Men's Cross Country 12/7/2020 11:41:00 AM

Beyond the Numbers: 2015 men's cross country team produced the best performances in program history

'Beyond the Numbers' is a new series on www.CampbellsvilleTigers.com of feature articles sharing stories the go beyond the championships, stats and records. Read first-person experiences from CU coaches, student-athletes and alums from their favorite memories as a CU Tiger.

In 2015, the men's cross team put together the best season on record while running some of the best team average times in program history as five of those team times still remain in the top ten all-time. The Tigers Mid-South Championship race alone is still one of the team standards, sitting at number six on the all-time list with a team average time of 26:23.

Campbellsville defeated national powerhouse Shawnee State at the Mid-South Conference Championships to earn the team's first title in program history, snapping the Bears five championship streak from 2010-2014.

The Tigers consisted of: Will Ballard, Bret Crawford, Corbin Harris, Ross Allen, Zach Napier, Adam Sandidge, Brandon Wiseheart, Luke Camp, Dylan Ford, Wade Harris, Joey Hartlage, and Brett Pierce.

"This was the year where I knew we had the right pieces to do something special," Camp stated. "The start of the season the upperclassmen were showing our underclassmen what it was going to take in order to win at this level and with our schedule that year, winning was going to be hard. We ended up traveling over 4,200 miles that season, the travel alone makes it hard on your body by the end."

A month prior to the Mid-South Conference championships, the Bears defeated the Tigers at the NAIA Preview Meet in North Carolina. Shawnee placed 10^th in the meet with 223 points while Campbellsville placed 11^th with 256 points. The NAIA Preview Meet sits at the eighth best time in program history for Campbellsville at 26:32. Minus Campbellsville's first man, Shawnee State defeated the Tigers second man through seventh man on the result sheet.

"Our post-race meeting that following Monday was a turning point," Napier recalled from that day. "Our workout groups were critical over the next few weeks. Our 1-5 were a group, 6-9 were a group, and 10-12 were in a group. You want to move up to the next workout group because that group is faster but that takes time and wasn't going to happen overnight. It takes a collective agreement between athlete and coach to move up."

Two weeks prior to the conference championships, Campbellsville put together one of the best performances of the season at the St. Louis Fall Classic. Head Coach Hilary Lakes' squad defeated the field at the meet finishing with a low score of 48 points comparing to second place at 122 points. This was the first time in program history Campbellsville placed two men under the 26-minute mark at the same meet with the team average time of 26:16.24 from the meet sitting at number three on the all-time top ten list.

"St. Louis was a statement for the team, we did our job and produced quality performances. But the team was so focused on conference two weeks later that we grabbed the win and left without really batting an eye," Allen reflected about the meet.

"The workouts as a whole that season stood out to me. We all were clicking at the same time in our workout groups. You had your team as a family but you also have a deeper connection with the guys who were in your workout group," stated Wade Harris. "We knew that final week it came down to execution at conference."

At the Mid-South Conference Championship, Coach Lakes placed her top three runners in the top four finishing back-to-back to back in the race. That trio of Pierce, Sandidge, and Crawford were within 26 seconds of each other which was the closest the group had been all season as the trio finished in front of Shawnee State's first man.

"Our top three did what they do best in the front, but Joey and I were starting to do some math because after the first mile there were around 15 Shawnee State runners in front of us, we didn't panic. We did not care what it took, the whole team wanted to win at all cost. Even in practices leading up to conference it was a do whatever it takes mentality," Ford said about the early stages of the race.

Hartlage coming in as the fourth man, placing 12^th in the race, finished in front of the Bears fifth man. Ford finished in the fifth spot for the Tigers finishing in 16^th place and in front of Shawnee's sixth man. Rounding out the top seven for the Tigers was Napier and Harris as the team finished with 37 points, edging the Bears by six points at 43 team points.

"I was a freshman at the time and in order to defeat a team that good who has been a consistent NAIA top 25 team we had to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. That year laid the groundwork for the years to come," Harris said about the 2015 year.

"That race was the first time I felt nervous or anxious for my team," Lakes said. "I had my husband and parents counting runners in the race because I knew it was going to come down to man to man numbers. My top three men came in second, third, and fourth place and that was key, my 4-5 runners were eight seconds apart, my 6-7 were three seconds apart, and my 8-12 men were within two minutes of each other. I couldn't have scripted a better performance than my team did that day."

Campbellsville's best time of the season came after the Mid-South Conference Championship at the NCCAA National Championship in New York. Campbellsville had two All-Americans in Pierce and Sandidge which led the team to the second-best all-time average of 26:08.4 while also having three men dip under the 26-minute mark.

The Tigers rounded out their post season at the NAIA National Championship the following weekend as it was the first time Campbellsville had a whole team make the championship race. The Tigers were able to run with the best in the country placing 20^th as a team in the race with the fifth fastest time in program history at 26:22.

"We feel we got snubbed the whole year from the top 25 poll because we did not have the name compared to other schools. Coming in and placing 20^th isn't huge by any means because you want obviously to win the national championship. But it solidified what the program was capable of doing in the years to come," Wiseheart had to say about the championship finish.

'Beyond the Numbers' is a new series on www.CampbellsvilleTigers.com of feature articles sharing stories the go beyond the championships, stats and records. Read first-person experiences from CU coaches, student-athletes and alums from their favorite memories as a CU Tiger.

Print Friendly Version

#Beyond The Numbers

Players Mentioned

Bret Crawford: Senior; Big Clifty, Ky.

Corbin Harris: Senior; Leitchfield, Ky.

Players Mentioned

Bret Crawford
: Senior; Big Clifty, Ky.

Corbin Harris
: Senior; Leitchfield, Ky.