I can't help but put my two cents worth in regarding the ill advised move of the State Cross Country meet to Elkins. The Elkins course is anything but a "true" cross country course and it's apparent that many of those who voted to move it have little or no experience in the sport. It's also apparent that whoever designed the course had a fairly limited view of what cross country is all about. It's one thing to be challenged but it's another thing to endure a "trial", which is basically what these high school runners are put through at Elkins. The last time I checked points were not awarded for degree of course difficulty. I previously lived and competed in Europe for 3 years and ran in numerous cross country races there. Certainly the footing was sometimes uneven, the courses were more often than not rolling to hilly with natural barriers, such as trees across the path or man made barriers such as bales of hay which had to be hurdled. On occasion, since cross country is run in the winter months in Europe, mud, water and sometimes snow all came into play, but I never once had to navigate a "body" of water as the high schoolers must do in Elkins. One of the most utilized courses in high school cross country in the US is McAlpine Greenway Park here in Charlotte, the site of several NC regional championships as well as the state meet. McAlpine also hosts a Footlocker Regional cross country meet as well as the Great American Cross Country Festival and the Wendy's Invitational. The course is predominantly flat with only a small incline at the halfway mark. Hardly a grueling or challenging course, yet it is used repeatedly for several championship events. It shows that a good course does not have to be a "trial" for high school runners.

Additionally, I think too much is being made of times on particular courses. In cross country, times are irrelevant since each course is so different in layout and difficulty. Additionally, some courses are invariably "short" of 5k. When I ran high school cross country the standard distance ranged from 2.0 miles to upwards of 2.5 miles. Even the state meet course in Morgantown was not an accurate distance(it was listed as 2.3 miles, but who knows) No college coach is naive enough to judge a runner solely based on times run on cross country courses; however, a course that is used to the extent of McAlpine does enable the coach to draw some conclusions since so many quality runners have run there over the years. The Williamstown course was a prime example of a good high school championship course. It was deceptively challenging, was very "spectator friendly", something which Elkins can't offer, and was a well managed meet with a record number of fans turning out. It was a great meet and made a positive impact for the sport in WV. Several college coaches in attendance remarked at how well the meet was organized. There are other courses in WV that are also good examples of a well thought out cross country course-Cabell Midland has a nice course on its campus and Camp Virgil Tate was another good course. Coonskin Park in Charleston and Oglebay Park in Wheeling have also been used in the past and both courses were very good. The excuse that the Williamstown course favors a certain type of runner is just that, an excuse. A good cross country runner will adapt and run well on any type of course, from flat to rolling to excessively hilly. Also, a good coach will have his runners prepared for any eventuality or any type of course. Let's hope in the future that someone who has been involved in the sport of cross country can have some input into where our high school athletes can perform to their highest level. I don't think they're getting that opportunity on a course such as Elkins.

Kim Nutter