Written By: Austin Wells

This past Saturday was VSU’s first home cross country meet in more than a decade, with the men’s and women’s teams both placing first overall.

With the first place finishes and some personal bests from seniors Jesse Prince and Juliana Boehm, head coach Clinton Bell is happy with the results but still thinks the team can perform better.

“As their coach, I’m never truly 100 percent satisfied because I always believe they can do more,” coach Bell said. “It’s still a growing experience for [the freshmen]. They’re moving from three miles in high school to five miles in college, so they’re learning a little bit.”

“Do I think they did good?” Bell said. “Yes. Do I think they can do better? Yes. Time wise, I still think there’s a lot of room for improvement for this team.”

Coach Bell also discussed what it meant for the team to race at home.

“It was great. It’s good to run in front of your home fans and the athletes were excited,” Bell said. “They’ve been ready to run in front of their home fans for a while [and] to have a nice crowd there to support them and watch them… I think they ran for Valdosta.”

As for the team’s next meet at Florida State University on Oct. 10, coach Bell is expecting the best from his runners.

“I’m looking for them to run totally up to their ability and potential,” Bell said. “They’re going to have to do that against the competition that’s coming up at Florida State. For us to go into that type of environment and step up to the next level, which I know we can do, it’s going to be exciting to see and challenging as well.”