Coinciding with the annual Les Duke race on September 12, Grinnell celebrated 35 years of women’s cross country with a reunion dinner attracting alumnae from 1985 to 2009, as well as current athletes. The dinner served as a moment to reflect on how women’s cross country has developed over the years, how some essential characteristics about the team have remained the same, and, most of all, to honor 30 years of Coach Evelyn Freeman’s unwavering dedication to the sport and her athletes.

Freeman remembers when she first inherited the team from Coach Mary Ann Pankey in 1980. The women’s cross country program was still in its infancy. “In the beginning, the team was mostly made up of the men’s team’s girlfriends,” Freeman says. “Records indicate that our conference championship meet occurred in the fall of 1978, and only four other schools were able to put together a full seven-person varsity squad.”

As the team was gradually evolving, Freeman, too, was refining and honing her skills as a coach. “When they had originally hired me at Grinnell, I was to serve, alongside my husband Will, as head track coach.” Cross country fell under the umbrella of track and came into Freeman’s jurisdiction, regardless of the fact that she had no previous familiarity with cross country. Despite her inexperience, Freeman’s typical enthusiasm and wholehearted commitment made her a fast learner; and she discovered as much about the sport from experts as from the athletes themselves. Freeman continues on in the tradition of an athlete-centered model, fostering each athlete’s personal growth.

As she puts it, “Excellence is a key pursuit at Grinnell College. I consider cross country to be just another classroom in which our students can shine. Yes, we train ourselves to be the best, but the best means different things for different people. For some, the best means achieving our goal of winning conference. For others, it means obtaining a personal record — remaining mentally strong throughout a race. Regardless of the motive, cross country allows an assortment of athletes from various talent levels an opportunity for individual excellence and achievement.”

Speaking of talent and achievement, the women’s team recently ran an amazing race at Augustana College with impressive reductions in 6k times across the board. At the Augustana meet, they were able to face off against conference rivals Monmouth and Carroll, sizing the other teams up and looking confidently forward to the conference championships.

Some things in Grinnell cross country never change: Coach Evelyn Freeman’s warm smile and her athlete’s cool competitive growl. — Maggie Kamraczewski ’10