Colorado State University Athletics
Cross country to host meet on Hughes Stadium grounds
8/5/2007 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Aug. 5, 2007
FORT COLLINS -
The meet, called the Colorado State Classic, will consist of a women's 5K and a men's four-mile race. The mostly flat course will snake around the hard-packed dirt surrounding Hughes Stadium, near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Western Fort Collins. And, unlike most cross country courses, fans will be able to see most of the competition.
"When we were out measuring the course," Berryhill said, "we found one or two spots where you could see the whole race. There will be times when runners are a half-mile away, but you can be in one place and see them very clearly."
That Saturday, when the football team has a bye, also could include other events related to the race.
Colorado State traditionally had held one home meet per year, usually at Collindale Golf Course, but has not hosted a Fort Collins event since 2004. Adams State, one of the strongest programs in the country, will compete against CSU and other schools at the Classic. Berryhill would like to again make home meets an annual routine.
"It's definitely important to me," Berryhill said of competing at home. "We want fans to come out and be able to see us personally, rather than just read about us on the Web site or in the newspaper."
Fans will want to follow CSU in the newspaper Sept. 29, when the Rams travel to the Bill Dellinger Invitational in Eugene, Ore., where Berryhill is expecting to see 15 of the better teams in the nation, on both the men's and women's sides. Two weeks later, the pre-national race in Terre Haute, Ind., gives CSU an opportunity to preview the NCAA Championships course.
"Once we hit that Sept. 29 race, every meet going to be very difficult and important," Berryhill added. "This is an extremely competitive schedule for us. It's harder than most of our schedules in the past, because we've thrown in that Dellinger invite. That'll add a lot to our schedule, but our kids will be up to the challenge."
The full schedule: http://csurams.cstv.com/sports/c-xc/sched/csu-c-xc-sched.html.