As the weather warms up and more athletes are able to practice outside without having to push through the cold, sports like cross country can train in another way.
While Asbury doesn’t have a track team per se, cross country runners have had the opportunity to compete and train for track in the spring. It is not required, but many runners find it to be an excellent way to practice and train year-round for their fall cross country seasons.
“We have 13 practices and three different meets that we’re competing in, and it’s going to look different from cross country, but it’s all just kind of to keep us in shape,” said sophomore Lucy Bryson.
This has been an option for runners for years, but this year looks very different because of the transition to NCAA Division III.
“So basically, what’s going to happen is where we are now transitioning from NAIA to D3. We have only 16 days where our coaches are allowed to contact us about anything track-related,” said Bryson.
D3 has limited off-season communication to help give students a break and focus on academics and other needs. According to the D3 manual, their stance on the principle governing playing and practice seasons is:
“The time required of student-athletes for participation in intercollegiate athletics shall be regulated to minimize interference with their opportunities for acquiring a quality education in a manner consistent with that afforded the general student body.”
While this is meant to help students, it does raise some difficulties in the off-season for athletes wanting to practice, especially in the case of the cross-country team. Their track season has a relaxed schedule that does not require mandatory practices or competitions.
“So, we have 13 practices, and then we have three scheduled meets and you can go and those are funded by the school. Those are transportation by the school, but they are only one day each because those are it’s very strict on how you can count the days and how there’s only a certain amount of days that your coach can be present for,” said Bryson
Their coach cannot contact them outside of that time to ask for any progress reports or anything related to either track or cross country.
Runners will start their practices just a few days a week after spring break, and they have their first competition on March 26 with their other two in early April.