Ohio State’s men’s and women’s cross country teams pose for a photo. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics.

For Ohio State cross country athletes, a race begins long before the starting gun goes off.?

Before a runner settles into a pace or begins planning a finishing kick, they must first understand the ground beneath their feet.

Several factors play into the space a cross country runner is in. A hill can change their strategy, a sharp turn can create opportunities for passing, uneven terrain influences footing and rhythm and the type of surface even influences a runner’s confidence.

Joe Compagni, former Monmouth University track & field and cross country head coach and member of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, who has helped design various cross country courses, said the space of the venue is the first obstacle in making a course.

“I think that your first limitation is the space that you have,” Compagni said. “Sometimes you’re just limited by the park that you’re in or the space, so you kind of have to work with that, that’s the starting point.”?

For Ohio State cross country runners, those differences require adjustments, allowing each runner to test a different skill set.

“I always like a course that has some hills on it,” Ohio State junior Jack Agnew said. “It changes up the running and breaks up your stride a little uphill, allowing you to open up downhill.”

Yet those features that make one course appealing to one runner may not have the same effect on another.

“I think I’m better at the longer, slower and gradual things on the course,” Ohio State fifth-year Audey DeSantis said. “It helps the runner really test their strength and endurance compared to everyone else, which gives you a chance when competing.”?

Ohio State cross country head coach Sara Mason Vergote said the course doesn’t just influence what happens during the race, it impacts how the team prepares.

“We want to perform in the postseason and we know what types of courses we’re going to be running on,” Mason Vergote said. “We try to visit them beforehand so that the runners are comfortable during the race, and we also make sure practices are designed so that parts of the courses are tested in preparation for the race.”

DeSantis said that the team analyzes the courses they run on prior to the day of the meet.?

“It helps us know where we are, and where each divot is or where to look out for the hills,” DeSantis said.

The preparation becomes key for the courses the Buckeyes will run on later in the season.?

The Big Ten Championships will take place on the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wisconsin and the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship will happen on the Forest Akers East Golf Course in East Lansing, Michigan.

“We’re going to Wisconsin for the Big Ten championships, which is a really fair, rolling course. There’s a decent amount of hills but not too many in it,” Mason Vergote said.

Despite the NCAA regional championship taking place on Nov. 13, Mason Vergote said the team has already got a feel for the course.

“This year, the regional championship is going to be at Michigan State, so last weekend, we raced at Michigan State, to have our men and women comfortable,” Mason Vergote said on Sept. 24.

Both Ohio State men’s and women’s cross country teams have opened the 2026 season with two first-place finishes in the annual Mike Baumer Cross Country Classic in Dayton, Ohio, along with finishing in third and sixth place finishes, respectively, in the Spartan Invite meet at Eastern Michigan the following weekend.

Ohio State will participate in the Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on Friday and the Arturo Barrios Invitational on Oct. 16, before competing in the Big Ten Championships on Oct. 30 in Madison, Wisconsin.