Oct. 24, 2012
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Big 12 Cross Country Championships
Jimmy Clay Golf Course | Austin, TexasSaturday, Oct. 27
Women's Race - 10 a.m. CT
Men's Race - 11 a.m. CT
Championships Central |
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by Mallory Majcher, Texas Media Relations
AUSTIN, Texas – The beautiful lakes, the winding trails and the big, small-town feel make Texas’ capital one the best running cities in America. Texas Women’s Cross Country coach Stephen Sisson and Texas Men’s Cross Country coach John Hayes hope to tie the running community in Austin to the success of the Longhorns in the collegiate running scene this Saturday during the Big 12 Cross Country Championships.
“We would love to show the city of Austin and the Longhorn community what cross country is all about and what we have been working towards,” Hayes said of the program’s collective aspiration for the conference meet.
Hosted at Jimmy Clay Golf Course, this championship meet has been mapped out with spectators in mind. The course is set up in a 2K loop, allowing fans to easily see the runners multiple times throughout the race. The loop course “makes cross country, which is usually not a spectator sport, a lot better for spectator purposes,” Sisson said.
“It is set up for people to be able to cheer, scream and yell ‘Texas Fight’ while being able to watch a good portion of the race.”
Loop courses are not common in most conference meets, and Sisson says they can result in a lack of focus, which can often be challenging for runners to overcome. This is not a concern for the Longhorns. In fact, the 2012 Texas Cross Country team feels that they can use the unfamiliar, loop course design to their advantage – particularly with the help of the energy from supportive, local fans.
Junior Sara Sutherland and senior Rory Tunningley are most excited about having their friends, family and fellow Longhorns out to support the team. While Jimmy Clay is not the teams’ usual training ground, hosting this meet in Austin gives the athletes a “home-field advantage” mentality.
“I’m really excited that all of my family and friends get to see me run and watch me compete in something that I love. I believe this is the best cross country team Texas has ever had, and we are excited to get to show that to everyone in Austin,” Tunningley.
Said Sutherland: “Last year, we were pretty disappointed with how we ran (in the conference meet). I think it is going to be exceptionally exciting because we are training well and look good this year.”
Although the race itself will be over in a matter of hours, the UT Athletics Event and Operations departments have been preparing for this meet for the past few years.
“There was a lot of planning involved,” said Assistant Athletics Director for Events James Barr.
One of the first steps of planning was determining a venue. Many locations, such as Zilker Park, were discussed as possible venues. However, the Jimmy Clay Golf Course proved to be the best fit for the Big 12 meet.
Barr and his staff will begin course set-up on Thursday afternoon, and will have the course roped off by time teams begin arriving to preview the layout on Friday.
As the teams prepare for the meet on Saturday, the athletes and coaches have one goal in mind—winning.
“At the University of Texas, we want to win Big 12 Championships, and we aren’t going to back away from that,” Hayes said.
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