Cross Country Running Returns
Shane Smith is a Mulerider. He is also a cross country running coach.
It was in the early 1980s’ that Smith, 50, attended the Southern Arkansas University on a track and field scholarship and was a member of the NCAA Division II school’s cross country team competing in the west division of the Gulf South Conference. The school’s athletic nickname is the Muleriders.
A graduate of Winnipeg’s Grant Park High School, Smith would hold the Southern Arkansas University 5,000 metre record for 24 years from 1981-2006.
His passion for the sport continues in the coaching ranks and this summer he will be head coach of the cross country running program at the 49th Legion Athletic Camp located at the International Peace Garden situated on the Manitoba/North Dakota border.
“It’s been more than 30 years since I was last down there,” said Smith, who attended the internationally acclaimed multi-sport summer sports camp as an athlete. “My goal is first off to make sure the athletes have fun and make some friends and come away with some knowledge of how to become better runners as well as to develop a passion for running.
“Our focus will also on establishing proper running from, stretching, core strength, consistency and above all positive thinking. We will provide the tools and knowledge needed for them to take their running to the next level.”
Smith, a NCCP qualified coach who has instructed cross country running at St. Norbert Collegiate since 2002, says the International Peace Garden is an ideal training ground for cross country with its undulating hills, trails and open spaces within the 2,339 acres.
Camp director and founder George Phillips, is pleased to have Smith as the head coach of cross country running, a sport which had been in hiatus for many years at the camp. “Shane brings a wealth of experience and a passion for the sport,” said Phillips, 82. “The sport of cross country running was an integral part of our program for many years (2003 Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Collins, who passed away in 2004, was head coach of the cross country camp for 32 years).”