XC attack raises issue of security Veteran race officials: Meets hard to monitor

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It’s a problem for which there are no easy answers.

After an ugly incident at the New England Cross Country Championships in Cumberland earlier this month, at which Lewiston High School standout and Somalia native Mohamed Noor had sand thrown in his eyes, one question arises: How do meet officials and meet directors prevent such an incident from occurring again?

Mary Cady, a longtime USA Track and Field-certified official and the director of the Eastern Maine Indoor Track League, says there are no easy answers, if any at all.

“I’m not sure that anything could be done on a cross country course. Unless you put an official every 10 yards, what can you do?” she said.

Unlike track and field, where there are officials at every corner of the track directing running and field events, you see many cross country officials performing duties at the start and finish lines.

“It’s not like track where you have officials all around the track,” said Cady, who did not officiate at the New England Championships.

Noor was in the lead pack in the Nov. 10 competition at Twin Brook Recreation Center when a spectator allegedly threw sand in his eyes as runners headed into the woods a little more than a mile into the race.

Noor, who emerged as one of Maine’s top schoolboy runners this fall, losing only one race – which occurred early in the season when he got lost on a course – stayed close to the front up until the halfway point but wound up finishing 124th.

Kyle Powers, a St. Johnsbury Academy (Vt.) runner who was in the lead pack along with Noor early in the race, recently acknowledged he, too, was hit in the head with sand and dirt before the runners headed into the woods for the first time but his glasses prevented the sand from contacting his eyes.

Earlier this week Noor, speaking publicly for the first time since the incident, said he also was attacked before the race.

Noor told the Portland Press Herald he was approached in the final minutes before the start of the race, and when he turned around, what appeared to be sand was thrown in his eyes.

This is not the first time in the last few years that a large-scale cross country championship meet in Maine has been marred by controversy or tragedy.

At the 2003 Maine Cross Country Festival of Champions in Belfast, Belfast Area High School runner Joseph Diprete-Digioia died while competing the first of six races in that meet.

Diprete-Digioia wasn’t found until after all the races had been completed.

After that tragedy, officials began taking measures to help prevent runners being left on the course.

Starting with the 2004 edition of that meet, officials made sure every runner was accounted for, and the next race was not started until officials had a list of all finishers and all runners who dropped out.

Controversy also hampered the Class A girls state meet earlier this fall, when two Massabesic of Waterboro runners were disqualified for holding hands as they crossed the finish line. A knowledge of the rules could have prevented that from happening.

However, cross country meets are difficult to monitor, because the courses are spread out over such a large area, and often go through woods.

In the case of the Noor attacked, even if officials put up ropes or caution tape along the borders to wooded areas adjacent to the running trails, that wouldn’t prevent people from ducking underneath and going where they please.

“We all know that ropes don’t deter people,” Cady said. “I see that all the time, even when I put up caution tape.”

And there is simply too much ground for so few officials to cover at cross country meets.

“It’s really impossible to do. You’re lucky to get 20 officials to work a meet,” said longtime official and Thornton Academy coach George Mendros, who also serves as the rules interpreter for Maine high school cross country and track and field.

Since runners tend to finish in bunches in large meets, more hands are needed to work in the finish chute. Top-notch timing and starting officials also are needed, leaving few officials to police the course, particularly the wooded areas.

“You have to have a few people in the finish area, the timing system, clerking and starting,” Mendros said.

Cady and Mendros, along with many members of Maine’s high school cross country community, were shocked and dismayed at the Noor incident.

“He’s a wonderful runner, he’s fun to watch. You hate to see that happen to anybody,” Cady said.

“What happened was an unfortunate incident,” concurred Mendros, who has been at Thornton Academy since the late 1970’s. “I don’t remember anything like this happening.”

Cumberland police are still investigating the incident.