“You must believe it to achieve it, otherwise you are wasting your time.” are some of Craig McPhail’s favorite words of wisdom. He believes these words to especially apply to cross country as a sport “Why else do athletes get up early in the morning to put in miles, come back in the afternoon and run some more? Why do they miss out on parties and other social functions to get in extra rest for a big race or workout? They believe in themselves and have set goals to which they try to achieve” he further explains. Coach Craig McPhail has also achieved much. He is currently coaching his 9th season as the Lees-McRae Men’s and Women’s head Cross-Country Coach and in his eight years of coaching he has led his teams to become some of the most winning teams in their conference and region. In 2001, he was named the head coach of Lees-McRae’s track and field team and helped have the program reinstated. In 2004, McPhail was named to the NCAA Division II Cross Country/Track and Field Championships Committee and in 2005 was elected as chairman of the committee. His term is four years and he has two years as chairman. As chairman, he is responsible for the National Championships of cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field for the Division II level and being part of the governing body over Division II running. He believes that during his term, that the committee “has helped raise the standards on more quality performances as indoor and outdoor track and field have become more competitive and the times/marks been better and recognized nationally among the three NCAA divisions” McPhail said. The committee wants to “provide the student athletes quality championship experiences” McPhail also stated. The committee has done this by successfully having first time hosts host national championships such as Johnson C. Smith for outdoor track in 2007 and West Florida for cross country in 2008. Why does the committee have this need to provide such a high quality championship experience? Coach McPhail says they deserve it for the benefits of Division II are the athletes themselves “ So many of our athletes have part time jobs, full class loads, and are successful athletes and this is so unique. I see so many of these young people with great time management skills, leadership abilities, and the talent to handle challenges in all situations, because of their diverse backgrounds.” With such great student athletes the biggest problem that Division II is facing is how to promote them. “We have talented student athletes and we need to find ways to promote them and their performances. We are making great strides through the internet as more people get a chance to see what everyone else throughout the country is doing via videos of performances and practices ”McPhail explains. We will be able to see these talented student athletes later this year at Cross Country Nationals in Joplin, Missouri. Some of McPhail’s favorites to win to competition are “On the men's side, Abilene Christian, Adams State and Western State look really good from the times and race performances I have seen so far. I think Grand Valley State and Chico State can also play a big factor in the outcome in Missouri. The women's side has Adams State with a dominant team again this year with others trying to catch up to them” he speculates. A change in Division II will come later this year with a regional realignment. “It should not affect it too much, it will make traveling a bit easier for some schools and in some regions it may strengthen them. The amount of schools in each region will be similar and will promote some good rivalries.”McPhail responded. There are not any other major changes to speak of but McPhail says, “There are none, I can speak of now, but you should be hearing of them soon, after approval from the NCAA Championships and Management Committees.” On a different note, many teams took this past weekend off due to conference this upcoming weekend. So as a result of this off week, there are very few results. I wish everybody luck at their conference meets, and I will be here next Tuesday to fill in every little detail on who now has conference bragging rights. If anybody would like to help by updating me after the race just send me a message. *Photo from bobcats website.