Four members of the William Woods University cross country team will travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on November 22nd to compete in the 2008 NAIA Cross Country Championships. Phil Guidry, Brent Almand, Cheryl Held, and Kristi Palmer qualified for the Championships through their efforts at the American Midwest Conference Championships on November 7th in Forest Park, Missouri.

On the women’s side, this is the fourth consecutive year the Owls have sent either an individual, or a team, to Nationals. For sophomore Kristi Palmer, it will be her second trip to the National meet. “I feel very fortunate to qualify for the National Championship meet for the second straight year,” said Palmer. “I feel like I have been given a second chance to prove to myself, and my coaches, how capable I am. I mostly want to walk away with a more satisfying performance than last year's national race by remaining calm and confident during the race.”

Cheryl Held will make her first trip to the National Championships. “As a freshman, qualifying for the National Championship is really exciting,” said Held. “I did not dream of making it to Nationals my freshman year. I am so thrilled that I get to experience Nationals this year.”

Head men and women’s cross country coach Brayce Forsha is extremely proud of both women and their efforts this season. “Kristi is an amazing talent,” said Coach Forsha. “With each race this year she got better and better. This team looked to her each and every day to guide them and she did a remarkable job. She is a true leader.”

Held entered her freshman year with limited cross country experience. The success on the course this year came as a pleasant surprise to Coach Forsha. “Cheryl Held has been great to work with this season. She came into the season with one year of experience running in high school. We knew she had the potential to be a good runner, but for her to accomplish what she has is amazing.”

It is relatively uncharted territory on the men’s side. The Owls have only sent one runner to the National Championships (Juan Robles in 2005). This year, the Owls send seniors Brent Almand and Phil Guidry.

Almand takes the course as the AMC individual champion in 2008. For some, qualifying for Nationals would be an exciting experience. For Almand, it was a slightly different emotion. “Qualifying for the National Championships is a huge relief,” exclaimed Almand. “It's a goal I set for myself while in high school. I always dreamed of becoming an All-American in college and you can't do that until you qualify for the national meet. Guys like me run thousands of miles. We run thousands of miles when no one is watching and no one cares. So when it finally pays off, you know that every mile was worth it."

For senior Phil Guidry, qualifying for Nationals is a realization of a long season of hard work, and for thanking his teammates. “It feels great to qualify for Nationals,” said Guidry. “I made it my own personal goal to qualify for every National Championship from here on out and am sticking to that plan. I just wish my whole team could experience this feeling as well. If it was not for each and every one of these guys helping to push me at practice everyday, I would not be here.”

Coach Forsha is proud of both his male runners. “Phil Guidry had an amazing race at the conference meet,” said Forsha. “To see him run so well at the conference meet after a year of struggling through injuries was great. He is a hard working young man that is passionate about running, so I was really glad to see him qualify.” In regards to AMC Champion Almand, “Brent Almand ran a great race at conference. To be the conference champion was his goal and he did everything to reach his goal. The good thing about Brent is you always know what you’re going to get. Every race you are going to get his best effort; no excuses. He is the most consistent athlete I have ever worked with.”

All the runners expressed a sense of pride in their accomplishment. They also were quick to thank others for what they had achieved. For Guidry, a higher calling and family played a key role in his abilities, “First of all I would like to thank God for blessing me with the ability to run at this level. Also, I would not have made it without the support of my parents and family members. I think I can also attribute my success to all the down points in my life. Without down points, I would not have learned valuable lessons and appreciate what I have today.”

For Palmer, her coach and teammates made the 2008 season a positive experience, “The highlight of the season was seeing how proud Coach Forsha was after the girls team raced their hearts out to win the Graceland University Yellow Jacket Classic.” In regards to the team winning the AMC Championship, “It reminds me of how fortunate I am to be surrounded by such awesome girls I can share my passion with.”

