Attenion deficit? Ramsey has North cross country program on the rise

Cross country doesn’t get much attention at most schools and Norman North is no different. But maybe that could change for a few days this week.

North coach Mike Ramsey is building a program that will no doubt gain more recognition in the next few years. Ramsey is doing what the best cross country coaches do, he’s building the program by using middle school athletes as the base. All the top cross country programs, such as Watonga, Plainview and Edmond North, succeed because they get runners started in the sport in the sixth or seventh grade instead of waiting until they are freshmen.

With the help of coach Jay Coleman at Whittier Middle School, Ramsey’s program is taking off. The Norman North boys team qualified for Saturday’s Class 6A state championships at Mitch Park in Edmond. Led by runners Dustin Barrier and Kyle Wardwell, the T-Wolves placed seventh at the west-side Class 6A regional last week.

Barrier has been strong all season and placed sixth and was just three seconds off placing third.