These young women are tuning up for their cross country run at Green Hill Park. 

 Knowing What They Need to Know

I am often astonished at what young people know. And what they don't know.

I was over at Green Hill Park in Salem earlier today, getting in some steps before my next appointment, when I ran into the scene above on the huge open field, one so big that polo is played there. I was wondering just what was going on and had my camera with me, so I went over to investigate.

A young woman in a burgundy track warmup suit was walking toward me, head in her cell phone and I stopped her (it took three trys at "Miss! ... Miss! ... Miss!" before I got her attention). "What is going on here?" I asked.

"Cross country meet," she said. 

"Is this an HBCU meet?" I asked, referring to Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

She gave me a blank look, so I explained: "I don't see any white athletes."

"Oh," she said. "It's CIAA."

"What's that stand for?"

"Dunno."

Then it occurred to me (an old sportswriter): Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, a group of 12 HBCUs basically on the East Coast. The CIAA cross country championships were scheduled to begin--in Salem, where none of the schools is located--at noon with the women's run. The closest school in this group to Salem is Winston-Salem State, which is 100 miles south and, of course, not even in Virginia. 

But the young woman was content for the road trip, the social occasion, and her cell phone. I hope she won.