New Course, New Regional, Same Big Competition
Crawford County Kickoff Invitational Offers Look Into the Southern Regional
Some of the preseason favorites to lead the way in the IHSAA's south regional, as it is affectionately referred to by teams there, will do battle Saturday morning at Crawford County High School's newly redesigned course. The course, which has long been the home of Sectionals and conferences meets, was redesigned this winter and spring by the Athletic Director and his staff. It will get its first big test Saturday morning.
Approximately 41 boys teams and 38 girls teams will square off starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
The course will feature the same winding terrain it always has with nice, groomed trails through their wooded area, occasionally peaking out to see the crowds gathered to watch. It will still feature its sharp, twisting hill late in each loop along with a short kick into the finish.
New additions for long-time followers of the sport will include a new starting line and entry into the woods. The new starting line will make use of the large field to the north of the school. This allows for a large starting line to handle much bigger fields. In addition, there will be a very wide open, 200m-long entry into the woods before the course slightly narrows. The course will then stay amply wide until about the 400m-500m mark before fully entering the wooded section.
The hosts have also replaced many of the bridges and areas that were easily washed out in the past with culverts and other measures to ensure wide enough spots throughout the course. Many of the trails were widened in areas and trees removed to create a much more friendly course to large fields of runners.
However, there will definitely be challenges to the course with fields as large as the Regional where the competition up front and continuing through mid-pack are generally large. It is still on trails and not on open areas like past Regional courses. It has many elements of New Prairie and the Amphitheater in Lafayette. Those courses have fared well over the years so that should be a good omen for the Crawford County course as well.
Teams expected to compete tomorrow include: Princeton, Jasper, Floyd Central, Bedford, Forest Park, Columbus North, Bloomington North, Bloomington South, and a host of other perennial contenders. There are several outstanding individuals from smaller schools as well. This race promised to give us a huge indicator of where the Southern Regional stands going into September!