Cross Country Team Runs for Fun

From "The Oaks", Olivet College Year Book, 1978

Coach Larkins started with an experienced group of runners, including four seniors, who proved invaluable at the end of the season. Lloyd Damon and Ed Cook co-captained the eight man team. All the time spent on the roads around Olivet paid off in the end, as they ran to a third place finish in the MIAA league meet.

Mind and Matter Form Winning Combination

by George Pohly, Olivet Echo, October 12, 1977

Take two of the finest athletes on the Olivet campus, mix in a couple solid four point averages, and what you have are Lloyd Damon and Ed Cook, cross country co-captains with an interesting insight toward themselves and their careers.

Damon, who hails from Mt. Clemens, Michigan, is a pre-medical chemistry and biology major. Lloyd is scheduled for interviews at the University of Michigan, Wayne State University, and Northwestern University med­ical schools.

Ed Cook is a psychology major and plans to attend graduate school for further studies on the subject. The Grand Rapids native hopes to eventually work in a professional capacity at a reform school.

Both agree that cross country has been a key factor in their academic performances.

"It conditions us much better to enjoy life more," says Ed, "and to stay up later to study. The activity also helps us get into graduate school programs."

"Another tremendous asset (of cross country) is self discipline," offers Damon. "It also helps in social activities. Organization is also a by-product, as well as real close friendship with fellow cross country runners."

Cook and Damon are exceptional athletes, but neither employ any unusual training techniques. Their method is basic: run every day. They estimate that they cover 75 miles each week during the cross country season and hardly let up the rest of the year.

Other than outdoor running, Cook and Damon run the McKay Gymnasium stairs, do a lot of muscle stretching, and lift weights for good muscle tone.

Both runners engage in a lot of thinking while they run, and have a firm grip on their individual perspectives of their sport.

"It's an escape ... a release from the dryness of the academic world," says Damon. "It's also an art: a unification of one's physical and mental abilities."

"We're abnormal in a sense because you have to be crazy to run so much," he continues. "That's something you learn in high school."

Lloyd also draws a wealth of satisfaction from the sport. "There's nothing I enjoy more than finishing a tough race, it's a great feeling; something I can't explain."

Damon admits that there is "some degree of loneliness in running, but there's also time for introspectiveness and thinking. A good time to run is when you're tense. It's a good time to think things out."

Cross country is "kind of a hobby" to Ed Cook. He enjoys reading various publications that deal with running and constantly keeps himself and the cross country team abreast of the latest in running footwear and other mechanical aspects of the sport.

Ed's attraction to cross country does not stop there, however. It's "one sport where everyone is pushing together but still out for themselves," he observes. "You need a team effort. You need intelligence, too."

   As this season’s cross country co-captains, Cook and Damon keep a watchful eye over their teammates, and enjoy each individual's successes as much as their own.

Mike Woolsey, a senior, draws praise from both for his great dedication to running. Mike was a star runner in high school before being involved in an accident that could have ended his career. He has come back, however, to be a real asset to Olivet.

The only other senior on  the team is Mark Penzien, a natural, gifted athlete. "He may not realize it but he's done a lot for the team," says Damon.

Lloyd calls Darrell Jenkins "a very fast sprinter with an exciting kick at the end of a race. " The junior from Detroit Cooley High School has earned a tremendous amount of respect from his teammates.

Cook and Damon speak highly of the remainder of the Comets'roster, including sophomores Bill LaValley, Rich Smith, and Bernard Brown, and freshmen Kelvin Lewis and Rick Thompson. Realistically, the MIAA championship is out of Olivet's reach, admit the co-captains. However, the team is hopeful of a third-place finish. After graduating from a successful high school cross country program, Damon has come to Olivet and found that "winning is not all-important. We've had to work for everything we've gained. There's an enormous amount of satisfaction therein."

Harriers Grab Third Place Finish

by George Pohly, Olivet Echo, November 17, 1977

Seniors Mike Woolsey and Lloyd Damon finished 11th and 12th, respectively, in a field of 44 runners and led the Olivet Comets to a third-place finish in the MIAA cross country meet held in Adrian on November 8.

Hope took first place in the meet, followed by Calvin College. Kalamazoo finished fourth, behind Olivet, while Albion, Alma, and Adrian took the fifth, sixth, and seventh positions in that order.

"We did very well, all things considered," says a satisfied Olivet coach Cliff Larkins. "We finished third and that's the best ever for Olivet." "I thought we had a shot at second place," the coach admits. "We ran well in our dual meet with Calvin and I thought we could upset them."

Calvin pulled the surprise on the Comets, however, when the Knights' top runner, Doug Diekema, who had been injured all season, ran in the conference meet and placed high enough in the race to give Calvin a slim edge over Olivet. The overall MIAA standings find Hope and Calvin tied for the top spot, while Olivet and Kalamazoo are in a third-place deadlock.

"It was a most interesting season in the conference," notes Larkins. "Calvin beat Hope in their dual, and Hope beat Calvin in the conference meet. Kalamazoo beat us in our dual, and we beat them in the conference meet."

The outstanding individual performer in the MIAA this season was Kalamazoo's Joel Menges. The sophomore placed first in the league meet with a time of 26:23 and was named the conference's Most Valuable Runner. "He's just a fantastic runner," exclaims Larkins. "He could compete on any collegiate level."

Despite his praise for Menges, Coach Larkins refuses to pour all of the accolades on the opposition. "I'm very happy with our season," he says. "My only real disappointment was the Kalamazoo dual. We ran poorly then." Larkins feels that his team's effort against Albion was its most outstanding performance of the season. "They (Albion) came in thinking it would be a close race, but we took the second through sixth places," the coach says proudly. "It was nothing less than sensational!"

Stressing the team concept and Olivet's pack running style, Larkins says, "I just can't single out one or two runners as the best. We ran well as a team. The team effort was the best thing of the season."

"This was probably the best effort of any team I've ever coached. It was really rewarding."