Nick Aziz - Contributing Writer

The Morehouse College Cross Country team can be described in one word: excellent. The team has won 13 consecutive SIAC Championships and this season, is in serious contention for a Division II National Championship.

All of this success is indeed due to the athletes, but most importantly, to Coach Willie Hill. By promoting excellence, Coach Hill has made Morehouse’s cross country team one of the best in the nation.

Although winning the SIAC Championship last season, Morehouse was ranked number two in the SIAC preseason polls behind Benedict College, and number seven overall in the south region, despite beating them in the SIAC conference championship. Coach Hill still stays positive on his team’s pursuit of excellence.

“As long as we get the opportunity to prove [the rating] different…Can we work hard enough to prepare to change that [rating]?”

Hill attributes the success of his program to discipline.“The biggest thing is commitment,” Hill said. “Discipline not just with cross country, but in the classroom, on the track, and in life overall.”

Coach Hill has a unique way of impacting his athletes, unlike other coaches.“He leads by example,” senior Marquis Horn said. “Coach Hill has provided me with stability.”

Coach Hill keeps his athletes disciplined by making sure they give their all on the track, as well as in the classroom.

“The track and field program is stable,” Horn said. “It’s a rock. I can go to Coach Hill for anything.”

It is that stability, which has been created by Coach Hill, which makes the Morehouse Cross - Country team so successful.

The Morehouse Cross Country team still has major goals this season, but a national championship is not the first. The most important goal is to be the best Man of Morehouse they can be.

“It all starts with Morehouse,” Hill said. “They [the athletes] are the ones who make Morehouse great,” Hill said.

Coach Hill is passionate when speaking of the team’s representation of Morehouse. Hill says that he hopes the team can understand how important Morehouse is, and that as the cross country team, they represent the school and not just themselves. Hill also says that he aims to make sure that the team understands that they are representing Morehouse of the past, present and future.

This past weekend the team traveled to a meet in Huntsville, Alabama hosted by the University of Alabama at Huntsville. The team finished fifth overall behind Valdosta State University, Austin Peay State University, the University of Evansville and the University of Alabama at Huntsville.

Morehouse had two runners finish in the top fifteen individually. Juniors Noble Swint and Abraham Kiprotich finished in eleventh and twelfth place respectively. The team’s next meet will be held in Atlanta this weekend as they host the Morehouse/Clark Invitational at Mosely Park. The meet begins at 9 a.m. on Sept 27.

Published: September 23, 2008 08:48 PM