Tomorrow, the College of Wooster community can take advantage of an excellent opportunity that only comes around once every nine years. At 11 a.m., the rolling hills of the L.C. Boles Memorial Golf Course will host the North Coast Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships. Collegiate harriers from the great states of Indiana, Pennsylvania and, of course, Ohio, will come together to determine which school fields the finest cross country team in the league.
As captains of the men’s cross country team, we encourage your attendance to support our athletic pursuits. We realize cross country may not be the “sexiest” varsity sport at Wooster, but we contend that cross country actually has a lot to offer. For example, there may be no athletic event more spectator-friendly than cross country. Onlookers can place themselves anywhere on the course to get an up-close-and-personal look at male and female runners struggling to complete the 8-kilometer and 6-kilometer courses, respectively.
Races always finish within half an hour, without any breaks in the action. Additionally, there is no more satisfying feeling than watching your friends physically exert themselves while you just sit back and relax. Trust us, we know.
When you arrive at the course, which is located behind the Wooster Inn, the first thing you will have to decide is where you want to view the race from. There are no bleachers or stands in cross country.
Rather, you get to pick your vantage point for the competition. We recommend staying near the driving range. That way, you can witness both the start of the race and the most exciting moment in athletics, the cross country finish line. You will be thrilled and astonished to behold the ruthless conclusion of a long distance race as runners relentlessly gallop towards their final destination.
But there is more than just the start and finish to a race. By standing on the driving range, you will see the NCAC’s top competitors run by several times, as the course features several loops that crisscross the landscape. When runners dash past, there will be multiple occasions for you to cheer them on. We recommend you describe how good they look, and comment on their proximity to the finish line. Even if they are miles away, you might be able to convince them otherwise.
You may be asking yourself, “why should I even bother coming to a cross country race in the first place?” Well, we hope that we have been able to persuade you of the benefits of cross country spectating. But beyond that, we can show the rest of the NCAC schools that the Fighting Scots support each other. Cross country hosts so few events of this magnitude, and we would love to see as many Scots attend as possible.
In the words of the legendary College of Wooster cross county coach Dennis Rice, “You’ve got to look good to be good.” We both know that the men’s and women’s cross country teams would look great if you all would come to the meet tomorrow.