Harriers: The Making of a Championship Cross Country Team

Harriers: The Making of a Championship Cross Country Team

A fresh perspective enlivens this classic story about a losing team with an energetic new coach. Written by two Ohio teenagers about their high school's cross-country team, this account offers engaging portraits of the kids and their coach, passes on lessons of hard work and sacrifice, and follows the ascent of the Salem Quakers cross-country team to a first-place ranking in their conference and third place at the 2003 state championships. Along the way the teenagers learn the unromantic truth about the athletic association that regulates their high school sport—legal wrangling and uproar ensue when officials find scoring errors in a postseason meet. As they develop their talents and teamwork, the teens also learn valuable lessons about sports rules, bureaucracy, and true success.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #74799 in Books

Published on: 2006-03-28

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Paperback

180 pages

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Editorial Reviews

Review
"Harriers is more than Rocky in spikes and singlet. It yields insights about hard work, disappointment, trust and relationships."  —Salem News

About the Author
Joseph Shivers and Paul Shivers are cousins, high-school seniors, and winners of the 2005 Fresh Writers Competition, a contest encouraging students to pursue careers in writing. They live in Salem, Ohio.

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Customer Reviews

An impressive effort
This is a book about a high school cross country season written by two of the team members.

As I read it I had to go back a couple of times to verify that the authors were actually recent high school students. It is an amazing effort. While it may lack the polish of professional writing it more than makes up for it by it's realism. A professional writer may have made certain events sound more exciting than they really were but as I read it, I found myself silently thanking the authors for simply "telling it like it is".

I am glad I found this book. Despite the young age of the authors it in not only a book for teens. It is a book for teens or adults to enjoy and learn from. Great value for money.

From Adversity Can Come Victory
Residing in Ohio, the chronicle of the travails and triumphs of the Salem High School cross-country team has extra meaning; the scoring error in the state championship meet which spoiled a solid season was a controversial issue chronicled in the sports media throughout the Buckeye State.

And that is where the story could have ended, but is only the beginning. The hard work to climb the hill back to the top the following season is the compelling story from team members and cousins Paul and Joe Shivers.

The story is geared to high-school readers and could be used by coaches as a teaching tool. Champions are not made simply from reaching the finish line in first place; they are shaped by adversity and never giving up.

This is an inspirational story that is played every late-summer and fall out on turf courses throughout the nation.

Not Impressing: From a high school runner
Personally, I found that this book wasn't very inspiring and was written quite amateurishly. The only reason I finished it was that it was given to me as gift. If you are looking for and inspiring running book I would highly recommend Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike's Cofounder.

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