It’s been a year that has been far from normal, and has been a whirlwind for collegiate athletics. The cross country team is one of the few squads on campus that will be participating in fall sports this semester. One of those athletes who will be competing is junior cross country runner Jered Nollie.

Nollie is a native of Sullivan, Missouri which is roughly an hour from Lindenwood’s campus. The junior started running when he was in the seventh grade, and originally a student at the Belleville campus, has since transferred to Lindenwood. This will be Nollie’s second year on campus and he plans to double major, majoring in business administration with an emphasis on human resources, and additionally plans to get a major in political science.

Q: Has the number of runners on your team decreased this year or has anyone opted out due to COVID-19?

A: “At this time no one has opted out and our number of new recruits is also pretty consistent with past years.”

Q: Is there still a chance that this upcoming season could be cancelled?

A: “Our season has already started, but the season will be shortened. We also won’t be able to compete against as many teams at one meet. Plus, everyone also gets a red-shirt.”

Q: Is team travel potentially limited this year?

A: “These are the rules issued by the GLVC Conference, but we have regions which we have to stay in, and only compete against those teams. We are also strongly encouraged not to stay anywhere over night.”

Q: Do you have to wear a mask during your meets?

A: “We’re not required to wear the mask during the meet, but we’re required to wear a mask the entire time until we actually start the race. As soon as we finish the race, the mask should be put back on.”

Q: Do you have to wear a mask to practice?

A: “Yes we wear a mask at practice until we begin our run, and then we put them back on when we get done.”

Q: Do you have any extra health precautions that you have to consider more because you’re a student athlete?

A: ”We still have to check our temperature daily, and we also have to do a symptom check list everyday. We also try to stay in our ‘pods’ as much as possible too.”

Q: How many meets do you usually have?

A: “We can have up to 12 meets per year, but most teams including us usually do six to eight meets a year. This year however, we are only doing three.”

Q: What has been the biggest difference to this season compared to last season?

A: “The biggest thing for me would be that the team doesn’t really get that opportunity to build chemistry outside of practice like we got to last year.”

Q: Do you worry about potentially contracting COVID-19 at an upcoming meet?

A: “I don’t worry about it. I think we have lots of safety measures in place to protect us, and we are going to be at meets for such a short amount of time now.”