After many successful seasons in the past, what happened to the cross country team? That is the question many people have been asking around campus when it comes to Cabrini athletics.
The men’s cross country team has fallen from once being a competing team to one that is pressed to find students to participate in this sport.
“Participation has completely fallen off and it seems to only get worse,” Brittany Hume, junior math major, said.
Hume is in attendance on a regular basis for all Cabrini athletics.
“No one ever goes to the meets and it just looks as if no one seems to care anymore for the team,” Hume said.
“Support is key, and without it, the meets are just some kids running.”
But this trend only seems to be occurring at Cabrini, according to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association participation is up at the high school level and it looks as though athletes are getting excited to run.
“Participation exceeded 7.6 million students for the first time according to the National Federation of State and High School Associations,” USTFCCCA said in an article posted on their website.
The evidence points towards the cutting of track and field as the main cause of the underwhelming support of cross country.
“I think it is a possibility that the team could be defunded,” Diipali Figgles, senior business administration and political science major and former Cabrini cross country runner, said.
But another former member of the men’s team has another opinion.
“I can’t imagine the team going away. It’s a profitable sport and both of the teams have a lot of potential,” John Solewin, senior political science major, said.
In fact track and field has been discontinued but cross country is still very much apart of the Athletics Department.
“It would be a shame if the program was gone because it is an important part of the Cabrini athletics community,” Figgles said.
He was one of the favorites among student-athletes both in and out of the programs.
“He was really a great guy, always fun to be around and really wanted you to do well. His top priority was for you to succeed,” Solewin said.
The biggest issue among the students is the lack of support. Many may wonder why people run. For most runners it’s not about who watches, but about what drives them to run.
*Article updated with corrected fact on Oct. 28, 2010. In the print version it claims that Coach Williams was forced to leave due to the discontinuation of the sport but in fact he left three to four months prior and the events have no relation to each other.
*Article updated with corrected fact on Oct. 28, 2010. In the print edition the article fails to mention track and field was discontinued rather than defunded. Cross country is still a recognized sport in the Athletic Department.
I just want to say when I was asked to comment I didn’t know the article was going to be negative about a team that I loved and ran for, for a couple years and I also did not say anything about the team being defunded I would never even use that word as a vocabulary choice.
Hey guess what we had fans out at our CSAC championship meet yesterday didn’t see the fan you interviewed in the last article yesterday or at all this season….I didnt see one Loquitur photographer or writer to cover that event! But thats right you guys don’t cover our events just bash the program with a crappy article oh yea and you don’t even interview credible sources for your articles either!
Brit Hume is nice, but what makes her qualified to comment on the cross country team. I never competed for cabrini, but i did for high school. And I know that the people that run cross country are some of the most dedicated athletes in sports. You talked about a coach that isn’t coaching anymore, two FORMER xc members, and one person who has absolutely nothing to do with cross country, or even a sport for that matter.
It would be nice if the runners who are still on the Cabrini Cross Country team were interviewed. Even though the team is small, there are 7 hard working Cabrini students and two coaches who are dedicated to the Cross Country program. Personally it upsetting to read this negative article demeaning the program right before our CSAC Championship meet. The next time you go digging for information, go to the source to get the correct information. To clarify, James Williams took at job at Cheyney University, long before the track team was dropped.
How about you interview athletes on the team and coaches and people in athletics rather then past runners who have quit? The mens team has a runner who places in the top 20 or better every race where is that in this article do some research before you throw the program under the bus!