When a man builds a road, he doesn’t have any idea of the people that will walk on it, who will ride on it and he may not have an idea of who will maintain it or re-pave it when it needs fixing. All he hopes is that when he constructs the road, that he builds a foundation for one that will last through the ages and be used over and over again.

Understanding the philosophy of McMurry’s cross country program requires going back to its origin, its founder and the builder of the McMurry’s cross country road: Bill Libby.

Libby came to McMurry as an adjunct professor for the religion department in 1995. He arrived in Abilene as an associate pastor at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church and became very involved with McMurry University. When the track program was approved for a comeback after several years without a program, Libby, who spent many years coaching runners in the U.S. military for marathon distances, suggested to then University President, Dr. Shimp, that it would also be practical to add a cross country program.

Libby explained that the cost would be inexpensive and that the team wouldn’t need any extra equipment. Libby received approval, but with one catch: the athletics department would not fund the program.

This didn’t deter Libby, however, as he took it upon himself to fund the entire cross country program. And he did, for five years starting with the first season when the Indians competed as an independent club team in 1995 all the way through the first men’s ASC championship season in 1999.

By 2000, cross country received budgeting money from the McMurry athletic department and was no longer solely dependent on Libby’s check book.

Once again, this did not deter Libby from making a financial commitment to the program he started from the ground up. In 2004, he gave a gift of $50K towards an endowment that was created to keep cross country on campus indefinitely. The goal of the program is to match Libby’s generous donation and total $100K for the endowment, and then draw off the interest in coming years to help fund the program.

Was it because Libby loved the sport of cross country that much, that he would fund the program for five years paying for travel, meals, uniforms and supplies and then follow it up with a $50K donation? No. According to Libby the decision to commit financially to the program had to do with his desire to develop young men and women.

“I needed to give money away for tax purposes, but moreover, I gave in the spirit of religious stewardship,” said Libby. “I wanted to help influence the lives of young people in a positive manner and I think the program has done that.”

In 2005, the McMurry cross country team completed its tenth season as an intercollegiate program. After spending one season as an independent club team in 1995, the team joined the newly-formed American Southwest Conference along with McMurry’s other intercollegiate programs in 1996.

The Indians wasted no time making a name for themselves at the NCAA Division III level. In just their third season in the ASC, Libby and the Indians won the men’s conference championship in 1999 and repeated to defend the title in 2000. Libby also saw Josh Hufstedler reach the NCAA Division III national meet in 1999, and he remains the only Indian runner to have reached nationals.

In nine years, the women’s team has strung together seven-straight second place finishes at the ASC Championships beginning in 1998. The men have finished no worse than third at the conference meet, and from 1997-1998 and from 2001-2005, the team has finished as the conference’s runner-up.

The 2006 season will mark the team’s 11th season as an official intercollegiate program and its 11th in the ASC. As the team enters its second decade of existence, head coach David Chandler, who took over in 2003, expects to continue the level of excellence the program has established. But moreover, he wants to continue the development of character and continue the bonds of friendship that will last much longer than a four-year collegiate cross country career.

Chandler is now the most tenured individual in the American Southwest Conference cross country program. He came to McMurry in 1996 and was a member of the original intercollegiate team as a freshman.

As a runner for the Indians, Chandler is one of the most decorated, he won two individual conference titles in 1998 and 2000, and he had regional finishes of 17th, 26th and 34th place. He was a member of the 2000 conference championship team and holds the third and fourth best 8K times in the school’s history.

After his final year of running in 2000, Chandler was a volunteer assistant to Libby in 2001 and 2002 before taking over the reins of the program. As a coach he won the conference Coach of the Year in only his second season after leading both Indian teams to runner-up finishes at the conference meet in 2004.

Because of Chandler’s longevity with the program and the ASC, he said he believes it better prepares him to be a coach, specifically at McMurry and the ASC. “I think it grounds me and gives me a solid foundation,” Chandler said. “When new coaches come, most have left and don’t identify themselves with the ASC. With me, my heart and soul is in it.”

Chandler assumes the role of maintenance on the program’s road and wants to continue the philosophy that Libby set forth to develop the individual and not just the athlete. He’s done so by working to expand on the endowment and match the donations from Libby; he’s worked to develop McMurry’s own cross country course at the Abilene State Park near Buffalo Gap and also offers summer and winter cross country camps for high school runners.

“We’re working to get back to being conference champions,” said Chandler. “The women are still looking for their first ever and the guys haven’t won since 2000. But it’s way more important to build on a person’s character than to go for the big win. Sometimes you sacrifice your purpose and your values when you look just to win. If we pull off a win it’s going to be done the right way; we won’t throw our values to the side to get there.”

Many of the lessons Chandler learned from Libby as a runner will be passed on to current and future runners.

“He has allowed me to be where I am right now,” said Chandler of his former coach. “In terms of personal development and growth, I think he taught me how to lead a balanced life and not to let my running take over everything.”

And though Chandler may not have the financial privileges that Libby was able to provide, Chandler plans to give to the program through his influence, and recalls Libby’s words at the ceremony in 2004 when he started the endowment as advice to take to heart: “He talked about being taught that you need to give to something that you will never see the rewards of and to give yourself to something that you believe in so much.”

As the Indians begin their second decade as a program, runners will come and go just as they did in the first decade. Libby, and now Chandler, may not always be able to keep tabs on their athletes, but the hope is that the team’s experience as an intercollegiate athlete on McMurry’s cross country team will be more than just a competitive group; but a group that will live better lives because of their experiences on a road well founded .