The College Athletic Department will add men's and women's cross country as NJCAA-sanctioned athletic options for the 2021-2022 academic year. This will mark a rebirth
of the program that existed at Potomac State for five seasons before being put on pause following the 2018 season.
Catamount harrier Jared Hallow crosses the finish line at the 2015 Region XX Championships,
clinching the Men's Individual Championship leading his team into the National
Championship Meet.
Keyser, W.Va. – The College Athletic Department will add men's and women's cross country as NJCAA-sanctioned athletic options for the 2021-2022 academic year. This will mark a rebirth of the program that existed at Potomac State for five seasons before being put on pause following the 2018 season.
A brief outline of the plan for resurrecting the cross-country programs begins with naming the new head coach no later than January 2021. Athlete recruitment during the spring semester will be the number one objective. The goal is to begin competition in the Fall '21 semester with seven or eight regular season meets plus the Regional and National meets.
According to PSC Athletic Director Ray Kiddy, this is an opportune time to resurrect the running programs. "Cross country remains a strong athletic option in our region among high school and college-age athletes and it is very healthy nationally within the NJCAA." Kiddy continued, "This is a viable route to expand and provide competitive opportunities at Potomac State for more student athletes."
The decision to add cross country to the athletic programs at Potomac State parallels the decision to discontinue the women's lacrosse program. Recruiting challenges and declining NJCAA competitors are cited as a few of the key factors in the driving the discontinuation decision. With the loss of the Potomac State women's lacrosse program there will be nine active NJCAA women's lacrosse programs nation-wide.