Chadron State College Athletics

The Chadron State College Cross Country Course is the only off-road race course among the 16 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schools to be contained completely on a college campus.

The trails have been carefully manicured and maintained since 2010, by more than 200 community volunteers and over two dozen CSC staff members, to produce a first-class running surface and a scenic landscape only Northwest Nebraska can provide.

The course starts on the CSC football practice fields, winds up and along the foot of "C Hill", falls back to the practice fields and up again around the Eagle Ridge Apartments, then ascends one last time to the Rangeland Center before descending to a finish below the campus water tower. It has been custom mapped to host races as short as 1.6 miles for middle school, to five and six-kilometers for high school and college women, up to eight kilometers for college men.

Some of the top collegiate coaches in the country have complimented the CSC Cross Country Course, describing it as "a true old-fashioned course where you don't run laps around a track". They also noted the rarity of having a cross country road course fully enclosed by the college's campus.

Chadron State hosts an annual meet in September, and in 2017, the college hosted the RMAC Championships on six and eight-kilometer track layouts. See the maps below for various course layouts which have been implemented in past races.

5k course map (PDF) 
6k course map 
8k course map
 

Starting Line on Football Practice Field

Starting group funnels into flagged course after first 100 yards & approaches first turn

Descent from "C Hill"

Start of course, viewed from tower above start line

Eastern 2/3 of course, from C Hill, with homestretch on left side above softball field

Eye-level view of eastern course, with Rangeland Center and finish line under wooden arch