CSC cross country program crosses finish line

The “missing piece of the puzzle.”

That’s how Head Track and Field coach Ryan Baily described the newly approved cross-country men’s and women’s teams in CSC’s track and field program.

On Aug. 24, the NSCS Board of Trustees approved the new program at a meeting in Nebraska City. Baily said that the Board would meet again in the coming weeks to finalize elements of CSC’s newest competitive sport.

Chadron State was the only RMAC member that did not have sport a cross-country team, so the program was a long time in coming, Baily said.
Baily likened the absence of the cross-country team to a football team playing a game sans special teams.

“You have an offense and defense, but you have to have those special teams as well,” Baily said. “Our cross-country program is like those special teams.”

CSC’s athletic department will hire a new, full-time assistant coach to provide additional leadership to the fledgling program, Baily said.

The new men’s and women’s cross-country team marks the fifth CSC sport that offers a women’s division. Having both also ensures the college fulfills Title IX regulations, Baily said.

Baily’s primary goal for the program was to see it become “competitive in the first year,” a goal he conceded was an ambitious.

“The RMAC is the toughest conference in the country for cross-country,” Baily said, adding that the conference’s competitions often are comparable to D-I levels.

To illustrate his point, Baily noted that five or six RMAC men’s teams are often ranked among the top 20 in the nation.

Another goal is to recruit local runners who can “compete closer to their own home towns,” rather than traveling to a comparably sized out-of-state school, Baily said.
In addition to having the men’s and women’s team approved, Baily said he was excited about the new cross-country course that the college has been building in the hills south of campus.