The Otterbein men's cross country team has maintained a legacy of success against other schools because of the team consistently having a competitive roster.
Cross country was one of the sports that had their seasons canceled entirely last year due to the pandemic. Now, the team is back and is proving to be one of the best performing schools in the region.
Unlike most college sports where teams need to collaborate to earn points within a given ruleset, cross country is different. Scoring for cross country is based off time in minutes, seconds, and tenths of a second. Also, the team combines their individual points, for a total sum for the overall placement of the team.
In cross country, the success of a team is dependent on team and individual effort.
"It's definitely individualistic but also team-based, so you're working hard each week to improve your personal mark," Nathan Craft, junior on the men's cross country team said. "It's also a team sport in that you're competing with each other for a common goal."
Cross country is scored on a points system when it comes to competing as a team between different schools. It doesn't matter if only one person on the team excels and the rest of the team performs poorly. Although this is true for all sports, it can be seen more evident in cross country because of how individual points are tallied.
Otterbein's team excelled at the Augustana Inter-Regional Invitational. Otterbein had two runners place in the top 20 of the event and fourth overall as a team out of 24 schools.
The team is ranked second in the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region, as they get ready for the OAC Championships this upcoming weekend in Wilmington.
