Important Reminders for all cross country runners:
TEAM MEETING: All student athletes are required to attend an NCAA rules meeting on Monday, August 20, at 2:00 pm at the O'Reilly Center.
PHYSICALS:
Physicals for all runners (new and returning) will be given by Drury team
doctors on Monday, August 20, at 5:30 pm. We'll meet at the Fitness Center and then move to the training room. Physicals are required before anyone can practice.
MEDICAL
FORMS: All runners must have all medical forms, including insurance
card(front & back) on file with the trainers by 2:00 pm on August 20.
Signed forms must be returned to the athletic trainers and must be on file prior to the physical. Links to the forms are
on this blog to the right and on the Drury Panthers Athletic Training web page.
HOUSING: New students/runners will be able to move into campus housing
as early as Friday, August 17. Returning students/runners are able to
move in on Saturday, August 18.
FRESHMEN ELIGIBILITY: Freshmen
need to be certain a test score (ACT/SAT) is forwarded from the testing
agency and a final transcript is forwarded from your high
school to the NCAA Eligibility Center to confirm academic eligibility.
Also, in order to receive a "final" amateurism certification, you will
need to revisit the Eligibility website, access your file and request a
final decision for both DII cross country AND track. This MUST be done
soon so rosters can be finalized.
ROSTER
INFO: New runners please forward your biographies to Eric Pannell (epannell@drury.edu) as soon
as possible so he can put together the cross country roster. Sports
Information wants only cross country highlights, no track highlights,
for use on the cross country roster web page. Returning runners are welcome, but not required, to make any changes by sending revisions to Eric Pannell.
TRAINING SHOES: Training shoes have been ordered so each runner on the team has a
new pair of trainers in the fall. Still waiting to hear from 5-6 runners who have not placed their shoe orders, so those runners need to contact Coach Van
Arkel (xcountry@drury.edu) ASAP with their training shoe brand, model and
size (no experimental or beta models; only tried and true). Drury will
cover up to $100 of the purchase price.
GEAR: During the first couple weeks of
practice we will hand out the following gear: Training shoes, Asics
backpacks, large duffel bags, gym sacks, Nike track pants and Zoom running jackets, Nike rain jackets, running tee's, racing shorts, racing singlets, socks and
possibly other training/racing apparel. Runners are responsible for
providing their own racing spikes. The Drury Athletic Department hosts a Sports Auction as a fundraiser in October. Each runner will be responsible for selling an auction cash bash ticket in exchange for obtaining gear.
T-SHIRTS: We will have Drury
running t-shirts available for all runners on the team after practice
starts and extras for family/friends/boosters to purchase as
part of our fundraising efforts for the team. I also plan to make older singlets and jackets available to former runners wishing to contribute to the cross country team through the "D Club" (Drury's athletic booster organization).
PRACTICES: Our
first team meeting will be Monday, August 20, at 2:00 pm at the O'Reilly Center. Physicals will be Monday, August 20, at 5:30 pm at the Fitness Center/training room. Our first running practice will be Tuesday,
August 21, at 6:30 am at the Fitness Center. I also will be at the Fitness Center on Monday, August 20, at 7:30 am in case anyone wants to bring by medical forms.
FALL PRACTICE SCHEDULE: Once we start, expect to practice six days a week throughout the fall until the NCAA Cross Country Championships, with an extra day off during Labor Day weekend. We'll run most mornings, and work out a second time several days each week. All runners must be at all practices, unless: in class; at a wedding or funeral; sick with a diagnosed illness or fever; or injured and receiving treatment from the trainers. Plan to be in the pool (not on a bike or elliptical machine) if you are injured and cannot run. Other family gatherings, employment, "meetings" or "not feeling well" are not sufficient reasons to miss practice.
1000 MILE CLUB: We'll award 1000 Mile Club training tee's as each runner runs his or her 1000th mile starting from June 10. All runners should be aware of their summer mileage and be able to reach that mark sometime during the fall season.
Coach Van Arkel
xcountry@drury.edu
