Vivian Bravo
Contributing Writer
This fall, Sewanee will proudly open its first ever cross-country course. The 2,000 yard loop, located beyond the equestrian center, is set to host its inaugural home meet on October 5.
The course utilizes some of the trails that are already on the Domain: such as the fire trails and Breakfield Road. With a few small adjustments, Sewanee was able to turn the trails into a 2,000 yard loop that runners will go through three to five times. It is said to be relatively flat and more challenging towards the end with some enticing hills for runners. Previously, Sewanee only hosted cross-country meets on the golf course.
“We have a very expensive and nice golf course,” Athletic Director John Shackleford said. “If you think about 400 runners running down our nice fairway, it was tearing everything up. It was not an ideal thing, so we have not hosted a cross-country meet in over five years. It’s disappointing because there’s not a better place in America to run than Sewanee, Tennessee.”
Sewanee’s cross-country team ran on the golf course since its inception, until 2022, when the concern of students’ shoes ripping up the grass led to the students without a running home.
“We wear long metal spikes in our shoes to help grip when we run, and we were tearing up the golf course,” Caroline Winslow (C’ 25), a cross-country team member, said. “That was not taken well by a lot of the golfers, who were then having to golf over the turned up, muddy, ground. So we were asked to never run on the golf course again.”
Last year, Sewanee welcomed the new cross-country coach Michael Crucio and he worked with Sackleford over the summer to build the new course. “When I was interviewed for the job a year and a half ago, one of the initiatives that [Shackleford] wanted was to build a new course, because it wasn’t feasible to run on the golf course anymore,” Crucio said. “That was the nexus. To create a facility that wouldn’t have as much impact on other users of the Domain.”
The Mountain Goat Invitational on October 5 will be the first time the course is open. Construction began in the summer of 2024 and will soon be finished with a few final touches of gravel remaining. Athletic Director, John Shackleford, credits the success of the new course to Curcio, Ben Yocum, the assistant cross-country coach, and Nate Wilson, Sewanee’s Domain manager.
“It was an exercise in working with other people on the Domain,” Curcio said. “It was nice to get input from the science department, the Domain manager, and we used those to create some trails. And we’re gonna use those [trails] in our initial meet in October.”
There is also phase two which will involve creating a new starting line, working with Sewanee’s Equestrian Center. That way, they have an area that already has parking, and already has “water, shade, and infrastructure already there.”
With the course being near the Equestrian Center, there are some drawbacks. “A part of our course is through the Equestrian fields, which gives us another issue, because the Equestrian fields have so many holes from the horses, it’s easy for runners to twist their ankles,” Winslow said.
There is also a new track, which was a collaborative effort with the entire Sewanee Athletics department as well as the University administration, who raised money to “replace the outdoor track.” They also “put in a new turf field for football and lacrosse” and “put in a new turf field for men’s and women’s soccer and field hockey at the pit.”
There is a lot of excitement for the new course and the teammates are really grateful for the new course, especially since a year ago they didn’t have one at all.
“Almost immediately, [Curcio] started working with Shackleford to get a new course. Making a new cross-country course is a lot of work … so we finally got a new cross-country course this year, but we were still struggling with the land issues,” Winslow said.
With any new development there are steps forward and backwards, and because this is such a new development, the students are just excited to see what is to come.
“The new course is a step in the right direction for our team. We’re very excited to have one on the domain and look forward to what it will become,” Clara Earley (C ‘26), cross-country member said.
Curcio also stressed how fast all this happened, having a new course and track within a year. “This Ahletic department made a promise and they kept it. That’s not always the case in Division I college athletics,” Curcio said. “Promises were made and promises were kept to our athletes.”
Cross-country member Molly Yeager (C’ 25) added on the sentiment of “work in progress.” “They are adding new sections on throughout the year; it isn’t finished yet.”
Cross-country and track member, Cece Cherry (C’ 28) expressed enthusiasm about the new course. “My favorite part of the course is the flattest part in the beginning,” Cherry said. She is excited to train and race on the course with her teammates.
This is the start of a new beginning. Sewanee is excited about the future of this new cross-country course, while being mindful to minimize the impact on the trees and natural landscape of the picturesque domain.