Decatur runs with plan to bring back cross country

— Cross country running is making a comeback at Decatur High School this year.

The school is putting together a cross country team for the first time in a number of years, and more than 27 students in junior and senior high had already signed up last week, coach James Garner said.

Athletic director John Unger said the cross country team was started to give students another opportunity to be involved in sports. It also gives students who only participate in sports like basketball or soccer another three or four months to be involved in athletics, he said.

Decatur has a tradition of doing well at cross country from the early 2000s, and the school has a lot of athletes who are runners, Unger said.

“I expect, as athletic director, to be successful from the very beginning,” he said.

During the cross country meets, girls will be running a distance of 2 miles and boys will run 5 kilometers, or 3.1 miles, Unger said.

The first 4-2A conference cross country meet was held Aug. 25, but Garner said the team won’t be scheduling its first meet until later in September to give it more time to get things arranged. The season will last until mid-November.

Cross country is an inexpensive sport andthe meets, which are held on Saturday mornings, will be easy to get to, Unger said. Decatur is planning to attend upcoming meets in Siloam Springs, Rogers and Fayetteville.

The 4-2A conference meet will be held in Magazine in mid-November, and the state meet will take place at the Oaklawn track in Hot Springs.

“We’re hoping to see some state contenders,” he said.

Garner, who also serves as the school’s soccer coach, said he took several coaching classes over the summer in order to get certified in cross country. Football coach Shane Holland is also helping with the cross country team, Unger said.

A lot of the school’s soccer players are participating in the cross country team. Many of the soccer players don’t participate in any fall sports, but they spent their summer playing soccer and are already in good shape from all the running involved in the game, Garner said.

Because Decatur issuch a small school, a much higher percentage of students can participate in sports programs than at other larger schools, Garner said. Unger estimated that 70 percent of Decatur High School students participate in athletics.

“There’s been a huge turnaround in Decatur sports programs. I’m proud of the board and the administration for spending money where it needed to be spent,” Garner said.

Sports, Pages 9 on 09/05/2012