XCOUNTRY

Wisconsin cross country coaches remain divided 3 years after switch to girls 5K

Tom Dombeck
Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter

For the first time, all of the girls who will run in Saturday’s Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state cross country meet know only the 5-kilometer distance.

From 1993 to 2013, girls had run 4,000 meters, or 1,000 meters fewer than the boys.

High school coaches across Wisconsin had been locked in a debate over the length of the girls race. Some were pushing for equality with the boys. Others argued that the 4-kilometer distance suited girls better.

In 2014, prompted by the threat of a lawsuit, the distance changed to 5,000 meters.

Some coaches at the time felt the increase would lead to lower participation and higher injuries while not truly helping equality.

While the numbers don't necessarily bear out those claims, that's exactly what's happened in the four subsequent seasons, according to numerous coaches.

Just like three years ago, others disagree and feel the change has been validated.

Change came quickly

Wisconsin at that time was one of only eight states that hadn’t gone to the 5K distance for both genders.

An anonymous complaint was filed with the Office for Civil Rights in February 2014.

The complaint argued that girls running a shorter distance than the boys was not supporting equality. The other main grievance was that the majority of coaches in the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association were being denied the change by a vocal minority.

Dave Anderson, the WIAA’s head of legal matters, sent a letter to schools detailing the complaint. In the letter, Anderson said that based on advice from legal counsel that the complaint could not be defeated, the switch to 5K would happen in the 2014 season.

A change that had been debated for almost a decade was pushed through in a matter of months.

Almost every coach, for or against, wasn’t pleased that the change was forced upon them.

“The lawsuit undermined the coaches because it took away their voice, either for or against,” said Shorewood boys coach Dominic Newman, who served as president of the coaches association from 2008-12.

Said Matt Polzin, the current WCCCA president, “Why even have an opinion if it’ll get shoved down our throats?”

Not everyone was displeased though.

Shorewood girls coach Sarah Kopplin didn’t care how the change was made as long as it got done.

“I don’t think there was a problem with the (complaint),” she said. “The claims were serious and valid.”

Oshkosh Lourdes coach Tim Moore disagreed with Kopplin’s assessment.

“This did more to change a single sport,” he said, “and when you look at the merits of (that) document, it’s laughable.

“They caved to an immature document. A document I don’t think a lawyer prepared. You can’t tell me they were scared of this document. I don’t think a decision was made in an environment of full transparency.”

Impact on participation

Participation in girls cross country in the past decade has largely remained steady, even after the change to 5K.

A 10-year high of 6,497 girls took part in the season before the change, while hovering around 6,300 in the three subsequent years, according to data provided by the WIAA.

But three coaches who were and remain adamant against the change — Moore, Two Rivers coach Amy Gallagher and Kiel’s Tony Grybush — the overall numbers don’t paint an accurate picture.

“There’s not a drop in overall numbers, but girls don’t run all four years,” Grybush said. “They’ll run maybe freshman and sophomore year, but decide to do something else if they’re not one of the best runners.”

Gallagher said she’s run into a recruitment problem from her feeder program.

“I have trouble convincing girls who ran in middle school to join the team because they don’t want to run a 5K,” Gallagher said.

Others, coaches like Kopplin and Freedom coach Thain Jones, say their numbers have improved since the change.

“Every school is different, but I certainly feel for those coaches,” said Polzin, who coaches Deerfield/Cambridge in addition to his duties as association president. “There was a reason we co-oped 18 or 19 years ago.”

Wittenberg-Birnamwood coach Cathy Easker, who thinks the numbers haven’t changed much since 2014, said some prospective runners are put off by the distance. 

“You hear sometimes a kid doesn’t want to run that distance, but it’s usually kids who aren’t really into running,” she said.

That’s part of the problem, according to Moore, who said the sport has lost athletes who joined the team for conditioning.

“By going to 5K, you’re taking a basketball player and telling her you can’t join cross country because you’re not a real runner,” Moore said.

“They might do the sport but they’re not competitive. You want athletic kids but they’re choosing other sports.”

Gallagher said that just because a runner is on the team, that doesn’t mean they’re ideal for 5K.

“We have some runners who have no business running a 5K every week,” she said. “I don’t think we’re producing better runners.”

The last group of girls who would have started their careers at 4K just graduated, which Jones thinks will help.

“Starting as a freshman running 5K is much better than if you’re a junior or senior,” Jones said.

Easker agrees, “I think they’ve adjusted well to it. It’s nice now because they don’t have anything to compare it to.”

Impact on injuries

As with the impact on numbers, most coaches are split on whether runners are getting injured more often since 2014.

“Most runners get hurt getting into shape,” Jones said. “Once you have that base built up, you won’t have many problems.”

But getting that base is part of the problem, some said.

“It changes the dynamic on how you train athletes,” Moore said. “Going from 4K to 5K, it’s naive to assume injuries aren’t going to be more prevalent.”

Because most cross country runners don’t do much offseason running, Gallagher said, it puts undue strain on their bodies.

“Most people can’t get up from doing nothing, then do a 5K in the second week of the season,” Gallagher said.

Grybush said the added distance changes the type of athlete you need.

“Most of my kids are runners not racers,” he said. “It adds an average of 7 minutes onto the race.

“It’s had a negative effect because they’re overrunning. Time is a bigger factor than distance.”

There isn’t data to back up the coaches claims of increased injuries, but those like Moore say they know what they know.

“None of us are experts in the medical field,” he said, “we just know our athletes.”

Last change for awhile?

Four years later, coaches remain deeply divided over the change to 5,000 meters.

Despite that, both sides say there’s nothing that can be done about it and the best thing is to move on.

“It’s not the end of the world, I don’t sulk about it,” Grybush said.

Said Jones, “We just play the cards we’re dealt, either way so be it.”

One thing everyone agrees on is that 5K is where the sport will remain given that the previous increases came nearly two decades apart: from 1975-92, the race was 3,200 meters and from 1993-2013, it was 4,000 meters.

“This is going to stabilize for a long time to come,” Jones said.

Polzin agreed, “I think the boys and girls are going to run 5K for the foreseeable future.”

And that suits coaches just fine.

“Hopefully they won’t increase it again,” Easker said, “otherwise I might not have a team.”