YAVAPAI XC: the best juco women's xc

i don't know a ton about the yavapai program, but i spent last year living in prescott and coaching high school, and my take on the area was "why isn't anyone training here." the place is great. TONS of really good trails, good tracks, nice mountain scenery, and decent weather all year round - although a little windy in the spring.

i think priscilla hein ran for yavapai her first two years, so she could probably offer a decent opinion of the school, etc. but the location is superb, especially if you're not thrilled about the idea of living in a big city, but still want some of the conveniences of modern society - i.e. starbucks, the mall, good eats, and decent live music almost every weekend. i would move back to prescott in a heartbeat given the right job.

my personal take on the program though, is if the program's so great, why was it so freakin' hard for me to get information on it last year while living in the town? please tell the coach, the webmaster, whoever, to make the info a little more accessible. the soccer, basketball, and baseball programs do a great job getting schedule info, etc. to the community via posters, schedules, etc. getting the prescott community behind you guys could go a long way. granted i only tried the website, but i couldn't even find a schedule or any information when i wanted to go watch the team run. i called the school and no one there knew anything about the team.

questions for YCXCRUNNER - does yavapai also have a track program? is the men's team unfunded? they were less than impressive when i saw them run, but the whole group, men and ladies, did really look like that had a great time at the meet i made it to (kiwanis pk. in tempe).

good luck to you guys this year, and make sure the team eats at zeke's occasionally.

mzungu

Sounds like a great place to train.

Kind of interesting to see when a JC has a really good program, kind of like MTSAC in California, where they have good tradition (such as beating USC in T&F dual meets). Does anyone know if the Cali schools compete in the NJCAA? I know that the top rank men's and women's CC program for the last five or so years is now no longer in existence (Rick's College, rexburg, ID).

Question:

How many people actually follow JC sports?

The program\'s greatness is not reflected in the publicity it gets. Talk to any community college in Arizona and they\'ll tell you yavapai is always a threat. They don\'t have a men\'s team anymore. I think they dropped the program in the early 90s. Probably because of title XI. But the women have it good. It\'s just got cross country, but they are very competitive in club track. If the Athletic director would allow it, Yavapai could take most of their team to the NJCAA track nationals in distance events every year.

They don\'t compete against MT SAC in the NJCAA, but they\'ve been making the trip to Walnut, Calif., for the annual track meet for the last two years. Quite an experience. Mt SAC and other Cali jucos compete in their state juco division.

As far as Yavapai\'s competitiveness, its in the best juco division you can race in. The program should get even better since the fall off Northern Idaho and Ricks - perrenially powerhouses in the NJCAA.

Hate to burst your bubble, but ever heard of little school called CENTRAL ARIZONA????

Yep, and they're pretty good, too. But check out the results at last Saturday's George Kyte Invitational. Yavapai beat Central AZ if you score the meet correctly. It was a tie of 65, but Yavapai had their 6th and 7th in front of Central.

Central is good, but it doesn't compare to Yavapai. Besides, who would want to train in the flat, scorching hot desert of Coolidge, Ariz. There's absolutely nothing to do there. Running in the flat, dull, smelly dirt roads? Uh, no thanks. I'll stick to the temperate mountains of Prescott any day.

what about paradise valley cc? I thought they were bad ass in Arizona? Anyone?