

Fritchen: You had success at Belmont in helping Belmont to the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference title and the 2023 Missouri Valley Conference title. What were some of the characteristics that those two teams had in common?

Bucknam: They got older and matured. The first conference title they won, they were a lot younger, but just the way the conference was set up that year, we got that title and knew at that moment we were pretty good and let's keep it going. Then we got older and got better. They developed. That was a critical time for me understanding and instilling the fun in it and keeping things light-hearted in what can be an intense sport. The team in 2023 was way better as a team because I was trying to be a little more light-hearted. The result was seeing a more competitive team because there wasn't that fear of what the end result was going to be. On both those teams in 2021 and 2023, success is going to look different for everybody, and we all have to define our success.

The verbiage of those years was really positive. The culmination of those three years in 2021, 2022 and 2023, everybody matured, not just the athletes but myself, too, and understanding we're getting good, and let's figure out how to keep doing this together and keep it positive and fun, but all the while try to develop and improve.

Fritchen: You've been around winning all your life. Can you describe growing up as a coach's child? What were the positives and the not-so positives of being a coach's child?

Bucknam: It was positive. Being around my dad and seeing the character stuff is what I like to think I've taken away from my dad. Being able to watch him and the importance he puts on treating people right and treating people well. He always tells me, "Love them up and put your arm around them and make them feel good." Being able to have witnessed that and see him actually live up to those words my whole life breeds that success in the winning and in the want-to because you have people who want to win for you. You treat people right not because you want to win but because you should treat people right and make it a positive experience. Having been able to witness that and see how dad treated his staff and his athletes my whole life, it all trickles down. Having watched him, it was fun and positive being a track rat, and getting to hang around everybody and the athletes. It was fun.

Fritchen: The 2011 Fayetteville High School women's golf team won the state championship while the track and field team also won the state title behind your school-record 4x800m relay all in your senior year. Which was your favorite?

Bucknam: They were both equally fun. That year it was fun to win a state title in a different sport. It was the first time I was on a golf team. That was fun to do something a little bit different. I love golf. I had a lot of fun doing that. At the same time, having helped build that team and be a part of a great team with great history was also very special. I don't know if I can pick one. I don't know how many years in a row we won the state golf title, but it was the fourth or fifth year in a row. To do something different was a blast.

Fritchen: Was track and field your first love growing up?

Bucknam: I'd say so. I was around it from an early age and had a very positive experience with that. I knew it probably was going to be my future at some point. I played a lot of different sports. I played soccer, gymnastics and basketball, and those were fun, too, but I always kind of knew this was the sport I wanted to focus on once I got into high school. I tried to immerse myself in as much as I could because I loved playing, and I loved being outside. I loved playing golf and learned that pretty young. With golf, I can just play. It's a big part of my life, the de-stressor that I do from everything else, going out and playing a game of golf. Definitely, track was my first love.

Fritchen: Did you have any idea that track and field and cross country would shape your life to this extent?

Bucknam: Not to this extent, but I'm also not surprised. I always wanted to do what my dad did because he had so much fun doing it. I've always kind of known this was going to be a part of the plan. Mom tried to steer me away from it — "You don't have to be a track coach if you don't want to do it" — and I said, "No, I want to do it." As you get into coaching there's definitely some hard days, but it's been really fun, and I'm glad it's the path that I chose. Obviously, it's so nice having a really big network thanks to dad. I feel like I can call a lot of different people up and get ideas from them. I was really set up well from the start to do this and do it well. I'm thankful for that.

Fritchen: And now you're here. Describe that first meeting with the K-State men's and women's cross country teams? Can you offer bullet points on what you outlined or discussed in that initial meeting?

Bucknam: We met last Wednesday. They had a compliance meeting and took their physicals, and we had our first practice on Friday and a long run on Saturday. We're really just a week into this. I trickled in information and what my expectations are, after a practice or after a lift, and hit some things home right before or after a practice. That way it's a little bit more absorbent. That stuff is going to be coming. But I didn't outline rules or guidelines. That's not who I am. I just wanted to get a feel for them. It's going to continue to come, and it never stops. I'm not going to throw everything at them at once because it's going to go in one ear and out the other. I'll hit one thing home at a time and go from there.

Fritchen: You have an idea for their classifications and running times. What do those look like in establishing goals for this year?

Bucknam: It's hard to say, honestly. Being in a new conference and learning that and there are a couple new schools in the conference, it's not going to be what it was last year, and we know that with the teams coming in. You have to be a little realistic. I think the meet to really get after it for this season is the regional meet. It's not quite as competitive as the Big 12 right now. Right now, it's a matter of really just getting with the athletes and hearing their goals and piecing it together. I don't want to set goals and expectations right now. We're going to hopefully look like a different team in six weeks.

We're really focused right now on the process and learning new warmup routines and where we're going to practice. It's a big adjustment period. Then as you get more and more into it, I'll gain more and more information on everybody, and I'll be able to answer that question a little farther down the road. Right now, we know we need to be good at the end of October and November, but right now it's just trying to get a pulse for the team. You can look at results from last year, but it's not going to give us the full picture quite let.

Fritchen: In your mind, what will make for a successful first season?

Bucknam: Really good and positive relationships and building trust. That's a huge part of this sport and getting them to buy in and to trust you. You probably aren't going to see our footprint on this program for a while just because it takes time. Right now, we're just in a position where we're watching and learning and picking up on stuff. I think it starts with the relationship piece and building that trust. We will get better along the way – no question about it. There's a really good energy on the team, and when they come together as a group from summer training, there's a big training effect with that. I'm already starting to see positive things. Consistency is what leads to success and true development. That's a priority.

Fritchen: What have you learned most about yourself during your journey?

Bucknam: Be yourself. Don't try to be anybody else. I've been a part of a lot of teams, and I've seen a lot of different people coach, and I've had a lot of mentors and the most important thing that they've told me is I have to be me. Hone-in on my strengths and work on my weaknesses but not be afraid to trust my gut and what I know and take all the good things from all the programs I've been a part of and do things my way and not be afraid to do it and really own it. That's huge. Being authentic is important. Getting called up from Travis for this job showed me I can do it, I've done it. One of the things Travis told me growing up is, "Kate, be great where you are." I've focused on that so much. Put the blinders on and let's do it our way.

I have a lot of trust in that and in myself. We're going to get there. I know now being here, it's the same thing I've done, it's just at a higher level. Stay true to yourself and trust your gut. If you believe in yourself, they're going to buy in really quickly.

Kansas State University Athletics

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