Alumni in Action: After wrapping up Diamond League season, 2-time Olympian Val Constien inspires next generation at Battle Mountain

Two-time Olympian and Olympic Trials steeplechase record holder Val Constien spoke to the Battle Mountain cross-country teams at a practice on Thursday. Head coach Rob Parish said he’s been trying to organize a visit from the 2014 graduate for awhile.

“And she made it happen,” the coach said.

Constien, who is in Edwards for a few days, spoke to the boys and girls teams for roughly an hour. She stuck around to take photos and sign autographs as well.

“Her talk was fantastic and the kids were besides themselves afterwards,” Parish said. “Getting their shoes and watches signed — definitely a little fan-girl status.”

Parish said her message to the Huskies centered around hard work, not making excuses and enjoying the team and the process. She also spoke to lessons she’s garnered throughout the ups and downs of her own running career, like not being offered a contract after her first Olympics and getting injured a week after finally signing with Nike. Just 13-months after ACL surgery, Constien won the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2024 Olympic Trials in a record time of 9:03.22 — the third-fastest time ever run by an American — last summer.

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Constien wrapped up her Diamond League season in Lausanne on Aug. 20 before pacing defending Olympic champion Winfred Yavi in a rare 1-mile steeplechase event in Brussels two days later. The former Husky and CU Buff finished the season off with a race down the streets of New York City at the Fifth Avenue Mile. Constien ran a lifetime best of 4:25.3 to place 14th.

“I went with the top-5 from the gun and tried to put myself in the race for a podium. Unfortunately, I died a painful death at the end to finish 14th, but that’s how racing goes sometimes,” she posted on Instagram. “My racing season is now over, and I’m ready for some downtime! This year has been challenging, but I’ve learned so much, and I’m so grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had!”

Former Eagle Valley star snags first interception of collegiate football career

Kevin Hasley picked up the first interception of his collegiate football career in McPherson College’s 52-7 win over Avila on Aug. 30. The former Devil, now a sophomore defensive back for the Bulldogs — who compete in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) — picked off a Duce Taylor pass at his own 10-yard line with 7:38 left in the second quarter. He returned the pick 44 yards and also had two tackles in the win.

In addition to playing football for Eagle Valley, Hasley was an all-state 300-meter hurdler and member of the Devils varsity basketball team. In his freshman year at McPherson College, Hasley appeared in five games and tallied 14 tackles. The Bulldogs are 2-0 after defeating Bethel 33-7 on Sept. 7, but Hasley did not appear in the contest.

Other alumni in action

• Former Devil volleyball star Ione Pedersen has tallied four kills in three games for Gettysburg College. Coming off a 24-6 record last fall, the Bullets are 3-4 so far in 2025. Pedersen appeared in 15 matches and totaled 73 kills and eight blocks in 39 sets during her freshman campaign.
• Former Eagle Valley 3200-meter school-record holder Cooper Filmore kicked off his second year at Fort Lewis College with a top-10 finish at the Joe Vigil Invitational in Alamosa, Colorado on Sept. 5. The redshirt freshman covered the 8k course in 24 minutes, 49.6 seconds to finish ninth overall and second for the nationally No. 28-ranked Skyhawks, who finished runner-up to No. 3 Adams State in the team scoring. Filmore competed in indoor and outdoor track last spring, posting bests of 15:25.20 in the 5K and 8:52.82 in the 3K.
• Armando Fuentes, who was a part of Eagle Valley’s 4×800-meter school record team with Filmore and current Devil Tyler Blair in 2023, also competed at the race. Fuentes placed 38th in a time of 26:59.4.
• Battle Mountain harriers Addison Beuche and Milaina Almonte also kicked off their cross-country seasons over the last two weekends. Almonte finished second overall at the USF Invite at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Aug. 29. The junior completed the 6K in 20:37.6, almost two minutes quicker than she had in her first two appearances at the meet. Almonte, who won the Vail Hill Climb over the summer, finished 10 seconds behind Anna Buettner of San Francisco and just in front of a trio of Stanford University runners, including 10-time Colorado state champion and four-time Gatorade athlete of the year Riley Stewart. Beuche, a sophomore at the University of North Dakota, placed fifth at the Ron Pynn Classic on Aug. 29 and 11th overall at the MSU-Moorhead Dragon Twilight the following week.