FLCC to Host National Cross-Country Championships
CANANDAIGUA, NY - Thirty community college cross-country teams will converge on Finger Lakes Community College for the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III Men’s and Women’s Cross-Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 7.
This is the fourth national cross-country championship FLCC has hosted in the past 17 years (FLCC also hosted in 1992, 1993, and 2005). Event location is determined by bid.
“We have one of the most scenic and challenging cross-country courses, and it is located right on campus. People like to come here. It’s beautiful,” said Bob Lowden, FLCC’s athletic director.
The course is considered challenging because the race begins with an incline, he said. At one point, runners go into a quarry, and the last two miles are uphill. The men’s course is 8,000 meters, almost 5 miles, and the women’s course is 5,000 meters, just over 3 miles.
Gary Parker, coach of the Mohawk Valley Community College cross-country team, agrees with Lowden, but also expressed additional reasons why teams like to come to FLCC. “FLCC has always done a great job of making the visiting teams feel welcome. The staff is a class act, and I always look forward to running at FLCC,” he said.
The 200 to 250 runners, plus coaches, spectators and volunteers will begin arriving in Canandaigua on Thursday, Nov. 5. The majority of the teams will hail from the Northeast; however, there will be teams from the Midwest (the Chicago area) and possibly as far as Texas.
The actual competition will be Saturday, Nov. 7, with the men’s race beginning at 10 a.m. and the women’s at 11 a.m. The national championship will close with the awards ceremony at noon.
Canandaigua’s Inn on the Lake is the host hotel for the event and location of Friday evening’s banquet.
About FLCC:
Finger Lakes Community College (www.flcc.edu) is a State University of New York two-year higher education institution. FLCC’s 250-acre park-like campus is located in the heart of the Finger Lakes in Canandaigua, N.Y. The College offers more than 45 degree and certificate programs, including environmental conservation, ornamental horticulture, music recording technology, nursing, communications, graphic design and tourism management. FLCC’s current enrollment is more than 6,600 full- and part-time students.