Southeast Regional Championship Report, Part I
I woke up at my Charlottesville Air BnB thankful that as someone who is not a morning person, the women’s race wouldn’t start until 10am and the men’s race wouldn’t start until 11am.
Still, I cut it a little closer than expected, and when I hit bumper-to-bumper traffic on a one-way road with a mile and 35 minutes to go, I started to worry a little. I was also a little shocked to learn that what I thought was the University of Kentucky team bus (I later confirmed this to be true, but it was only the men’s team) was two cars in front of me.
Fortunately, the log jam cleared and I got a chance to view the legendary Panorama Farms.
As someone who attended three Virginia colleges for undergrad and graduate school, and had friends at other Virginia colleges, I had heard a lot about this course. Panorama Farms hosts more than 10 races a year (this fall, it is host 12) and while they don’t fare so well on waterways, woods or hills, it’s incredibly spectator-friendly and can be designed as rebuildable lego set adjust to each distance. It’s very easy to transition from a 5K race to a 6K, 8K or 10K race.
Still, you as an audience member quickly learn how difficult it is to be everywhere at once. From the time the gun went off at 10 to the 6 or 7K mark of the boy’s race, my head was a whirlwind and I didn’t really have time to fully appreciate the race. This is partly how I improve as a journalist. I enjoy the process of being in a chaotic scene and gathering as much information as possible.
At the same time, it was also a day to learn what it’s like to be with a different type of participant: members of the coaching staff, members of the non-top seven team whose job it is to root for their teammates, the parents. For too long a story to explain, I am very close to a young teenager and attended his cross country race and I remember running faster all year and trying to get a picture of him at the finish line when I finished cheering him on at the 2.7 mile mark. There are heroic parents, siblings and teammates who go that extra mile and are part of those cheering segments.
I left the day, however, feeling most in awe of the people who attended the run as pure spectators. There were tons of locals who knew about Panorama Farms and watched race attendance here like the aristocrats did at the horse races. My beautiful lady. Jesse Sewell is here with his two children and says: “He just wants to inspire the next generation.”
John and Barbara Kessler are locals who once had a cousin run for the Colorado Buffaloes, and when they went to watch him race at a family reunion, they fell in love with the sport from a spectator perspective.
“It’s a beautiful place and an exciting sport,” says Barbara.
After talking to the Keslers, I watch the women’s finish and while I recognize some big names like North Carolina’s Angela Napoleon (a surprise World Cup qualifier); UNC’s Vera Sjoberg (who was an All-American at Boston College last year before transferring to UNC); NC State’s Grace Hartman and Sadie Engelhart; and Angelina Perez of Wake Forest, I was pretty shocked to see Salma Elbadra of South Carolina win the race. It’s a course that has hosted national championships, and he ran the second-fastest 6K in Panorama Farms history. Not only that, but South Carolina prevented UNC from finishing second today and automatically qualifying for nationals. It was the first place the school earned in program history.
I talked to coach Brock Morrow South Carolina. She’s young enough to be unrecognizable from the male runners, but she speaks with great confidence and clearly knows what she’s doing. Almost every person who finished higher than expected that I interviewed with RunBlogRun for these tasks expressed confidence beforehand that they would rock. It probably comes with the territory of dedicating so many miles to being so good.
In addition to Moroccan runner Elbadra, the team consisted of an Algerian (Abir Reffas, 18th), a Kenyan (Teresa Cherotich, 22nd), a French runner (Jade Buridon, 61), two South Carolina recruits (Anya Arroyo, 21st; Abigail Cantucroix), and Konklituk. White, (31st). It is one of many programs that relies on a great international mix of talent while still having a base in the program’s home state.
I also have to admit that I didn’t even know the University of South Carolina had a cross country team. I know they had miler Anas Essa who made the 1500 Olympic final for Morocco a few years ago, but I remember him not being eligible for the track. Apparently, South Carolina has a women-only one, which is not uncommon due to Title IX restrictions (something that one of my alma matas, JMU, fought against around 2006)
In fact, there were a lot of schools I had never heard of like Northern Kentucky (though given that there was Eastern Kentucky, this didn’t seem too illogical), USC Upstate, Bellarmine, Murray State, and Queens College.
I spoke with Queens College freshman Dennis Devine, who told me the school moved up from DII in 2022. I asked him if he would rather be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond and he replied that he likes competition better.
It’s also incredible to think how many schools have no chance here with 36 men’s and 33 women’s teams. I went by UNC-Charlotte and they were having the time of their lives despite not being anywhere in contention. As my coach told us when we started high school, it’s also a sport about individual goals and finishes, and I realized that when I talked to some of these runners.
Next I’ll bring you my experiences with the men’s race. Stay tuned!
