Providence turns to de Jong to head cross-country team

A new sport means a new head coach at Providence College.

The school is aiming to enter a team in the National Christian Colleges Athletic Association’s cross-country championship in Indiana this fall.

The program will be led by Caleb de Jong, a Trinity Western University graduate, who competed in track and field at the USports level at University.

“It’s an exciting time,” de Jong said in a Providence news release.

“A lot of other teams are well established already, but because the cross-country team is just starting, the first few years of athletes will actually help to define the culture and vision of the program itself.”

Recruitment is already underway, with the school aiming to have a full team of five men and five women ready to compete in the next athletic season.

“Performances will fade, people will not remember championships or times, but people always recall how you made them feel,” de Jong said.

“As my own coaches wanted to see me develop as a person – not just a runner – I want to help students learn, grow, and to have some fun along the way.”

Cross country sees teams of athletes compete at outdoor distance running with a mass start.

“There’s a strong team component to competitions, where individual placings are combined to give a total score for each school,” de Jong said.

“Normally seven people go to a race and the top five count toward a group’s results. It’s like golf where you want the lowest score, so you can’t just have one or two athletes carry the whole team.”

Athletes interested in the team are encouraged to use the recruiting form on the Pilots’ website. Cross-country will be the fifth sport played at the university, following soccer, futsal, basketball and volleyball.