Cross Country as a New Competitive Club Team on Campus
A couple of years had passed again with no real spike in interest levels for organized distance running at Trinity. That is until the fall of 1984, when sophomore student David Apel had approached Coach Jim Potter, the director of intramurals, with a single question: “Is there any way we can get cross country as a bigger thing?” (Apel, personal interview). This question asked by Apel created a new spark that would fuel the levels of student interest in running and set the stage for the establishment of a varsity cross country program at Trinity. This particular question led to the following result: “The Intramural Office has announced the formation of the new Trinity Cross Country Club” (The Trinitonian, 1984). This announcement introduced cross country as a new competitive club sport on campus and it was the first clear indication that the Trinity athletic department would be potentially willing to support an effort aimed at formally organizing the distance running community on campus.
David Apel had taken more direct action than the intramural runners or the Elephant Brigade that came before him. His actions opened the door for the future growth of Trinity’s distance running community and officially put the idea of a formal cross country program on the radars of individuals within the athletic department. The goal of a cross country team set by the Elephant Brigade in 1979 seemed to be only a whisper as five years had gone by before Apel’s actions had resulted in the first signs of progress being made to move closer to achieving that goal.