Kyla Becker finished 10th in the 6A cross country meet as a junior. (NW Sports Photography)

A change in mindset could lead to a big senior cross country season for Lincoln’s Kyla Becker.

Becker, who finished 10^th in the 6A meet last year and was third in both distance races in the state track championships, is showing the confidence to compete with the state’s top runners.

“That’s the biggest thing we’ve been trying to work on,” Lincoln coach Eric Dettman said. “Now she steps to the line expecting to win, or at least be in the hunt to do so, which has made it really exciting.”

Becker ran a personal-best 17 minutes, 34.4 seconds Sept. 5 in the PIL Preview meet, which stood as the fastest time in the state for all classifications until Saturday. That’s when Becker finished second to Summit junior Fiona Max (17:31.3) at the Northwest Classic 6A/5A race on the state-meet course at Lane Community College.

Becker, who finished in 17:41.3, led the entire race until Max passed her with about 800 meters left.

“Fiona made a big move and Kyla just couldn’t respond,” Dettman said.

But Dettman said Becker has made significant progress since the state track meet, when she ran tentatively against Jesuit’s Makenna Schumacher and Sunset’s Lucy Huelskamp in the 3,000. The early pace was slow, and Becker was uncomfortable as the leader.

“She was looking back at Lucy and Makenna,” Dettman said. “There was a moment that she was actually waving at them to pass her, like she shouldn’t be in front.”

Becker slid to third place in 10:05.97, behind Schumacher (9:57.9) and Huelskamp (10:01.69).

“If she hammers from the gun and kind of has a ‘come-get-me’ attitude, I think potentially it has a different outcome,” Dettman said. “And even if it’s not, I think she would’ve been more happy with herself knowing that she went for it.”

The early signs from this season are promising. Becker’s time in the PIL preview was 26 seconds faster than her time in the meet last year. The two-time PIL champion ran a 15-second PR despite winning by more than one minute and running in temperatures in the low 90s.

“She just believes in herself,” Dettman said. “She’s super fit, and she’s not afraid to test her limits. There are some incredible athletes in the state, but I don’t see any reason why she can’t be there as long as she runs her race and focuses on herself.”