Impressive Green River Mens’ Cross Country Team Prepares for Finals

By: Kaelyn Walls

Staff Writer

Published October 31, 2018

This year’s Green River College (GRC) Cross Country team has had a good season so far, and Coach Robert Bartholomew expects that trend to continue.

GRC’s cross-country program restarted in 2009 and has since looked to recruit talented student athletes to compete with them on an intercollegiate varsity level. With six meets listed on the schedule for the 2018 season, the team is hard at work, with the important upcoming meets in mind.

The team has attended several meets so far, and is currently preparing for regionals. With one remaining meet, the team is focusing on the approaching Northwest Athlestic Conference (NWAC) championships. Coach Robert Bartholomew anticipates that the Men’s team could be regional champions, as long as they continue to work hard and focus on their upcoming races.

For the past three years, the Men’s team has taken second place in regional championships. They have been working for the whole season so far to improve and possibly take first. The women’s team, however, is short in numbers this year, and because of the lack of runners, the women’s team have yet to earn a team score.

Meets over the course of the season so far have not been particularly notable. On those meets and the upcoming championships, Bartholomew said, “There were no notable meets, we use the meets as a practice to prepare for the ultimate goal which for us currently is winning regionals, and being a contender in the NWAC championships.”

The season has gone well up to this point, with runners improving their times in every race. The team has built up a good bond as they have worked together in previous practices and meets, Bartholomew reported, and has learned to rely on and feed off each other rather than placing emphasis on specific individuals.

The team’s biggest fault to this point has been the lack of numbers in the women’s team.

Bartholomew also said that representing Green River in a positive way is a big focus with the team; they do their best to represent the college and team “the Gator Way.”

“Any given day there could be someone different. The team is a pack and they have learned over the course of the year that they are as strong as the weakest link,” Bartholomew said.
The NWAC Championship is on Nov. 10 at St. Martins University in Lacey, Washington. More information about the event can be found at nwacsports.org.