Almand experienced the disappointment of not qualifying for the NAIA National Championships last season. Almand missed qualifying by two spots at the NAIA Regional meet in 2007. To say that he dedicated himself to that one goal might be an understatement. “Last year there were many guys in the AMC that I simply couldn't compete with; they were just flat out better than me. After failing to qualify last year for Nationals, I promised myself this wouldn't happen again, I wouldn't be left out of the big one. I spent the summer in Flagstaff, Arizona, at 8,000 feet altitude and put in many 100 mile weeks. That hard work, combined with the wisdom of Coach Forsha, is what allowed me to come back this year and become the first individual AMC cross country champion from William Woods.”

Held is experiencing a level of she has never seen before. Winning the Graceland University and AMC meet, and breaking personal records, were new experiences for her. “Both of those victories were amazing. I remember at Graceland our whole team waiting in anticipation to find out the final results of the meet. It was very exciting to find out that we beat Lindenwood, who was ranked ahead of us all year. An individual highlight that was exciting to me was when I broke 20:00 minutes and 19:00 minutes in the same day. It was my very first 5k in college and my fastest time in high school was 20:00 minutes flat. I finished this race with a time of 18:39. I had no idea I was running so fast until I looked down at my watch at the end of the race and saw my time. I could not believe my time. It was a great feeling of accomplishment after I finished the race.”

Coach Forsha, in his first season at William Woods, was awarded the men and women’s AMC Coach of the Year award. His modesty was on full display when he called in his results following the meet. After giving all the details of how his teams performed, who qualified for the Nationals, detailing a lengthy list of All-Conference, Academic All-Conference and other individual awards, and how each team might earn an at-large bid to Nationals, he left out who was awarded the AMC Coach of the Year. Upon further poking and prodding, and then finally coming out and asking, Coach Forsha confirmed what we all expected. However, if you ask him about it now, he will immediately begin talking about his team, “Both teams ran very well at the conference meet. It was the goal of both teams to repeat as AMC Champions. So, to set a goal and then accomplish it was very rewarding.”

The only disappointment this season might have come with the women’s team not qualifying for Nationals. Heading into the AMC Championships, Coach Forsha knew the chances of the men’s team qualifying for Nationals was a long-shot. They would have to win the AMC, and get some help to qualify. However, with another AMC Championship for the women, he felt his team would earn a bid to Nationals. “We were really hoping to qualify our women's team for the National meet,” said Forsha. “But, due to circumstances out of our control, that was not possible. There is no doubt in my mind that our women's team deserves to be in the National meet.”

The forecast for the NAIA Championships calls for partly cloudy skies and a high in the upper forties. For Almand, Guidry, Palmer and Held, weather is secondary to the field, and the experience of competing for a National Championship. “I have thought about this race every single day for over a year now,” said Almand. “The best 300 guys in the country are going to be in this race, and I believe I have what it takes to be among the best. The hard work is done. Now all I have to do is get out there and put myself through as much pain as I can for 25 minutes, and if I do that, I know I can achieve my goal.”

“I would like to go to the meet and try to set a personal record,” said Guidry. “If I have the race of my life I feel like I can become an NAIA All-American. All I know is that I am giving it all I have on that day. If all I have means me not becoming an All-American, than I will accept that and continue to train hard in track where I can make another run for Nationals.”

“My expectation heading into the National Championship is to get All-American,” said Held. “Or as close to All-American as possible,” she added. “However, more important than being an All-American is running a good race. I need to stay focused and run against my competition.”

Palmer is getting a second chance at All-American honors. Even though she has expressed her disappointment with her performance at Nationals last season, she has her sights set on the prize, “I'm hoping I, and my teammates, come home with All-American honors.”

The Owls hit the road Thursday for the National Championships. On Saturday, the long and winding road that is a cross country season will end at the Dr. Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course in Kenosha, Wisconsin. To the Owls, and their coach, we wish them luck, and some wisdom from Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland); “Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.”