FAYETTEVILLE -- From the political right and left we've all heard an earful of charges alleging stolen elections and legislating voter suppression.
Seems politics doesn't just stem from politicians.
The suddenly intersecting sports of cross country and indoor track and field feature their own political firestorm.
Cross Country always runs in the fall but covid autumn 2020 changed that.
Enough, though the SEC ran with Arkansas' men and women winning SEC championships, didn't compete that the NCAA moved the NCAA Cross Country championships until spring.
Springing the NCAA Cross Country Championships this Monday in Stillwater, Okla. sprang an ambush on those with cross country contenders competing in the long scheduled 3-day NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships concluding today at Arkansas' Randal Tyson Indoor Track.
Some schools have gone almost exclusively recruiting distance runners for cross country running track as a team afterthought.
Others, like Arkansas, Oregon and Texas strive to compete for championships in track and cross country spreading their scholarships accordingly.
The aforementioned historically have succeeded in all endeavors.
Arkansas Women's Coach Lance Harter's SEC champion Razorbacks rank No. 1 as reigning NCAA Indoor and Cross Country champions.
Arkansas Men's Coach Chris Bucknam's SEC champion Razorbacks nationally rank No. 3 for NCAA Indoor and Cross Country.
Along with Oregon Men's and Women's Coach Robert Johnson and Texas Men's and Women's Coach Edrick Floreal, they lamented the indoor/cross country timing at the pre NCAA Indoor press conference.
Johnson and Floreal reluctantly opted strictly for indoor track.
"We've got two outstanding cross country teams that won't be there," Bucknam said. "I just don't understand why they forced us to do this."
Neither does Harter, other than wryly remarking, "I know some of the cross country purists are definitely excited about it."
Waiting just another week for cross country nationals would help indoor distance runners.
"I don't think anybody has stepped forward and told us why they made the decision to sandwich them so close together," Harter said. "It could have been much more of a true championship at cross country national if it was given more space between the two championships and for the safety factor of the athletes. But in the wit and wisdom of some of these committees I don't think they even think of the athlete. They think of what's convenient for the administration and you have to adjust accordingly."
Floreal said he would have been tempted trying both if he thought his cross country teams could win the championship.
Cross Country contenders Colorado, Stanford, Northern Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma State will run fresh.
Believing they owe their ranked cross country teams a shot, Bucknam and Harter subscribe to Bucknam's "We're all in on indoor track and then doing the best we can when we get to the cross country championships."
Eyeing the upcoming outdoor track campaign, both said they will reevaluate Sunday whether all five Razorbacks women and four men set for both will run in Stillwater.
"You can only go to the well so many times," Bucknam said.