ELSAH, ILL. -- The United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced the s
ites for the NCAA Championships in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field for all divisions to be held between 2014-15 and 2017-18 on Wednesday. Principia College is proud to announce that we will be hosting the NCAA DIII National Championship Cross Country meet in 2017!
Principia designed the cross country course to be a national caliber course in hopes of hosting the NCAA Championships in the future. The course is located across from the gatehouse on the North Farm property and meets all the needs of a national caliber meet. Head men's and women's cross country coach Chuck Wilcoxen comments, "We are very lucky to have so much beautiful land, and the area across from the gatehouse is ideal for cross country racing."
Principia's course has a starting area that is at least 100 meters wide, and a starting segment that is several hundred meters long before any sharp or distinct turns, which accommodates almost 400 runners at a time for the championship meet. The course is also unique in that it is both a "runner's" course, and a spectator-friendly course. The terrain is rolling, and the turns on the course are easily navigable by even large packs of runners. No point on the course is narrower than 10 meters, so it's really tough for a runner to find him or herself trapped on the inside of a turn. Almost all of the course is viewable from the center ridge, where the observation deck will be built. The course is laid out to be flexible. The main loop is 3000m long, and the supplemental loop (the Jug Handle) is 2000m long. The women's 6k race will be two main loops, and the men's 8k will be 2 main loops and the Jug Handle. Both races have a common start across from the gate house and finish down at the east end of the fence.
There will still be a little more work done to the course before 2017. The observation deck mentioned above will be ten feet high on the center ridge and Principia will also be adding a very nice awards platform. Wicoxen says, "It will be one of the finest, if not finest, dedicated courses in the country."
Wilcoxen comments on winning the bid for NCAA DIII Nationals, "Being selected to host the National Championship races is a wonderful culmination of many years of digging, mowing, and dreaming. When I started coaching here, I thought we had the perfect environment for racing, and I really wanted to share it with our running friends around the country, but it was quite a long shot. It took a significant "buy in" from Athletic Director
Lee Ellis, and he has been instrumental in making this happen. The Facilities group has been an excellent resource and tireless ally in the process, working out the many bumps in the road (sometimes literally) over the years. I'm grateful to Dr. Palmer for giving us the nod when we pitched our desire to host to him, and his enthusiastic support ever since. I think the NCAA is going to love running here."
