BRIAN NICHOLSON, Special to the Standard-Examiner

OGDEN — Clara Geddes couldn’t have predicted a sidelined start to her second year running cross country at Ogden High, but that hasn’t kept the sophomore off her feet.

More predictable was Geddes future as a Tiger. She’s the 32nd member of her family to do so in a lengthy history rooted in Weber County and made quite the impression notching All-State track and cross country status as a freshman.

What looked to be a promising start to her prep running career soon fell into uncertainty when Geddes, following a sixth-place finish in the state 5,000-meter championship in Provo, watched a bothersome hip plate become severe.

Commonly referred to as the “growth plate,” according to Akron’s Children’s Hospital, Geddes’ plate became increasingly separated from her hip throughout the spring and her discomfort spiked wildly this summer.

“It was just kind of bugging (me) at first and tight on the right side,” Geddes said. “We checked it and it wasn’t like anything too bad and then it just slowly got worse to the point where during the Fourth of July, I did a race and was just like dying.”

BRIAN NICHOLSON, Special to the Standard-Examiner

Visiting with her doctor, Geddes learned she’d likely miss the start of the 2024 cross country season and running alongside her younger sister, freshman Olivia, when school doors reopened.

But Geddes could still take her mountain bike for a spin. Geddes joined the Tigers’ mountain biking team in 2023 and continued riding into the new school year in the surging Utah High School Cycling League.

Ogden head cross country coach Merrilee Blackham has watched Geddes find a safe regiment in a sport foreign to her own. Blackham has coached three Geddes athletes — Clara, Olivia and 2021 graduate Dallin — during her coaching and running career in Ogden.

“She’s been able to bike, which is beneficial to us that she can keep some of her fitness with the mountain biking,” Blackham said. “That’s worked well that she’s been able to cross-train and (stay) in pretty good shape.”

But a familiar bicycle isn’t the only place the older Geddes sister found a way to challenge herself.

BRIAN NICHOLSON, Special to the Standard-Examiner

As a freshman, Geddes joined Ogden’s swim and dive team, testing her abilities as a triathlete. Her father, Mark, and older brother, Dallin, performed such feats during their days at Ogden.

To Geddes’ surprise, she could swim too.

“I honestly did not think I would be swimming,” Geddes said. “That was the biggest shock when they said I could try swimming because I don’t know if that would be good (for me) … It’s definitely the hardest sport compared to biking and running.”

Ogden expects Geddes to return for the Region 13 cross country championship slated for Oct. 3.

“It’s going to be so much fun,” Geddes said. “I love both teams. They have so many amazing people (and) such amazing coaches. It really sucks when I can’t race because everyone’s telling me the experience of it.”

For her sophomore season, Geddes is setting two key goals as she gets back in the game: No. 1 is to set a personal record of 19:22 before the end of the cross country season, and No. 2 is to retain her spot within the top 5 of Ogden’s junior varsity mountain biking team.

Monitoring her intensity over the next couple of weeks, Blackham feels Geddes is in a prime position to build off her setback for the better.

“I have complete confidence that she’ll be able to overcome this and come back as strong as she ever was and (become) a better runner because of these experiences,” Blackham said. “I think it makes runners stronger, ultimately, when they can overcome a setback like this.”

Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.

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