Super fans
NCAA Division III is often maligned as less competitive, less serious, and less interesting than its Division I cousin. The first two might be true. The third? Never.
Leaving aside the Division III athletes who’ve made a go at professional athletics (and it’s worth mentioning that Joan Benoit Samuelson won her first Boston Marathon in the singlet of her Division III college) there’s a lot more energy around the Division III cross country nationals than Division I. If you’ve seen the crowds at Division I nationals, you know that’s saying a lot.
Division III crowds know how to make a few hundred fans seem like a few thousand. Division III teams are far more likely to have a few dozen non-varsity teammates, friends, and other peers road-trip several hundred miles to watch their team run. Those boosters are far more likely to strip down to summer running clothes in late November, and then fill in the gaps with body paint.
As a bit of introduction, Williams College has this stuffed bear. Before every race, they toss the bear, then they run. With that in mind, consider what we’ve agreed was my best shot from Saturday.
December 15th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
This was the big observation i came away with that weekend as well. Races were fantastic in Terre Haute, but the fans in Hanover blew everyone else out of the water. (is that the right expression?)