The LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course, in

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and Terre Haute metropolitan area, its metropolitan area had a populati ...

was dedicated October 17, 1997. This course has the distinction of being one of the few purpose-built cross-country courses in the world. The facility is part of that comprise the

Wabash Valley The Wabash Valley is a region located in sections of both Illinois and Indiana. It is named for the Wabash River and, as the name is typically used, spans the middle to the middle-lower portion of the river's valley and is centered at Terre Haute, ...

Family Sports Center just east of the Terre Haute International Airport. The course itself is built on a reclaimed

coal mine Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

and consists of an external loop of 3 km and four internal loops that allow for circuits of varying lengths.

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified ...

's Cross-Country team uses the Gibson Course for its home meets. In the short history of the course, it has hosted multiple championship meets. The Gibson Course hosted the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I Great Lakes Regional in 1998, 1999, 2001, and 2003, and

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

Regional in 2009 and 2012. The most prominent meet it has hosted has been the Men's and Women's NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships (2002, 2004-2011, 2013-2014, 2016, 2019). It has additionally hosted the Men's and Women's NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in 2012 and 2024. In 2004 it also became the host site of the state high school championship meet for

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, as well as the

Nike Cross Nationals Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) (formerly known as Nike Team Nationals) is an invitational cross country meet that serves as the unofficial team national championship of United States high school cross country. Sponsored by Nike, It was designed to he ...

(NXN) Midwest Regional Meet in 2009. It has also hosted numerous invitational and conference championship meets on multiple levels since it opened. From the Middle School level to the College level, Lavern Gibson is a huge symbol of Cross Country in the MidWest.

Course records

References

External links

Official website
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