Cross country is sport in its purest and simplest form

By: Lukas Eggen

Monday, October 19, 2009 - 11:09 PM

Nevada’s cross country team is finding success this season, finishingin fifth at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational on Saturday. As the team prepares for the WAC Championships, it will be a two-team battle with New Mexico State. Photo by Brian Bolton/Nevada Sagebrush

Out of all the sports that are in season, there is one sport that I love to follow the most by far. It’s a sport where the players are stepping up, the team is showing it will be competitive and is a marvel to watch. That sport is cross country.

I know many people think running is one of the lamer sports to watch, but if you think about it, running is sport at its purest form.

There is no extra equipment. There are no balls, nets, hoops or pads. Athletes do not gain advantage because they are short or tall, strong or agile. There are no skills that have to be learned like how to shoot a basketball or carry a football.

It is simply a group of athletes running. The only thing that decides the order of finish is how hard they’ve trained and who has the mental toughness to dig deep at the end of the race to outlast the other runners.

There are no halves and no timeouts. Once runners step onto the course, they are on their own. For a short period of time, the only thing that matters is outrunning the other athletes.

Running involves much more mental toughness than people give it credit for. In the middle of a race, when runners are getting tired, they can’t stop or slow down.

It’s not like football where they are sitting on the sidelines for part of the game, or basketball where a substitution can be sent in. A runner has to keep going or risk losing a place.

And yet, despite running being an individual sport, cross country can be more of a team sport than most others.

While a basketball or football team may have one or two stars that carry the team, cross country runners are truly dependent on each other.

The saying, “A team is only as strong as its weakest link,” takes on a whole new meaning for a cross country team.

At a race, the top five runners score points for the team based on what place they finish in. The lowest scoring team wins the meet.

This means one slow runner can bring the whole team down. Each runner has to do her part and one weakness can be the difference between the team winning the Western Athletic Conference and finishing in second.

Cross country is the epitome of sports. It is truly amazing to watch a group of athletes lay it all on the line every race with nothing but pure will and desire to keep them going.

I’ve heard someone say that runners are crazy. I’m not sure that’s true. To say they march to the beat of a different drum would be more accurate.

Runners have a competitiveness to them that is quenched by outworking and defeating other runners. They have a desire to improve and find a new challenge to overcome.

One look at Nevada’s cross country team and it becomes clear why they deserve more support and attention. At the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational on Saturday, seven of Nevada’s 10 runners set personal records.

With the WAC Championships coming up in two weeks, it’s clear that the runners are peaking at the right time.

Also, the Bronco Invitational saw a total of six teams from the WAC compete. Nevada took second, finishing behind New Mexico State, who won the team championship.

The Wolf Pack and the Aggies were the only two teams from the WAC to finish in the top five in the 17-team invitational. Hawaii was the next closest in ninth place.

It’s clear that it will likely be a two-team battle for the top spot at the WAC Championships and with the Wolf Pack being one of those two teams, they deserve fans to support them.

If nothing else, go see the future of the cross country program. Nevada has only one senior and eight freshmen on the roster. This means the Wolf Pack will only get better in the coming years and will be competitive for a while.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at leggen@nevadasagebrush.com.