297 Team secures a solid season Solid. It was a word used over and over again to describe the 2000 men's cross country team. In the end, it was this attr~bute that led them to a string of victories this season. Unlike previous years, no one outstanding runner carried the team to its top finishes. Instead, their winscame from a strong core of competitors who scored conSistently well from meet to meet. According to Coach Bryan Phillips, they owed much of their success to this characteristic. "The team had great depth," Phillips said. "We didn't have one outstanding runner. We had our top six finishing within a minute of each other. It makes a huge difference when you have a team like that." The season marked the Bison runners' debut in the Gulf South Conference. Being new to the conference served as a great motivator for many veteran team members. "It was a big source of motivation because we knew we had a shot at winning the conference, II junior Andrew Scharff said. "We went from being the underdogs to being the big dogs. When we were in the Lone Star Conference, we knew we didn't stand a chance against Abilene [Christian UniverSity]." As predicted, they easily captured the conference championship in Huntsville, Ala. Two weeks later, in Jacksonville, Fla., they walked away with the regional championship as well. While the team relished these impressive titles, they felt the lack of competition at these levels hurt their performance at the national meet in Pomona, Calif., where they finished 12th overall. "It weakened us on a national level because we knew we would walk away with conference and regionals," senior Scott Penick said. "The lack of a challenge at those levels hurt us when we got to nationals, and we weren't prepared to go up against teams that were that good." The-team's performance this season did receive an unexpected boost from Phillips' new graduate assistant, Olli Haavikko. A former professional athlete from Finland, Haavikko accompanied the team on many of its workouts and training runs. "It's nice to have a coach who can train with you," Penick said. "Sometimes it's easier to talk to him than to coach Phillips because he's more like a friend than a coach. He also does the workouts with us, so he knows what we're going through." Their new-found success gave the team high ambitions for next year when all of the team's top seven runners will return to compete again. "As a team, I'd like to see us finish in the top five at nationals," Penick said. "I think we can get third if everything goes right, but I've learned not to count on anything until it happens." - Sara Hardesty Senior Linus Chepkwony and freshman Scott Wietecha take time out for rest during one of the meets. The Harding team placed first in the 8k Bob Gravette Invitational in Arkadelphia, Ark. The men's cross country team photo can be found on page 258 with the women's team. Men's Cross Country 8 ~~~---------L------~ 261 Athletics
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