The high school sport of cross country has started to take a foothold in Union County. El Dorado coach John Koonce hopes to push it to an even higher level as he announced the plans for a cross country course to be built in the area.
The course is scheduled to be built at South Arkansas Regional Airport at Goodwin Field, located nine miles west of El Dorado.
“We will be using the field at South Arkansas Regional Airport that used to contain the baseball fields. It's a great open space that would be ideal for a cross country course,” said Koonce. “If we can get everything worked out as fast as I'd like, and there aren't any snags along the way, I'd shoot for hosting a small meet this fall. I've already started reaching out to local coaches to see what date would be best.
“As soon as we can get it mowed, we will start practicing. I still have a few logistics that need to be worked out, but I'd love to have kids running on it some time in July.”
Area teams have had to travel for all of their cross country competitions. The closest meet was a new course at Moro Bay, hosted by Hermitage. A course in El Dorado could be beneficial to other area schools as well.
“The idea was brought to me by a parent of an athlete last season and then our AD, Coach Lansdell, seconded the idea,” said Koonce. “I reached out to the airport manager, Johnathan Estes, a couple of weeks ago. He took me on a short tour around the field and then put me on the agenda for (Monday’s) board meeting at the airport. All of the board members were for the idea and they gave us the green light to start mowing and plotting out a course.”
El Dorado athletic director Phillip Lansdell immediately jumped on board.
“It’s going to give us a place to run on grass and give us an opportunity to host a cross country meet or two. We’ve never had a place in El Dorado where we could host one,” said Lansdell, who indicated the price was right.
“All we have to do is go out and mow a course. It’s where we used to play baseball and we knew it would be perfect for running. It’s all grass. Really, all you have to do is mow your paths and that’s it. There’s plenty of room out there to run a 5K easy. It’s a lot of open space out there, a lot of land. People can stand out there and, just about, watch the whole race from one spot. It’s kind of like where we go run at Oaklawn on the infield for the conference and state. It’s kind of laid out about the same way.”
El Dorado has already started practicing for the upcoming cross country season. Koonce has stepped away from his duties as ninth grade girls’ basketball coach and has focused his energy on the running program.
“We are very thankful to South Arkansas Regional Airport for investing in our kids and our school by providing us with this opportunity,” said Koonce. “I've wanted to host a meet since I've arrived here and I really believe that this is the ideal location. I believe that this is going to have a positive impact on our kids and our school. We can't wait to get to work on this.”