Editor’s note: On Wednesday, Aug. 26, the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference decided to postpone the 2020 men’s and women’s cross country season until the spring. The conference will continue to work with all coaches throughout the conference to develop a plan to compete in a spring conference season.
Head Cross Country Coach Logan Wells, who is in his second season at Bluffton, believes his young team will be up for the challenge and is excited to see what the team can do.
Both the men’s and women’s teams are excited to have a chance to compete, even though the 2020 season will be different from previous years. According to Wells, all of the coaches around the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference started preparing for the upcoming season in March once COVID-19 first started impacting colleges in the United States.
The men’s cross country team getting ready for practice to prepare for the upcoming season. Photo by Patrick Spillman.
The coaches developed multiple plans for ways to still compete this fall and ultimately decided to make the season conference-only meets, Wells said.
Each weekend there will be a tri-meet between three teams in the conference but will be scored as head-to-head against each team. The coaches developed this plan so a team could still be announced champion even if they are unable to have the conference championship meet at the end of the season.
Due to the change in schedule this season, the cross country team will host three home meets this year. Wells said he is excited for the opportunity for more students to see how much fun cross country is as a sport and hopes the school will approve a system that will allow students to come support the team in a safe and socially distanced atmosphere.
Practices have also looked different for the team this year. He has the men’s and women’s teams split up so they can practice safer social distancing. They still meet at the same time, but the teams warm up in different directions and run different routes during their practice runs. Wells also has the team wear a mask any time they are doing anything other than physical activity.
For the men, three runners returned from last year while six first-years entered the mix.
Wells said he expects the top five to interchange throughout the season, but is excited to see what his young team can do.
The roster includes junior Austin Hernandez, sophomores Britton Boyle and Max Chandler, and first-years Zach Boch, Noah Heiing, Ethan Ly, Alex Montross, Carter Richey and Tyler Ross.
The women’s cross country team getting ready for practice to prepare for the upcoming season. Photo by Patrick Spillman.
The women’s side is very similar to the men’s with two returners and eight first-years. Wells said he also expects the top five to interchange with the women’s team. The women’s roster includes: junior Hope Nixon, sophomore Justine Lesinewski, and first-years Alex Bacon, Brooke Barnes, Caitlin Bennett, Miranda Billman, Mackenzie Brownrigg, Jenia Freewalt, Cheyenne Null and Tabi Rollman.
The cross country team will have its first meet of the season Saturday, Sept. 5, at home.
Bluffton University has decided that no outside guests or spectators will be able to attend athletic events for the time being.
Results for all races will be available by 7 p.m. Sundays by listening to the Beaver Dam on 96.1 The Wit FM or at blufftonbeavers.com.
