It has been 5 years since Otterbein hosted a cross-country meet, but that will change this season.
The Otterbein Invitational will be taking place on Sep. 13 on Otterbein's home course, also called Lehman's Course.
A lack of maintenance for the course since 2019 has prohibited the team from being able to run at home.
When the past school year ended, the final adjustments to get the course cleaned up and ready to be used began.
The process was not quick, as work on the course started a couple of years ago.
Head coach Matt Sutton spoke about what it has been like to get the course ready for this season.
He said, “The last couple years we have been working on the big problems and fixes, and now we're just fine-tuning and getting the surface we want out there and getting some roots covered up.”
Coaches and student athletes on the team had a hand in helping fix it up over the past summer.
With the home meet days away, senior Payne Ratliff said he feels confident about the course.
He admits he was skeptical at first when he heard they were hosting a home meet because of the condition of the course before renovations started.
He said, “First, I was like come on we're really hosting because there are potholes and I don't know how anybody would race on it because nobody had taken care of it for years and irrigation was bad.“
However, now he said he feels better about the condition of the course and being able to compete on it.
“After seeing the renovations they have done to it I now feel more excited to race on this place and not twist my ankle,” he said.
There is a shared sense of confidence between the athletes and coaches about the current state of the track. Sutton said that the renovations were a success.
He said, “It’s been a huge success, and you know we have been out there already trying to get used to it for the upcoming meets that we have this year and it’s really an incredible addition to campus.”
The cross-country course is also available for students to use. It is located near the grass football practice field by Africa Road.
