GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- It has been 15 years since the University of North Dakota cross country team honored Ron Pynn when it unveiled the new name of its home meet: the University of North Dakota Ron Pynn Classic.
Pynn is a former professor of political science at UND. He is a long-time supporter of the men and women's cross country teams. Pynn has not only supported the team financially, but in many other ways also. He spent many years traveling with the team and even worked as an official at both cross country and track home meets.
For his 60th birthday, head cross country coach Dick Clay and his team wanted to provide Pynn with a gift of gratitude. The team brought out a banner showing the new name for its home meet.
“I think that is the first time I've ever seen Ron speechless,” said Clay. “He put a lot of time, work, and dedication into this program and we needed to recognize that.”
UND has since kept the tradition alive and is proud to be hosting another meet this year.
The schools competing at this year's Ron Pynn Classic alongside UND on Saturday will be North Dakota State, Trinity Bible College and the University of Manitoba. Some student-athletes from Concordia and South Dakota State will also be competing. There will also be alumni and unattached participants running.
“There will be between 50-60 athletes,” said Clay. “We expect it to be really competitive.”
To enhance the competitiveness for his own teams, Clay has some goals set for his men and women. From the men's side, Clay hopes to see a tighter gap between his first and fifth runners. He also hopes to see the whole group move forward in terms of time.
“We are really solid through our top-5,” said Clay. “We want to make our 45 second gap into a 30 second gap.”
On the women's side, Clay is more focused on individual performances. With the redshirting of sophomores Erica Eades and Madison Overby, Clay will look to his younger team members for top performances.
“If we improve as individuals, we improve as a team,” said Clay. “This is an opportunity for our underclassman to step up and continue to show what they have each week.”
“Our team is healthy and it's handling its training really well,” said Clay. “Overall, both teams continue to make big improvements from last year. Every meet, we see faster times on the same courses from last year.”
The Fighting Hawkss home meet is set for Saturday, Oct. 14, at the Ray Richards Course. Running will begin at 12 p.m. with the women's 5k, followed by the men's 8k at 12:45.
