I would like to share my opinion on the matter...

When I was a Senior in High School, 1998, we ran the State Meet in Williamstown. My school, Charleston Catholic, was in a battle with two other schools for the title. We were third, and I would like to think that on a more challenging course, my team would have claimed victory. The bottom line is that we live in one of the most mountainous states in the country. We should utilize this to our benefit. During my sophomore and junior seasons, the State Meet was held in Elkins. My team trained for the state meet -- to peak at the right time, on the right course. We trained for a course that would challenge us -- one with creek crossings, many hills, and trees that needed to be hurdled. My times at the end of those seasons were faster on both flat and hilly courses than after my senior season. I was recruited by colleges based on my sophomore and junior times, not my senior times. I believe this was a result of the state meet being moved to a fast, flat course. The point is, cross country coaches on the college level realize the difficulty of courses like D & E, Camp Virgil Tate, and Russell Kentucky and make allowances for the time change. Cross Country is not Track. So, why should we run the two sports on roughly the same scale, with no hills and long flat stretches?

Matt Feinberg
Charleston Catholic
Class of 1999