LaVern Gibson Championship
Cross Country Course
Course 'isn't like anything in the world'
By Craig Pearson

No other cross country course in the nation had been the site of the NCAA Championships for three consecutive years until Terre Haute's own LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course was awarded the event from 2004 to 2006.

The reason is a simple: "There isn't anything in the world like this as far as cross country," said John McNichols, the coordinator of ISU's cross country and track programs, after the successful running of Saturday's Indiana State Invitational. "In some respects, it puts Terre Haute on the sports map."

In addition to being the most spectator-friendly distance-running course in the world, McNichols has led a myriad of improvements to the course since it opened in 1997.
A permanent restroom/concession facility, permanent fencing, expanded parking lots and a Jumbotron scoreboard are among those amenities that add to the course's appeal.

McNichols' imagination along with local running enthusiasts were key in the course's construction on a 240-acre area of reclaimed coal mining land in eastern Vigo County.

"John always has a vision, with great, broad-stroked kinds of goals," ISU women's cross country coach John Gartland said in 2002 during preparation for the first Nationals in Terre Haute.

McNichols teamed with businessman Greg Gibson, whose grandfather is the course's namesake, to transform the land into a state-of-the-art running facility. Gibson asked his grandfather LaVern to will the land for running, and he did so in 1995 and construction began as soon as possible on the sandy land that now boasts lush sod throughout the running paths.

"We've been working on it for 10 years, and the thing that's so exciting for me is the huge support we are getting from the community," McNichols said.

McNichols and the community - the ISU athletics staff to staffers at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center, to Wabash Valley high school coaches, running enthusiasts and the many volunteers it takes to run a successful meet - hope to continue to fine-tune the events for which they serve as host.
The large NCAA events as well as the IHSAA state championship, which will be at the Gibson Course for the first time Oct. 29, are a welcome boost to the city's economy. The Pre-Nationals, Nationals and the state meet combined will bring upwards of 20,000 visitors to Terre Haute.

"I think the business side of Terre Haute enjoys the extra exposure we get from this, and the [financial] commitment we've had from the [Terre Haute] Visitors and Convention Bureau has been phenomenal," McNichols said.

The NCAA has shown in the past that it likes to have permanent sites.

"I hope we can continue to bring the nationals to Terre Haute," McNichols said. "[The NCAA does] like that [permanent sites], but maybe they take it somewhere else for a while and then bring it back here."

 

 Tribune-Star file photo/Joseph C. Garza
Room to run: Collegiate runners race around a curve as they compete in the 2004 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships last Nov. 22 at the LaVern Gibson cross country course, east of Terre Haute.

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FAST FACTS

Individual NCAA champions: Chalane Flanagan (North Carolina, 2002), Jorge Torres (Colorado, 2002), Kim Smith (Providence, 2004), Simon Bairu (Wisconsin, 2004).

NCAA team champions: Men - Colorado (2004), Stanford (2002); Women - Colorado (2004), Brigham Young (2002).

Among the U.S. National team members that raced in Terre Haute: Flanagan, Torres, Dathan Ritzenhein (Colorado), Alan Webb (Michigan), Dan Lincoln (Arkansas).

Upcoming events: NCAA Pre-Nationals (Oct. 15), IHSAA State Championships (Oct. 29), NCAA Nationals (Nov. 13).

Quotable: "The Terre Haute course is rare in the United States in that it's built to be a race course. It's not a horse race track, not a golf course, not a dirt road-race course. The design intent was cross country races. It's spectator friendly. You can see 80 percent of the race just by standing one place." -- Mark Wetmore, coach of 2004 national champion Colorado men's and women's cross country.