Where you at, how you doing? >> Beatrix Frissell

Today we check in with Beatrix Frissell, who's hunkered down with her family in Polson and appreciating that she can go out for a two-hour run and not have to worry about social distancing.

Where you at, how you doing?

BF: I'm in Polson, Montana, which is home. I'm adjusting. I'm getting used to the idea of being home again and back into a routine.

What were your original plans for March and how did they change?

BF: For spring break I was planning on coming home for a few days. I was going to leave Friday before spring break then come back Wednesday because we had practice.

Then at the start of spring break I wasn't sure what I was going to do.

I was planning on going back to Missoula and living in the dorms for the rest of the semester, then as we got more news and more updates and found out practices were canceled, I decided to go back to Missoula and move all my stuff out.

I went back and hung out for a few days, then got completely moved out at the end of spring break.

What are things like in Polson these days? Are people sticking to the shelter-in-place dictum?

BF: With it being a small, quiet town anyways, it's kind of hard to tell. Generally speaking, people seem to be doing an okay job, but I also feel in a small town like this that it hasn't quite hit people how big of a deal this might be in the coming weeks.

I have a lot of old high school friends who maybe aren't taking it as seriously as they should be. I've been going on runs and seeing small groups of people.

How thankful are you to be living in small-town Montana in a time like this?

BF: I can go out and be pretty much anywhere I want and be away from people, which I really appreciate. I can go on a 12-mile run or go to the track (at Polson High) and not see anybody. I'll run by cars but that will be about it. It's nice we don't have to worry about being around other people.

If I lived in a bigger city, it would be harder to take the stay-in-place rules and actually be able to follow them because you're in such tight, close spaces.

What has the impact been on your family?

BF: My mom works as a librarian at the elementary school. They have gone completely online, which is hard for those younger kids. She's had to develop lesson plans for them.

My dad works at Salish Kootenai College, and they've gone completely online. So they've both been working quite a bit transitioning everything online.

Other than that, my family tends to be introverts, so I think in some ways it's been easy for us. We have everything we need here at home.

Last fall you said one of your favorite things about running at Montana is the group of women you get to train and race with every day. Are you missing the girls?

BF: That's the hardest part for me. I appreciate having those girls to train with. I developed so many connections so quickly. I feel like that got taken away from me.

As a freshman, I feel really lucky I have three years left, versus (Emily Pittis, Samantha Engebretsen and June Eastwood), who are done with their seasons. So while I feel very lucky, I'm also heartbroken for them.

I remember thinking in the middle of indoor season how much I am going to miss them next year. Then I remembered I had outdoor with them and I was really excited. Now that's been taken away. I feel like I have so much more I could have learned from them about how to lead a team.

What are you doing to stay connected with your teammates?

BF: June and Rachel (Torrey) and I and a couple of other ladies will text every once in a while. But with so many adjustments the last few weeks, it's been difficult for us to take it all in and realize what it means.

I've also been checking in with (coach Clint May) on recruiting a little bit, just because it helps me look forward to next year when I hear about the incoming girls we'll hopefully have.

What is your training like these days? There isn't an outdoor season and there aren't even any local running races to focus on. And who knows what will happen in the fall.

BF: I've still been training, maybe even better than I was. I feel like I have a lot more time on my hands now, so I've been doing a lot of small things. I've been staying on track with strength training, and I was always really bad at doing speed work. Now I've been able to put the time in to do that, which has been really nice.

Distance runners have 12 competitive seasons, between four cross country, four indoor track and four outdoor track. Does that make is easier to lose one of them? Or is outdoor the one season you most didn't want to miss out on?

BF: I think it helps to have three seasons each year to look forward to and train for, but outdoor will always be the focus, so there is a lot of disappointment in missing it. Especially on the distance side, we train all year for the end-of-the-year conference outdoor races.

I also was hoping to use a redshirt to hopefully study abroad my junior year during the spring, so that would be another outdoor season I'd miss out on. So this complicates what my future will look like.

You had a 4.0 GPA in the fall as an ecosystem science and restoration major. How are you doing with remote learning? Do you miss the in-class dynamic?

BF: I think my classes have transitioned pretty well. I've taken two online classes already, so that helped with the transition. For the other ones, as a freshman, a lot of them are lecture-based, so it hasn't been that hard. But I miss the face-to-face contact and the discussion that you can more easily have.

I have a soil-water-climate class with a lab that was supposed to be outside. We were supposed to be doing some really cool trips, to Pattee Canyon and Mount Sentinel. That's something we've had to go online and just watch videos, which is a major disappointment. But I've been adjusting.

Are you a news-follower, a news-avoider or something in between?

BF: I'm definitely a follower. I have a news podcast I listen to every morning. There have been a bunch of people who have recommended you only check the news once a day for mental health, so I think maybe I'll stop listening. It can be overwhelming. But I'm still checking the news quite a bit and staying updated.

What do you miss most these days?

BF: Having the team around me, but like a lot of athletes, it's a necessary sacrifice to let go of competing and having the team experience. The No. 1 reason I run is because of the team experience and the girls I run with. That connection and seeing those people every day is what I miss the most.

What hopes are you holding onto these days?

BF: My Ways of Knowing in the (Davidson) Honors College had this discussion. When I hear that question, I think nationally and globally and what this will do for us and how it will change how we interact with people.

I guess I really hope when this is all done, whenever that is and we can finally see and interact with our friends again, that we'll appreciate the smaller things a little bit more. You can take that for granted. After we get out of this, I hope we appreciate those small things and stay a little more connected.

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

June Eastwood

Samantha Engebretsen

Beatrix Frissell

Emily Pittis

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