By Brittany Ochtinsky

With a well-established cross

country program, Oakland University’s runners now have the opportunity to

participate in up to three sports with the recent additions of both indoor and

outdoor track teams.

In the spring of 2006, outdoor

track became an official sport on campus. The Golden Grizzlies are currently

immersed in the school’s first indoor track season. These two recent additions

now allow distance runners to compete in all three sports and non-distance

runners to participate in two sports.

In previous years, the indoor

season was more of a preparation for the outdoor season, but now the teams are

competing with other schools, culminating in the Summit League championship

Feb. 29 through March 1, held at Western Illinois University.

Paul Rice has been OU’s cross

country coach for the past 10 years and has established his team as one of the

best in the Summit League. Now, Rice looks to carry that success over to both

indoor and outdoor track.

“Our men’s cross country team

has won several championships and we’re successful because we’re very deep,”

said Rice. “You don’t have guys that are ever comfortable; they never get a

chance to sit back. They’re always looking over their shoulder and wanting to

defend their spot. That’s what we’re trying to do across the board.”

While the university doesn’t

have  indoor or outdoor facilities

on campus, the Grizzlies make do with what’s easily accessible.

Rice has measured a 175-meter

track in the soccer dome, which is about 25 meters short of a standard track,

but has a soft surface to run on, eliminating the wear and tear on the athletes’

bodies. The Grizzlies also use the Shotwell Pavilion, which has an old indoor

track for field events and hurdles.

During the outdoor season, the

Grizzlies make a short trip to Avondale High School to practice and both indoor

and outdoor teams compete on the road all season.

“The closest we’ve been to

having a home [indoor] meet was one we co-hosted at Macomb Community College

with Macomb and U-D Mercy,” said Rice.

An outdoor facility is on the

horizon, however, as Oakland has been tabbed to host the outdoor Summit League

championship in 2011. Rice hopes to raise enough money in the next two or three

years.

“It’s really not as expensive

as you’d think. All we’re looking for is an eight-lane track with fencing. When

you want to build a whole stadium is when it gets expensive,” he said. “At the

college level, you can’t just go to a high school and host a meet.”

With a very young squad, the

track program is still trying to establish itself, but the strong points are in

the men’s long-and middle-distance events. Also up-and-coming are the women’s

sprinters.

Though it seems like every

time you turn around, a school record is falling this indoor season, that

notion may be a little misleading.

“Breaking school records is

great, but the reality of it is we started at square one [this season], so

every week, we should be breaking records; we should be improving,” said Rice.

He foresees several school

records being broken in the outdoor season with the addition of the indoor

season as the outdoor team will be more prepared for this spring because they

are able to compete almost year-round.

The team is mostly made up of

freshmen and sophomores, as last year was the first crack Rice and his staff

had at recruiting. Word didn’t get out that there would be a team in 2006 until

May of the previous year, after the high school seasons were already over.

And with participation around

50 to 55 for the men and 35 to 40 for the women, Rice can now focus on filling

holes and bringing in quality runners.

“We can now be more selective

and continue to bring in quality runners, which creates competition within the

team,” said Rice.