Dear RunWV,
I'd like to voice my opinion on the state meet returning to Elkins. I believe that this is a very good change for the state meet. The Williamstown course is a good course, but not state meet quality. I think that the Elkins course is much more challenging and demands harder work throughout the season to prepare for. I know many people think that colleges look down on WV runners after they see their times at the Elkins course and think that they are mediocre, but I'm pretty sure that many college coaches are intelligent enough to do some research on a course before analyzing an athlete's time on it. I could be wrong, but if I were a coach that is what I would do. Plus, no coach is going to just look at one meet anyway; a college coach will look at the previous meets as well.
The Elkins course is one of the most challenging courses I've ever seen in my four years of cross country. I was just a freshman when I first saw it, and it was at the Forrest Festival. Our team (Cabell Midland) ran an inter-squad race after the all the races were completed. I think that the return to Elkins will result in a state meet that will require much more hard work and a much more gutsy race this year. I also think that, this being my last cross country season, the return to Elkins will make it much more memorable.
Thank you for your time,
Lewis Pauley, Cabell Midland High School biglew@ezwv.com