GREENVILLE – A year ago, Southside High’s boys cross country program was in danger of being reduced to a running club. The team was down to one runner by the end of the 2013 season, and coaches and school administration were talking seriously about going to club mode in 2014 in hopes of getting more students into the sport and rebuilding the program.
Photo gallery: Southside's first home meet
Video: Rebuilding a program: Southside XC
First home meet results
Jonathan Smith was a volunteer for cross country that fall, and was subsequently given the position of distance coach for track the following spring. He took over as head coach of what remained of the boys cross country team at the end of last season, and immediately began working on ways to rebuild the program.
A 2009 graduate of Emerald High in Greenwood District 50, Smith said his years running cross country under David Payne “made a big impact on me.
“I wanted to make that same positive impact on the next generation,” Smith recently told scrunners.com.
He and Southside girls cross country coach Josh Hollar and volunteer coach Katie Moore organized school meetings at the end of last year and again at the start of this year to measure the level of interest in cross country among the students.
There are 25 boys and girls running cross country at Southside going into the final weeks of the 2014 season, Smith said, an impressive number considering the challenge he and the other coaches face. Southside students, as well as students at other high schools in the state, each pay $55 for insurance, plus cover the cost of a physical examination. And, though equipment costs for cross country aren’t at the level of other sports, having good shoes can get expensive.
“Unfortunately, many students that have been able to pay for their insurance and physical are unable to purchase good running shoes,” Smith said. “We have athletes completing this season in Vans or similar shoes.”
Smith said the Greenville running community has supported the school’s cross country program this year, with one “running philanthropist” donating $1,000 in uniforms for the team.
“Before this gracious donation, our athletes were running in old track uniforms,” he said.
The outlook looks promising for the cross country programs at Southside. The school hosted its first cross country meet earlier this month, getting “good feedback” from the participants, and with around 25 new runners -- all but three underclassmen -- Smith expects most of them will participate in track and off-season conditioning.
Off-season efforts, including the Tiger Trail 5K last summer, SHS water bottle sales and a car wash generated revenue. Parents of student/runners have also stepped in to help cut costs.
“The parents have been a huge help this year. At every meet, they have sponsored our team with food, snacks, and drinks,” Smith said. One parent has donated a meet tent for the team; another has donated T-shirts for the athletes that practiced over the summer, he said, while a number of parents helped during the home meet earlier this month.
Still, the program remains around $1,000 in the hole, Smith said, though he hopes to cut into that in the coming months. In December, the school is hosting the inaugural Tacky Sweater 5K and 1-Mile Fun Run.
Smith is encouraging participants and spectators to wear their tackiest holiday sweater for the run, which will be held Dec. 13 at 10 a.m. on the school campus.
The event is sponsored by Run In. Participants can register online at www.go-greenevents.com/tackysweater5k, or at Run In on Augusta Street in Greenville. The top three male and female finishers in the 5K will each receive Run In gift certificates, and each 5K entrant will receive $10 off at Run In, and a Tacky Sweater 5K mug.