Due to facility issues brought about by unanticipated construction that has affected the proposed course in Enid, the 2014 GAC Cross Country championship will now be hosted by East Central University in Ada.
The course will be the one that was utilized for the 2012 championship and I'm confident that ECU will provide a quality experience for our student-athletes. The date of November 8 will be unchanged, as will the start times of 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
I would like to thank the staff at Northwestern Oklahoma State University for their efforts in preparing for the championship. Andy Carter, Ryan Kaiser, and cross country coach Jeremy Jones have been working on this event since February. It's unfortunate that the city's road construction plans changed without warning and affected our meet and multiple Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association regional cross country events.
The decision on moving to East Central centered around a couple of factors. The cross country championship is held in Oklahoma during even years. ECU is the only current member that hosts a regular season meet and has ready availibility to a championship quality course. Also, a sufficient number of hotels have vacancies during that weekend.
Lastly, the October 11 GAC Preview event that was to be held in Enid is obviously cancelled in light of the lack of a course.
This is obviously not a course of action that we want to take with the season already underway, especially with the time and effort that NWOSU had invested in their first opportunity to host a GAC championship. However, this is the course of action that will best provide a worthy championship experience for our student-athletes.
We will have more information over the next few days. Please call or e-mail if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Will Prewitt
Commissioner
Great American Conference
PO Box 863
Russellville, AR 72811
479/970-6391 (cell)
479/567-5416 (office)
866/808-6293 (fax)
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